My brother tried to show me the future a few years ago. He's an early adopter; I'm usually the skeptic. He was showing me how he could use Gemini to book flights and manage life admin.
I felt pretty validated when the tool failed to understand basic requests and made mistake after mistake. I figured the hype was exactly that.
That changed about six months later.
I attended a workshop at Autohive, an AI agent company in Wellington. Seeing the actual foundational use cases for this technology as it started to improve was a massive wake-up call. Back then, it was all about prompt engineering and building personas. Today, it's moved beyond that. It's now about collaboration, conceptualising problems, and discerning "slop" from actual value.
I became obsessed. I've spent countless hours building agents, testing ideas, and failing fast to figure out how this technology actually unlocks value for a business.
The Problem With "Tech First"
I realised through this process that there is a massive gap in the market. Small businesses see the headlines about AI productivity gains, but they don't have a clear path to reach them. Most "experts" focus on the tool itself. But technology is only as good as how it is adopted and used.
All change is people change. If you don't meet people where they are, the most advanced AI in the world is just expensive noise.
A Different Kind of Background
I didn't start in a cubicle. Before I got into tech, I worked in farming, fast-food restaurants, and the trades. I also played sport at a high level. Later, while facilitating a grad program at a global tech company, I had the chance to observe vastly different ways of problem-solving across various teams.
That varied background is what set me up for this venture. It taught me that while every industry is different, the "universal challenges" of business are often the same. I've developed the breadth necessary to ask the right questions and design solutions that are simple and customer-centric.
My Philosophy: Apply Sparingly
In my previous work, I ran large-scale sessions on using AI, but the real wins came from targeted training. We were able to save individuals hours of work every single week.
The trick isn't to use AI for everything. My approach is simple:
Break down the problem: Get to the root of what you're actually trying to solve.
Identify strengths: Pinpoint exactly where AI can outperform a manual process.
Apply sparingly: Use the tech effectively while controlling for the risks.
I started Plain Logic because I genuinely believe small businesses can now access game-changing support that hasn't existed before. I'm not here to sell you a magic wand. I'm here to help you build a process that actually works for your people.
Jasper Irvine
Founder, Plain Logic