AcademySparksAbout Us

Practical AI, and our take on where it's going

Sparks is where we share what we're learning — practical guidance for getting productive with AI, and honest takes on how the tools, techniques, and economics are evolving.

Abstract Sterla artwork of scattered points of light resolving into an ordered grid, representing undocumented know-how being codified into structured knowledge.
AI for SMEs

Codification is the moat: getting your company's knowledge out of people's heads

Most of what a business knows is undocumented. That's the real blocker to useful AI, and writing it down is the one asset your competitors can't buy.

Hammad Mian7 min
Abstract Sterla artwork showing two diverging paths of glowing particles, one accelerating ahead of the other, representing the widening AI capability gap between teams.
Getting Started with AI

Why your team needs to level up on AI — fast

The gap between teams who use AI well and teams who don't is widening every quarter. Here's why the cost of waiting compounds, and how to start closing it now.

Hayley Lau6 min
Abstract Sterla artwork showing a single glowing path emerging clearly from a cluster of tangled lines, representing finding a clear starting point.
AI for SMEs

AI for small businesses: where to actually start

Most AI advice is written for enterprises with big budgets and data teams. Here's how a small business should actually begin — starting with problems, not tools.

Hammad Mian7 min
Abstract Sterla artwork of a glowing central core with knowledge nodes connecting into it, representing a company's collective knowledge unified into one brain.
Sterla News

How to build your own company brain: lessons from our own attempt

A 'company brain' — an AI that actually knows how your business works — is one of the highest-value things you can build. Here's what we learned building ours.

Hammad Mian8 min
Abstract Sterla artwork of a small bright spark contained within a defined boundary, representing a tightly scoped, time-boxed proof of concept.
AI for SMEs

How to build an AI proof of concept without wasting money

A proof of concept should answer one question cheaply: is this worth doing for real? Here's how to scope one so it earns its keep instead of becoming a money pit.

Hayley Lau7 min
Abstract Sterla artwork of an ascending bar sequence made of glowing particles, representing measurable returns growing over time.
AI for SMEs

How to measure the ROI of AI in a small business

If you can't tell whether AI is paying off, you'll either over-invest in hype or quit something that was working. Here's how to measure it without a finance team.

Hammad Mian6 min