About
I’m Paul
Routhier.
I have spent 35 years in software and process automation. I have seen a good process turn good technology into results, and a broken one turn it into a bigger problem. AI is the largest version of that lesson yet. I sit on the NSBA Leadership Council, and when you write to me, I read it and answer myself.
Book a 20-minute call →Send an email →
The short version
Thirty-five years.
One lesson that keeps proving true.
Technology has changed many times in my career. The tools are faster, cheaper and stranger than they used to be. The lesson has not changed: automation multiplies whatever process it is given. Give it a sound process and you get speed you can trust. Give it a confused one and you get the confusion, faster and at scale.
That is why I do not start with the AI tool. I start with the leadership, the decisions and the process, because that is where good results come from. Then AI goes in on solid ground, with a person answering for it.
What 35 years teaches you
Four things I know
that no tool changes.
Decisions come before process, and process before software
Most failed automation projects began with the software. The ones that worked began with a plain answer to “what are we deciding, who decides, and by what rule?”
The exceptions are the process
The manual describes the happy path. The real process lives in the workarounds, the handoffs and the cases nobody wrote down. Automate the manual and the exceptions will find you.
Fix it by hand first
If a process does not work with people doing it, it will not work faster with AI doing it. Simplify, write the rules down, then automate what is left.
Someone must own the result
Every decision that matters needs a named person who can explain it. Technology can inform a decision. It cannot carry the responsibility.
What I do with it
Three ways it shows up.
Leadership to implementation
I coach leaders from outcomes to decisions to process, then to AI. See the coaching process.
Governed AI that works
I built Alexis Oppenheimer, a digital worker that reads and drafts on its own, asks before anything leaves, and keeps a record of every action. It is the approach, working. Meet Alexis.
A voice in Washington
As a Leadership Council member of the NSBA, I take small business concerns about AI to Capitol Hill, so the rules are written with owners in the room. See the advocacy.
How I work
Process and governance first.
Then the tools.
Decisions and process before tools
I start with what you want to be different, who decides, and how the work actually runs. Choosing software comes after that, not before.
A person answers for it
Every AI-influenced decision has a named human owner. AI can inform a decision. It does not carry the responsibility.
Start small, earn trust
One job, clear limits, a record of what happened. When a step has proven safe, you decide whether it runs without asking.
Say it plainly
No jargon and no pitch theater. If AI is the wrong answer for something, or the process needs fixing first, I will tell you.
What clients and colleagues say
“In just sixty minutes, Paul was able to cut straight to the core of all of the issues I’m presently facing in my business and realign my thinking around them.”Charlie Poe, Founder & Principal Coach, 728 Group
“Paul has an uncanny knack of asking you the right question to reveal the barriers to your growth and success.”Mick Holly, Strategic Execution Partner
“His honest, ethical approach to all business decisions will give you peace of mind in all decisions.”Michael Garrison, MBA, colleague of ten years
Proof I practice it
This site runs on the same rules
The inbox for this site belongs to Alexis, my governed digital worker. She reads and drafts, and I approve everything that goes out. The contact page says so openly, and the disclosure page explains how AI is used here.
Where to start
Choose the way in
Leadership teams usually start with an AI governance review. Individual leaders often start with coaching. Read a sample policy first if you want to see how I think.
Start here
One short call.
You leave knowing what to govern first.
Twenty minutes. Tell me what you want AI to do and we decide what it is allowed to do. No pitch theater, and you can stop at any point.
Book a 20-minute call → Or send an email →