Your company brain.Every business has a few problems that outlived the tools it bought to fix them: the customer who leaves without warning, the invoice chased for ninety days, the audit that takes a week of digging. They last because no one department's software owns them. Each one crosses sales, service, delivery, finance and compliance.
Each use case below takes one of them on, reading the same company brain, so every one you add makes the next cheaper and sharper.
Start from the problem. Each card opens with the words people use for it.
“We find out an account is at risk when the cancellation arrives. Growth means hiring more account managers.”
Customers and revenue
Customer retention, seen months before the renewal.
ask it Which of our top accounts have lost their main contact this quarter, and what did we promise them at the last renewal?
How it works →“Profitable on paper, tight every quarter. We do the work, then chase the money for ninety days.”
Customers and revenue
Cash collection, billed on the day and chased in context.
ask it Which of our overdue invoices have an open complaint on the same account?
How it works →“The report takes weeks to build, and by the time it arrives the numbers have been shaped by everyone who touched it.”
Running the business
Management reporting, every number traced to its source.
ask it Why is this revenue line down on last quarter, and has the way it is measured changed?
How it works →“The write-off surprises us at month end. Scope creeps in the inbox, never in the system.”
Running the business
Project margins, protected while the work is under way.
ask it Which of our live projects have had requests outside the engagement letter this month?
How it works →“Churn arrives as a number at month end with no name on it.”
Customers and revenue
Subscription renewals, kept before they lapse.
ask it Which renewals this month would charge a customer more than a new customer pays?
How it works →“Everything routes through the same three people, and I'll learn one of them is leaving when it's too late.”
Running the business
Key-person risk, seen while there is still time to act.
ask it Which client relationships depend on a single person, and who could cover them?
How it works →“We discovered the dependency the day it broke.”
Risk and control
Supplier risk, seen while there is still a choice.
ask it Which of our critical services rest on a single supplier, and when was its exit plan last checked?
How it works →“Nobody can tell me which lines actually make money, or prove the product is fair when asked.”
Running the business
Product performance, read whole and proved fair.
ask it Which of our product lines have rising complaints and a falling margin at the same time?
How it works →“A customer sent a security questionnaire, and it took a week and four people to answer what we already knew.”
Risk and control
Compliance, inline with the work.
ask it Can I use this AI tool on client data, and which policy says so?
How it works →“Our analysts drown in alerts that go nowhere, and the real risk hides in the queue.”
Risk and control
Financial crime, judged on the whole relationship.
ask it Has this payee been cleared before, and on what grounds?
How it works →“When something breaks, the regulatory clock starts before we have understood what happened.”
Risk and control
Operational resilience, mapped before the scramble.
ask it If the payments service went down now, what else would stop, and which deadlines would start?
How it works →“Half my week goes on finding out what a colleague already knows.”
Running the business
Your own assistant, with your company's memory.
ask it Who knows most about our largest client, and what did we last agree with them?
How it works →And one view across them all: the operator's cockpit. Not a use case of its own, but the live state of the business, read off the same record. It comes with the first use case you build, whichever that is. How the cockpit works →
Illustrative: the shape of what arrives, not a client's record.
Not a dashboard to check. Each use case puts a short, sourced document in front of the person who owns the decision, saying what it saw, why it matters, what it recommends and how sure it is.
exception flag
recommend from compliance →
risk note
recommend from customer retention →
held figure
recommend from management reporting →
supplier alert
recommend from supplier risk →
Pick one to see what it leaves for the others.
Twelve tools would each see part of the picture and keep it to themselves. Here every use case reads and adds to the same company brain, so what one records, the next reuses. The second is quicker to build than the first, and sharper from the day it starts.
Customer retention
It adds to your company brain: one current record of every account.
Reused by: Cash collection, Subscription renewals and Project margins.
It reuses what these leave: Cash collection, Management reporting, Project margins, Subscription renewals, Key-person risk, Product performance and Financial crime.
The account record it builds is the one cash collection, subscription renewals and project margins read too, so the same customer is understood the same way everywhere.
How customer retention works →Cash collection
It adds to your company brain: the money owed, joined to each account.
Reused by: Customer retention and Project margins.
It reuses what these leave: Customer retention, Project margins and Subscription renewals.
It shares the customer and contract record with customer retention and project margins, so a late payment, a service fault and a scope change are seen as one story, not three.
How cash collection works →Management reporting
It adds to your company brain: one agreed definition for every measure.
Reused by: Customer retention, Supplier risk and Product performance.
It reuses what these leave: Compliance and Personal assistant.
The definitions it settles in the company manual are the ones every other use case reports in, so the numbers in a customer review, a supplier review and the board pack finally agree.
How management reporting works →Project margins
It adds to your company brain: what was promised and done on each project.
Reused by: Cash collection and Customer retention.
It reuses what these leave: Customer retention and Cash collection.
Its project record tells cash collection the moment a milestone completes, and gives customer retention the delivery history behind every relationship.
How project margins works →Subscription renewals
It adds to your company brain: every recurring contract and its payments.
Reused by: Customer retention and Cash collection.
It reuses what these leave: Customer retention.
It reads the same customer record as customer retention and cash collection, so a failed payment, falling usage and a service complaint are seen together.
How subscription renewals works →Key-person risk
It adds to your company brain: roles, owners and the cover behind them.
Reused by: Customer retention, Supplier risk and Compliance.
It reuses what these leave: Personal assistant.
The roles and owners it records are the named owners every other use case routes to, so a risk note, a supplier alert or an audit request always reaches someone who is actually there.
How key-person risk works →Supplier risk
It adds to your company brain: the map of what depends on whom.
Reused by: Operational resilience and Compliance.
It reuses what these leave: Management reporting, Key-person risk, Compliance, Financial crime and Operational resilience.
Its map of what depends on whom is what operational resilience reads in an incident and compliance reads for outsourcing duties, so the dependency is mapped once and used everywhere.
How supplier risk works →Product performance
It adds to your company brain: each line's margin, complaints and fair-value evidence.
Reused by: Compliance and Customer retention.
It reuses what these leave: Management reporting.
The fair-value evidence it gathers is what compliance files, and the complaints it reads are the ones customer retention watches, so one record serves all three.
How product performance works →Compliance
It adds to your company brain: obligations, policies, owners and controls.
Reused by: Supplier risk, Operational resilience and Management reporting.
It reuses what these leave: Key-person risk, Supplier risk, Product performance, Operational resilience and Personal assistant.
The obligations, owners and controls it records are what supplier risk, operational resilience and management reporting read next, so each of those starts with the record already in place.
How compliance works →Financial crime
It adds to your company brain: a risk picture of each customer and supplier.
Reused by: Customer retention and Supplier risk.
It reads the same customer and supplier records as customer retention and supplier risk, so a risk signal is judged against the whole relationship, not a single queue.
How financial crime works →Operational resilience
It adds to your company brain: each important service and what it depends on.
Reused by: Supplier risk and Compliance.
It reuses what these leave: Supplier risk and Compliance.
It reads the supplier map that supplier risk keeps and the duties that compliance records, so in an incident the dependencies and the notification duties are already known.
How operational resilience works →Personal assistant
It adds to your company brain: who does what, what matters now and the decisions behind it.
Reused by: Key-person risk, Management reporting and Compliance.
The people, owners and priorities it keeps are what key-person risk reads for cover, what management reporting ranks against and what compliance names as each policy's owner. It also reads what every other use case leaves, so any of it is one question away for anyone allowed to see it.
How personal assistant works →It reads from the systems you already run: email and calendars, the CRM, practice and policy systems, billing and ledgers, document stores. Nothing is replaced and nothing is migrated; connectors are built around the use case. See how it connects.
These are parts of the same design on what a company brain is made of. We run our own company brain on it first, and publish the tests: how we run ours.
A first guess, in two questions. The question audit settles it.
1 / 2 Where does it hurt most?
2 / 2 Which sounds most like you?
2 / 2 Which sounds most like you?
2 / 2 Which sounds most like you?
a likely place to start
Customer retention
Customer retention, seen months before the renewal.
Then Cash collection, Subscription renewals and Project margins would reuse what it builds: one current record of every account.
The question audit settles where to start, on your own questions. This is a first guess.
a likely place to start
Cash collection
Cash collection, billed on the day and chased in context.
Then Customer retention and Project margins would reuse what it builds: the money owed, joined to each account.
The question audit settles where to start, on your own questions. This is a first guess.
a likely place to start
Management reporting
Management reporting, every number traced to its source.
Then Customer retention, Supplier risk and Product performance would reuse what it builds: one agreed definition for every measure.
The question audit settles where to start, on your own questions. This is a first guess.
a likely place to start
Project margins
Project margins, protected while the work is under way.
Then Cash collection and Customer retention would reuse what it builds: what was promised and done on each project.
The question audit settles where to start, on your own questions. This is a first guess.
a likely place to start
Subscription renewals
Subscription renewals, kept before they lapse.
Then Customer retention and Cash collection would reuse what it builds: every recurring contract and its payments.
The question audit settles where to start, on your own questions. This is a first guess.
a likely place to start
Key-person risk
Key-person risk, seen while there is still time to act.
Then Customer retention, Supplier risk and Compliance would reuse what it builds: roles, owners and the cover behind them.
The question audit settles where to start, on your own questions. This is a first guess.
a likely place to start
Supplier risk
Supplier risk, seen while there is still a choice.
Then Operational resilience and Compliance would reuse what it builds: the map of what depends on whom.
The question audit settles where to start, on your own questions. This is a first guess.
a likely place to start
Product performance
Product performance, read whole and proved fair.
Then Compliance and Customer retention would reuse what it builds: each line's margin, complaints and fair-value evidence.
The question audit settles where to start, on your own questions. This is a first guess.
a likely place to start
Compliance
Compliance, inline with the work.
Then Supplier risk, Operational resilience and Management reporting would reuse what it builds: obligations, policies, owners and controls.
The question audit settles where to start, on your own questions. This is a first guess.
a likely place to start
Financial crime
Financial crime, judged on the whole relationship.
Then Customer retention and Supplier risk would reuse what it builds: a risk picture of each customer and supplier.
The question audit settles where to start, on your own questions. This is a first guess.
a likely place to start
Operational resilience
Operational resilience, mapped before the scramble.
Then Supplier risk and Compliance would reuse what it builds: each important service and what it depends on.
The question audit settles where to start, on your own questions. This is a first guess.
a likely place to start
Personal assistant
Your own assistant, with your company's memory.
Then Key-person risk, Management reporting and Compliance would reuse what it builds: who does what, what matters now and the decisions behind it.
The question audit settles where to start, on your own questions. This is a first guess.
You don't have to pick from a list. It starts with a discovery call, then the question audit: about two hundred real questions from your business, answered in writing, showing what a company brain would answer well and which use case to build first, and why. From there each use case is added one at a time, handed over to your team or run for you, and yours either way.