Field Notes
Research notes, dispatches, playbooks, and case studies from a two-person AI-native agency. What we ship, what we learn, and what we're trying to understand.
Featured post
Why JAAX exists.
The origin story of JAAX Labs. Why we built an AI-native agency, the problem with strategy decks, and the bet we made on shipping production code instead of selling PDFs.
Start here.
Three pieces that explain how we work.The AI development company guide.
What "AI development company" actually means in 2026. Four signals that separate operators from deck-writers.
Why 95% of GenAI pilots fail.
A trillion-dollar implementation gap, three named reasons, and the pilot-to-production playbook that fixes it.
The complete Shopify analytics guide.
Every metric Shopify tracks, what each one actually tells you, and how to build a reporting layer that survives a bad week.
Latest.
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May 05, 2026
Shopify Cohort Analysis. How to Build It, Read It, and Use It.
The from-zero guide to building a working cohort analysis for your Shopify store. The actual math, the retention signals, and what bad cohort patterns look like vs. good ones.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
Shopify GA4 Events: Which Ones Work, Which Ones Lie
The seven GA4 ecommerce events, which three are broken by default on Shopify, and how to verify your setup before trusting a single number in your dashboard.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
Why JAAX exists.
The origin story of JAAX Labs. Why we built an AI-native agency, the problem with strategy decks, and the bet we made on shipping production code.
Field Notes -
May 05, 2026
The Shopify attribution gap.
Your Shopify dashboard shows 120 orders. Meta says 45. What's going on, and how to fix your attribution layer.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
The DTC operator's guide to LTV.
Here is the math, and the templates, for DTC customer lifetime value and cohort analysis.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
The definitive guide to Shopify Google Ads conversion tracking.
How to set up server-side Google Ads conversion tracking for Shopify, fix attribution gaps, and build a reliable measurement layer.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
Shopify UTM tracking: How to map every sale to the exact ad click.
A complete guide to UTM parameter strategy for Shopify stores. How to structure your UTMs to fix attribution gaps and power reliable reporting.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
Shopify conversion tracking: The operator's manual for 2026.
The complete guide to setting up resilient, server-side conversion tracking on Shopify that survives ad blockers and ATT.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
The definitive guide to Shopify Facebook conversion tracking.
How to implement the Meta Conversions API (CAPI) on Shopify, bypass the iOS 14 pixel dropoff, and feed the algorithm.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
Shopify attribution models: First-click, last-click, and directional truth.
A guide to understanding attribution models for Shopify stores, moving beyond last-click default reporting, and building a Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) north star.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
What to Look for in an AI Chatbot Development Company. The Version Without the Hype.
Most chatbot demos work. Most production chatbots don't. Here's the gap, and the four questions that separate vendors who understand it from vendors who skip it.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
The AI Transformation Consulting Playbook. What Real Transformation Looks Like vs. What Gets Sold.
Most "AI transformation" engagements are strategy decks that never ship. Here's what real transformation requires - and what to demand from consulting partners at each stage.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
Best AI Consulting Firms in 2026: Beyond the Rankings
Rankings tell you who's biggest. They don't tell you who can actually ship. Here are the 5 attributes that separate firms that deliver working AI from ones that look good on paper.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
Top AI Consulting Firms in 2026: What Rankings Miss
Generic "top AI consulting firms" lists rank by AUM and brand recognition. Here's what those lists miss, the 4 archetypes that actually exist, and the 4 signals that predict a good engagement.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
Custom AI Development vs. Off-the-Shelf: Which You Need
Most companies thinking they need custom AI development actually don't. Here's how to tell which side of the decision you're on - and when to build vs. buy.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
How to Find the Best Machine Learning Consulting Firm for Your Situation.
Finding the best ML consulting firm isn't about picking the most famous name. It's about finding fit. Here are the 5 criteria that predict whether an engagement will actually succeed.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
Machine Learning Consulting Services, Explained
ML consulting covers four very different services. Knowing which one you need saves six months and tens of thousands in wasted spend.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
AI Application Development Services. The Buyer's Checklist Before You Sign.
If you're searching "AI application development services," you're probably 2–4 weeks from signing. Here's what to check first: 5 questions that separate solid engagements from expensive mistakes.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
AI Software Development Services. What You're Actually Buying and What to Expect.
The category is fractured. You're either buying model fine-tuning, agent development, AI integration work, or eval infrastructure - and most vendors are selling strategic theater instead of code.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
How to Set Up Google Analytics for Your Shopify Store. The Version That Actually Works.
Most Shopify GA4 setups are broken by default - double-counting, missing purchase events, no cross-domain. Here's the 4-step setup that avoids all of them.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
Shopify Analytics Reports: What Each One Tells You
A section-by-section breakdown of Shopify's native reports, what each one shows, and the structural ceiling every growing store eventually hits.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
Shopify Analytics Dashboard: Native vs. 3rd-Party vs. Custom
Three dashboard approaches, three ceilings, and a revenue-stage decision framework for knowing which one fits your store right now.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
Shopify Sales Reports: What They Show, Hide, and Miss
Why your Shopify sales numbers and your bank account never quite match - and the three misreads operators make most often.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
Google Tag Manager for Shopify. How to Set It Up Without Breaking Your Tracking.
The 3 script placement spots, why checkout pages require a separate setup, the 2 tags to get right first, and 5 mistakes that crater data quality.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
The Shopify Admin Dashboard. What Each Section Is Actually For.
A strategic lens on how to read the Shopify admin - which panels operators over-use, which they ignore, and what the admin can't surface no matter how hard you look.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
Shopify Inventory Reports: What They Show, What They Miss
Shopify tells you where your stock is. It doesn't tell you if you have the right stock. The 3 gaps that matter and how to fill them.
Playbooks -
May 05, 2026
GA4 Ecommerce Tracking for Shopify. The Setup That Doesn't Lie to You.
The 5 events that matter, two setup paths and their trade-offs, three common mistakes, and how to verify data quality before trusting the numbers.
Playbooks -
May 04, 2026
40% of Agentic AI Projects Will Fail. Here's Why - and How to Fix It.
Gartner predicts 40% of agentic AI projects will be canceled before 2027. Not delayed - canceled. The 5-pillar governance framework that keeps your project in the surviving 60%.
Playbooks -
May 04, 2026
Anthropic vs. OpenAI Enterprise 2026: A Decision Framework
Anthropic now holds roughly 40% of the enterprise AI market. The question isn't which is better - it's which is right for what. Here's the framework we use with clients.
Field Notes -
May 04, 2026
Shopify Server-Side Tracking in 2026: Why Cookies Fail
ITP, cookie deprecation, and adblocker penetration have made browser-side tracking unreliable. Here's what server-side tracking actually requires for a Shopify store in 2026, and what it's worth fixing.
Playbooks -
May 04, 2026
Answer Engine Optimization for AI Consultancies. What Gets You Cited by ChatGPT and Claude.
AI search is changing how buyers find consultants. Here's what we've learned about getting cited by answer engines - and what most agencies are getting wrong.
Field Notes -
May 04, 2026
Shopify Reporting: What the Built-In Reports Don't Show You.
Shopify's reporting suite is solid up to $500k/year. Past that, five specific gaps start costing real money - here's what they are and how to fill them.
Playbooks -
May 04, 2026
Ecommerce Analytics That Actually Drive Decisions.
Most ecommerce analytics setups answer the wrong question. They tell you what the numbers are - not what to do about them. Here's what a decision-grade setup looks like.
Playbooks -
May 04, 2026
What Machine Learning Consulting Costs - And What You Get
Four tiers, named price ranges, and the six questions to ask any ML consulting firm before signing. The version without the sales pitch.
Playbooks -
May 04, 2026
The AI Integration Playbook.
How to wire AI into systems that were built without it - the architecture, the five failure modes, and the decisions that separate production integrations from proof-of-concepts.
Playbooks -
May 04, 2026
What Shopify Analytics Actually Tells You - And What It Doesn't.
Shopify's native analytics answers "what happened." It doesn't answer "why" or "what next." Here's what operators in the seven-figure range build instead.
Playbooks -
May 04, 2026
The Shopify Dashboard Operators Actually Need.
The default Shopify dashboard is built for getting started, not for scaling. Here's what a real-time, decision-grade dashboard looks like for stores doing $500k or more.
Playbooks -
May 04, 2026
The Strong Stochastic Parrots Claim Is Dead.
Three mechanistic evidence lines now cut against the strongest "just surface statistics" framing, even if the calibration warning still stands.
Research Notes -
May 04, 2026
Lost in the Middle Is Three Bugs.
A triage tree for RAG engineers: softmax sinks, RoPE decay, and training-distribution bias each create their own version of the same long-context failure.
Research Notes -
May 04, 2026
Compression Is a Noisy Proxy.
A five-paper tokenizer synthesis showing why compression only works as a stand-in when it happens to track semantic boundary alignment.
Research Notes -
May 04, 2026
Format Is a Hyperparameter.
Why prompt formatting deserves the same rigor as model choice, what it costs in token budget, and how to test it with a real eval loop.
Research Notes -
May 04, 2026
There Is No Code Mode.
A two-channel explanation for why LLMs differ across code, prose, and structured data without requiring separate hidden modes in the architecture.
Research Notes -
May 02, 2026
Why 95% of GenAI pilots fail.
A trillion-dollar implementation gap, three named reasons it widened in 2026, and the pilot-to-production playbook that fixes it. Cite-worthy framing of the MIT NANDA stat.
Field Notes -
May 02, 2026
The AI development company guide.
What "AI development company" actually means in 2026, how to evaluate one, and the four signals that separate operators from deck-writers.
Playbooks
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