Before We Prioritize, We Need a North Star
The team collected 196 automation ideas, scored them, and grouped them into themes. That work is excellent. Before we turn it into a roadmap, we need a shared vision of where it's all going.
What success looks like today
- Share my vision for AI and automation at Aceable — and have you sharpen it, challenge it, or raise alternatives
- Give the team a clearer picture of where this all ladders — which may influence priorities and expose gaps in the backlog
- Plant the seed on shared infrastructure — work I believe would create leverage across many of our 196 projects
50 million Americans need certifications for the lives they want.
Our customers' lives don't stop at one license. They — and their families — move through careers, switch industries, and pick up new certifications along the way. We've seen this firsthand.
Great foundation. Two things to add.
Phase 1: Backlog Consolidation
196 submissions collected across all functions. Scored, themed, and mapped to strategic objectives.
Phase 2: Grooming
Prioritized by objective. Ownership and cross-theme overlaps being resolved.
A North Star
A shared vision that tells us what we're building toward — and filters what belongs on the roadmap.
Shared Infrastructure
Identify the data and platforms we build once — so we're not building 196 standalone tools.
2028: We launch verticals the way other companies launch blog posts.
- Small, full-stack teams move fast. Capabilities, not titles — engineering, product, design, LX, GTM — blurred edges, minimal handoffs. The team has everything it needs to go end-to-end.
- Some teams build the systems. Others use them to drive results. Platform pods improve the tools. Vertical pods use them to enter markets — from first course to taking market share, autonomously.
- Whether you're a student or a partner, the experience feels like it was built for you — because it literally was. Personalized learning, tools that anticipate what you need, and guidance through every step of the journey. (Product vision is its own conversation — today we focus on the tools that enable it.)
- Each new vertical takes market share faster than the last. The platform, the brand, and the customer base compound — every launch builds on everything that came before it.
It's 2028. We just entered a brand new vertical and launched across all 50 states. How did it happen? Who did what? What did the AI do? How long did it take?
Take 90 seconds — write down your version. Where does this story break? What's the biggest gap between today and that future?
From 10-person relay race to 2-person pod.
Heavy handoffs. Waiting on shared services. Some roles dedicated to one vertical.
Roles blur. AI handles content drafts, QA, images. Fewer handoffs.
Full-stack capabilities. AI-powered shared services handle the rest. Minimal handoffs.
One owns product & customer. One owns growth. Everything else is the platform.
Every project should answer one of these.
1
Does this help us enter and win markets faster?
2
Does this make the product better?
3
Does this let us scale without scaling headcount?
If it doesn't clearly serve one of these, it's not on the critical path.
Map the process. Eliminate steps. Find the constraint. Attack it. Repeat.
Every handoff is a candidate for elimination. Every bottleneck is a target. The machine gets faster with every cycle — not because we work harder, but because we relentlessly remove what slows us down.
Build shared platforms, not point solutions.
Right now, people across Aceable are building automations independently — and that's producing real results. We don't want to slow that down. But we're seeing the same data getting pulled, cleaned, and connected by multiple people independently. The opportunity: identify the shared infrastructure that creates leverage for everyone, while keeping the autonomy that's driving momentum. We don't have all the answers on governance, maintenance, and access yet — Kevin and Allie will need to work through those. But we should start naming the shared layers now.
Competitive Intelligence
One data set. Topic monitoring, gap finding, DMCA, lead enrichment all draw from it.
Course & Product Metadata
What we sell, where, with what requirements. Course building, QA, marketing all reference it.
Regulatory Requirements
By state and vertical. Every course build, update, and expansion starts here.
Learner Data
Performance, behavior, preferences. Feeds personalization, CX, and product improvement.
The roadmap gets a new layer.
This doesn't replace the team's scoring work — it adds a strategic lens on top of it.
From vision to roadmap.
Align on the North Star
Shared vision. Stress-tested by the group. Principles for how we evaluate projects.
Map Shared Infrastructure
Define the 5-7 data platforms. What exists today. What we build first because everything else depends on it.
Re-Evaluate & Sequence
Tag each project: platform, consumer, standalone, or off-strategy. Fill gaps. Sequence for leverage. Publish the roadmap.