--- title: "Notes on AI as a leadership job – Carl-Uwe Würfel" description: "Notes by Carl-Uwe Würfel since 2023: leading an AI transformation, economics, governance and running AI in daily operations, with first version and last update." url: https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes author: Carl-Uwe Würfel --- 1. [Home](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en) 2. Notes # Notes Since 2023 I have been writing down what an AI transformation asks of leadership. Each note shows when it first appeared and when I last revised it. ## Topics 1. [Chief AI Officer](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/chief-ai-officer) 2. [AI in the middle market](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-mid-market) 3. [AI roadmap](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-roadmap) 4. [AI automation](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-automation) 5. [EU AI Act](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-act) 6. [AI visibility](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/geo) 7. [AI governance](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-governance) 8. [AI knowledge management](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/ai-knowledge-management) 9. [Glossary](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/glossary) ## 2026 1. [October 15, 2026**AI answers by language: the market in the query decides** In global categories, naming the market pulls in local sources for AI search, the language doesn't. What 15 Perplexity queries showed, plus a 20-minute check.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/ai-visibility-by-language-market) 2. [August 1, 2026**Shutting down an AI system: keeping it is a decision too** Shut down an AI system when usage, quality, upkeep or a better alternative say so. Four checks for every live system, and a shutdown order that strands nothing.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/when-we-switch-off-an-ai-system) 3. [July 18, 2026**Running AI: catch failures, respond under control** You only catch AI failures if you check availability, output format and business quality separately. Responding under control means putting a limit on retries.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/self-healing-ai-systems) 4. [July 6, 2026**AI cost management: know the cost per call or fly blind** Your AI provider's invoice won't tell you which workflow is spending the money. How to track AI costs per call, budget each app and weigh cost against value.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/controlling-ai-api-costs) 5. [June 1, 2026**AI quality assurance: a glance is not a review** Check AI output in three separate passes: format, source, expert judgment. The sender stays responsible. With a review table and a rule for model switches.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/quality-control-for-ai-output) 6. [May 20, 2026**llms.txt: an overview with clear limits** An llms.txt links a site's key pages with short descriptions for AI systems. It helps them find their way around, but it does not guarantee any citations.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/setting-up-llms-txt) 7. [May 20, 2026**ChatGPT or Claude: judge the model by the task** Whether ChatGPT or Claude fits better shows only in a test on your own task, with scoring set in advance and the full cost of running it in production counted.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/chatgpt-vs-claude-in-production) 8. [May 11, 2026**AI prompts as part of the documentation** Prompts need documenting because they hold business rules. Record the goal, each version with its reason, test examples and who owns the rule in the business.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/prompts-are-documentation) 9. [March 15, 2026**Running AI in production: the pilot is the easy part** An AI pilot proves little. Production starts where others build on the output. How we take AI systems into production, with six questions to ask before you go.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/running-ai-systems-lessons) 10. [February 10, 2026**Build vs. buy AI: only the build got cheaper** Building AI got cheap, running it didn't. When building your own AI pays off and when buying is smarter, with a decision table for the leadership team.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/buy-or-build-ai) 11. [January 12, 2026**OKRs in practice: goals that steer the workday** OKRs only steer the workday when key results measure impact instead of counting activity. How I lead with few goals as COO, and where the method is a poor fit.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/okrs-in-practice) ## 2024 1. [November 28, 2024**Measuring AI ROI: time saved isn 't money saved**Measure AI ROI in hours per deliverable from your own time tracking, review included. Time saved only turns into money once the team puts it to work.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/ai-roi-in-an-agency) 2. [September 3, 2024**AI infrastructure: a pile of tools is not a system** AI infrastructure starts with users, permissions and access for everyone, then tools. Your own layer keeps models swappable and books the cost of every call.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/from-point-solutions-to-ai-infrastructure) 3. [May 14, 2024**AI change management: your team is rarely the problem** AI transformation fails more often for lack of learning time than because of the team. Why pushback is a review brief, and five questions before any new tool.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/leading-a-team-through-ai-transformation) 4. [February 8, 2024**AI pilot to production: pick the tool last** An AI pilot is ready for production once it runs without the pilot team. Plan back from the final handoff: sources, review, access. Pick the tool last.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/first-ai-pipelines-in-production) ## 2023 1. [October 5, 2023**GPT-4 and SEO: looking back at how the work changed** In SEO work, GPT-4 takes over routine work: preparing data, grouping queries, drafting. Checking and deciding stays with the editors. A view from October 2023.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/what-gpt-4-did-to-seo) 2. [June 18, 2023**AI adoption: stop treating it as an experiment** AI adoption is a leadership decision. A subscription for everyone won't do it: settle data, access and review first, then run a focused trial on one workflow.](https://carl-wuerfel.de/en/notes/ai-is-no-longer-an-experiment)