Most AI projects fail for reasons that were visible before anyone wrote a line of code.
I find those reasons first. I write about what I find in The Vela Report, and I fix them for companies who'd rather not learn the expensive way.
Business AI, tested like science. Reported like a friend.
The Vela Report
A newsletter about what actually happens when a real company tries to use AI. Field studies, not predictions. Every issue is something I tested, ran, or took apart.
- Real numbers from real deployments
- The failures too, especially the failures
- Free tools you can use the same day
Consulting
I run the BRIDGE Diagnostic: a structured read on whether your business is ready to spend money on AI, and where the first dollar should go. Then I build the thing, or tell you not to.
- Six pillars, assessed independently
- Fixed scope, fixed timeline
- Your team can run it after I leave
Finding the gap between what a company says it wants from AI and what it's ready to do.
Roughly 85% of AI failures trace back to data and governance, not to the model. That's a boring answer, and it's the reason I ask about your spreadsheets before I ask about your ambitions.
Readiness, honestly assessed
Where your data lives, who owns it, and whether you'd trust it enough to make a pricing decision from it today. If the answer is no, that's the project.
One use case, proven
Not a transformation program. One process, one metric, one accountable owner, and a number at the end that someone in finance will believe.
Handover, not dependency
Documented, trained, and yours. If your team can't run what I built six months after I'm gone, I did the job wrong.
I'm selecting companies for the next round of Vela Report field studies.
I run the full diagnostic on your business at no cost. In exchange, I publish what I learn in the newsletter, with your company named or anonymized, entirely your call.
It's a real trade. You get a rigorous outside read on your AI readiness. I get a case worth writing about. Both of us get something we couldn't get alone.
Apply to be a field studyThe deal, plainly
- What it costs you
- Nothing in money. Two interviews, about 45 minutes each, plus access to whoever knows where your data actually lives.
- What you get
- The full BRIDGE read: where you're ready, where you're exposed, and a prioritized list of what to do first.
- What I get
- Permission to write about it. Anonymized by default. You approve the draft before anything goes out.
- Who this isn't for
- Companies who want a vendor, a proposal, or a second opinion on a decision already made.
Alejandra Vela
I came to AI from biotech research, which is a strange path until you notice that both jobs are the same job: form a hypothesis, design a test that could prove you wrong, and report the result even when it's not the one you wanted.
I hold a post-graduate certificate in AI and Machine Learning Applications for Business from UT Austin McCombs. I work in English and Spanish. I've spent years watching businesses buy software that solved a problem they didn't have, which is most of why The Vela Report exists.
Most AI projects fail for reasons that were visible before anyone wrote a line of code.
I find those reasons first. I write about what I find in The Vela Report, and I fix them for companies who'd rather not learn the expensive way.
Business AI, tested like science. Reported like a friend.
The Vela Report
A newsletter about what actually happens when a real company tries to use AI. Field studies, not predictions. Every issue is something I tested, ran, or took apart.
- Real numbers from real deployments
- The failures too, especially the failures
- Free tools you can use the same day
Consulting
I run the BRIDGE Diagnostic: a structured read on whether your business is ready to spend money on AI, and where the first dollar should go. Then I build the thing, or tell you not to.
- Six pillars, assessed independently
- Fixed scope, fixed timeline
- Your team can run it after I leave
Finding the gap between what a company says it wants from AI and what it's ready to do.
Roughly 85% of AI failures trace back to data and governance, not to the model. That's a boring answer, and it's the reason I ask about your spreadsheets before I ask about your ambitions.
Readiness, honestly assessed
Where your data lives, who owns it, and whether you'd trust it enough to make a pricing decision from it today. If the answer is no, that's the project.
One use case, proven
Not a transformation program. One process, one metric, one accountable owner, and a number at the end that someone in finance will believe.
Handover, not dependency
Documented, trained, and yours. If your team can't run what I built six months after I'm gone, I did the job wrong.
I'm selecting companies for the next round of Vela Report field studies.
I run the full diagnostic on your business at no cost. In exchange, I publish what I learn in the newsletter, with your company named or anonymized, entirely your call.
It's a real trade. You get a rigorous outside read on your AI readiness. I get a case worth writing about. Both of us get something we couldn't get alone.
Apply to be a field studyThe deal, plainly
- What it costs you
- Nothing in money. Two interviews, about 45 minutes each, plus access to whoever knows where your data actually lives.
- What you get
- The full BRIDGE read: where you're ready, where you're exposed, and a prioritized list of what to do first.
- What I get
- Permission to write about it. Anonymized by default. You approve the draft before anything goes out.
- Who this isn't for
- Companies who want a vendor, a proposal, or a second opinion on a decision already made.
Alejandra Vela
I came to AI from biotech research, which is a strange path until you notice that both jobs are the same job: form a hypothesis, design a test that could prove you wrong, and report the result even when it's not the one you wanted.
I hold a post-graduate certificate in AI and Machine Learning Applications for Business from UT Austin McCombs. I work in English and Spanish. I've spent years watching businesses buy software that solved a problem they didn't have, which is most of why The Vela Report exists.