The AI Leader's Weekly Playbook
One short, tactical AI playbook in your inbox every Tuesday. Real workflows, real numbers, no hype.
Free for founders and operators. Be one of the first on the list — no spam.
Every Tuesday You Get
1 tactical AI workflow you can implement that day
Tool picks — what's actually worth using (and what's hype)
Real numbers from my own AI experiments — costs, time saved, results
No fluff — 5-minute read, zero filler, straight to the point
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
What it is
The AI Leader's Weekly Playbook is a free weekly newsletter for founders and operators using AI to grow their businesses. Every Tuesday morning Central Time, one short issue lands in your inbox covering a tactical workflow, an honest tool pick, and the real numbers behind what's working. Written by Justin McKelvey, fractional CTO. The same content his clients see in weekly calls — without the consulting fee.
Who this is for
If you're a founder
You're running a $1M-$50M business and you keep hearing "you need to be using AI" without anyone telling you specifically what to use it for. The Playbook gives you one workflow per week that's worth trying — sized for a real business with real constraints.
If you're an operator
Your team is paying for ChatGPT, Claude, and four other AI subscriptions nobody's opening. You need to know which tool earns its cost and which workflow should adopt AI first. The Playbook ships the prioritization for you.
If you advise founders
You're a fractional, consultant, or product leader who needs to point clients at concrete AI workflows. The Playbook is a free reference you can share — written by another fractional CTO, with the same shorthand and same opinionated tool picks.
Recent issues
Issue · "Your team isn't opening the AI tools you bought"
The two-camp problem and the one-workflow seven-day fix
The most common AI question I get from $4K/month AI-stack CEOs is whether they should "actually be using AI yet." The honest answer is almost never the one people want. This issue walks through the two camps every business owner falls into, the one workflow to test this week, and the three questions to ask at the end of seven days.
Upcoming · "Your AI stack is a graveyard"
A four-question audit to cancel half your AI subscriptions
Most teams I work with cancel 30-50% of their AI subscriptions and feel better immediately. The issue is breadth, not budget — paying for ten tools used shallowly always beats paying for two used deeply. This issue is the exact four-question audit I run with clients.
Upcoming · "I cancelled $1,200/mo in AI subscriptions last week"
What survived, what didn't, and the pattern that surprised me
I ran the audit from the previous issue on my own stack. Going in I was paying $1,247/month across ten tools. Coming out, $60/month across three. This issue walks through the kept-vs-killed list with real numbers and the unifying principle behind which AI tools earn their place and which don't.
About the writer
Justin McKelvey, fractional CTO
15 years building products, 50+ shipped, $53M+ in revenue generated for clients. Currently a fractional CTO and AI co-founder for $1M-$50M founders who want senior technical leadership without the $300K hire. I write this newsletter because every week I have the same three conversations with clients about AI — and I'd rather give the playbook away once than charge consulting hours to repeat it ten times.
Based in Austin, TX. Work shows up on the blog, in the free AI readiness checklist, and via strategy calls for founders who want a second pair of eyes on what they're building.
Frequently asked
- How often does it send?
- Once a week, Tuesday morning Central Time. Sometimes a second issue if there's something time-sensitive worth getting in front of, but never more than two in a week.
- What kinds of AI workflows does it cover?
- Practical workflows for real businesses: AI tool stack audits, the one-workflow seven-day adoption framework, customer support automation, first-draft generation for proposals and emails, meeting summary handling, sales follow-up sequences, and the readiness checklist framework for assessing where AI actually fits. Each issue is one workflow — not a survey.
- Is it really free?
- Yes. Free now, free always. No paid tier, no upsell sequence at issue #10, no "premium content unlock." If you want to work with me directly, the door to free strategy calls and paid AI Readiness Assessments stays open — but the newsletter doesn't gate behind them.
- What's the difference between this and the AI Readiness Checklist?
- The AI Readiness Checklist is a 30-question self-assessment you take once — it scores your business and tells you where to focus. The Weekly Playbook is the ongoing tactical reading list for actually executing once you know your gaps. Most subscribers do the checklist first, then keep reading the newsletter for the specific workflows.
- Can I unsubscribe?
- Every email has an unsubscribe link in the footer. One click, you're out. Gmail's built-in unsubscribe button works too (the `List-Unsubscribe` header is set per RFC 8058). No friction, no win-back sequences.
Tuesday mornings, in your inbox.
One tactical AI playbook per week. Free. Drop your email and you're on the list.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.