The STRATA™ Framework

Your Execution Path for Human-Centered, Systems-Aligned AI
A companion to Strategic AI for Real-World Impact and The Clarity Map™

AI isn’t magic.
It’s not automation.
It’s intelligence—shaped by the systems you already have, and the ones you choose to build.

If Strategic AI for Real-World Impact is the vision, and Clarity Map™ is the lens to define what kind of AI your business actually needs, then STRATA™ is the execution path. This is where applied AI becomes embedded into the bones of your business—layer by layer, system by system.

AI doesn’t succeed by being “plugged in.”
It succeeds by being embedded into your operations, your workflows, and your culture.
That’s what STRATA™ does.

What Is STRATA™?

STRATA™ is a practical, systems-aware framework for implementing AI in real businesses.
It guides leaders through six foundational layers—from surfacing operational friction to embedding intelligence into daily workflows and measuring its true impact.

Each layer builds on the one below.
No shortcuts. No black-box magic. Just smart, human-centered adoption—designed to stick, scale, and serve.

Six Layers. One Smart System.

Surface Reality – Reveal how your business really works.
Target Value – Identify the smartest place to start.
Ready the Foundation – Prepare your systems and team.
Activate Intelligence – Build a real pilot that proves value.
Thread into Systems – Make AI part of your operating system.
Assess & Adapt – Track what matters and evolve as needed.

Who STRATA™ Is Built For

STRATA™ is designed for leaders who are ready to stop talking about AI and start integrating it intelligently:

• Although STRATA™ can be applied to businesses of any size, it was designed with mid-market companies in mind—specifically those between $10M–$200M in revenue. Based on my 20+ years of experience, these organizations face a unique blend of operational complexity, resource constraints, and scale pressure that demands a practical, layered approach to AI adoption.
• Teams overwhelmed by manual processes or shadow systems
• Operators and founders seeking scalable AI—not gimmicks or demos
• Organizations who want AI to augment people, not replace them

The STRATA™ Framework: Layer by Layer

1. Surface Reality

Uncover how your business really runs—not how it’s written in a slide deck.

Let’s say you run a $25M equipment rental company. On paper, the operations are “streamlined.” But when we sit with the ops manager, we learn she manually updates three spreadsheets every Friday because the rental system doesn’t sync with invoicing. The process was “temporary” but it’s been three years.

That’s what this layer is for.

You walk the floor. Open the folders. Ask employees, “What do you spend way too much time fixing?”
And you start seeing things:

• Processes that rely on one person’s memory
• Reports that get copied from one Google Sheet to another
• Training that lives in someone’s inbox

This is where we uncover artifacts—evidence of friction. And heuristics—old habits posing as rules.
AI can’t help if you don’t see what’s already broken or invisible.

You’ll produce:

• Friction Map
• Heuristic Report
• AI Opportunity Matrix

2. Target Value

Start where the pain is high, but the fear is low.

Now that you’ve surfaced your real-world friction, it’s tempting to go big. “Let’s automate everything!” But here’s the truth: adoption doesn’t start with ambition. It starts with a win.

For a midsize manufacturing firm, we chose a quoting assistant—not because it was the biggest problem, but because sales was wasting hours per week re-writing the same email answers. The team was already frustrated, already asking for help.

That’s what makes a good first use case.

In this layer, you prioritize by:

• Actual pain — not what leadership thinks is annoying
• Existing trust — teams who are asking for support
• Technical feasibility — things that don’t need perfect data

This is how you avoid shiny-object pilots and get to traction.

You’ll produce:

• Use Case Brief
• Success Metric Plan
• Fit Assessment (using Clarity Map™)
• Prioritization Map

3. Ready the Foundation

Fix what’s fragile before you add intelligence.

You’ve got your use case. But are you ready?

One company wanted to roll out a forecasting model—but when we reviewed their data, we found 38% of historical records were missing timestamps. Another had the right tech, but nobody trusted automation because of a failed rollout last year.

This layer forces you to face those risks. You assess your data, your infrastructure, and your culture.
If the people don’t believe in it—or the data can’t support it—you’re just dressing up a broken system.

Think of this like prepping soil before planting. Without it, the best AI will die on arrival.

You’ll produce:

• Go/No-Go Readiness Report
• Workflow Map
• Risk & Trust Audit
• Culture Survey

4. Activate Intelligence

Don’t go big. Go live.

You’re ready to build. But this is not about a polished platform or AI “launch event.” This is your pilot. A test. One problem, solved meaningfully.

In a logistics firm, the finance team was re-keying customer billing data from PDFs into QuickBooks. We prototyped a document parser that extracted line items and validated them with 98% accuracy. What mattered wasn’t the tech—it was that the billing team asked, “Can we use this tomorrow?”

That’s the goal of this layer:

• Relief, not resistance
• Adoption, not applause

You test your solution with real users, collect feedback, and watch behavior change.

You’ll produce:

• Working Pilot
• Behavioral Usage Notes
• Performance Snapshot
• Before/After Story

5. Thread into Systems

If it’s not built into your rhythm, it won’t stick.

Here’s where most pilots die: nobody owns the thing, and it gets quietly dropped.

That’s why this layer is all about embedding. You turn the pilot into part of the business OS:

• SOPs updated
• AI logic documented
• Training rewritten
• Owners assigned

In a 150-person SaaS company, we helped embed an AI-powered onboarding sequence. But the real unlock wasn’t the tech—it was building it into the manager checklist, the HR portal, and weekly team rituals.

People don’t adopt tools. They adopt processes they trust.

You’ll produce:

• SOP with Embedded AI Logic
• Ritual Plan
• Ownership Map
• Training Flow

6. Assess & Adapt

AI success is a loop—not a launch.

You launched. People are using it. Now what?

This final layer builds your feedback loop: Are people still using it? Is it improving the outcome? Where’s the next opportunity?

In one company, after piloting an AI-generated performance review assistant, 63% of managers said the reviews were more thoughtful—and took less than half the time. That stat alone helped expand AI into peer feedback and internal promotion scoring.

You don’t just track usage. You track impact. And you use what you learn to evolve.

You’ll produce:

• AI Dashboard
• Trust Delta
• Lessons Learned Report
• Expansion Map

Ready to Take the First Step?

• Book a STRATA Diagnostic Call
• Download the STRATA Use Case Kit
• Join a Live Workshop: Layer 1 — Surface Reality
• Take the Quiz: Is Your Business STRATA-Ready?

Or explore Strategic AI for Real-World Impact and Clarity Map™ to get oriented first.

Real-World Insights from STRATA™