Notes from the Field

The discipline begins with observation.

Short, evidence led observations from the evolving landscape of organisational judgement, authority and artificial intelligence. Written for senior leaders who need to understand what is changing before conventional wisdom catches up.

Why Notes from the Field exist

Every engineering discipline begins by observing reality. No individual observes an entire system.

Executives, engineers, regulators and practitioners each see different parts of the same landscape. The Institute compares those observations, identifies patterns, and refines its understanding accordingly.

The purpose is not to collect opinions.
The purpose is to improve collective judgement.

Research establishes theory.
Notes from the Field observe reality.
Neither is subordinate to the other.

Field Note 001

The Horse in the Loop

Human in the Loop tells us that a person remains somewhere within the decision process. It does not tell us whether that person still exercises meaningful authority over the outcome. Those are different things.

5 min
Published June 2026

Field Note 002

The Last to Notice

When AI shifts where decisional authority actually resides, the people formally responsible are typically the last to find out. This is not a failure of attention. It is structural.

5 min
Published July 2026

Field Note 003

Where Did Authority Go?

Tracing what actually happens to decision authority when AI enters a governance system, and why the question is harder to answer than most organisations expect.

5 min
Published July 2026

Field Note 004

The Black Box

Organisations are extraordinarily good at recording who approved a decision, and far less capable of reconstructing how that decision actually came to be. Aviation learned this lesson decades ago.

5 min
Published August 2026
Contribute an observation

If you are seeing something others may not yet have recognised.

The Institute occupies one position. That means it observes one set of phenomena. Every practitioner, researcher, regulator or executive in a different position observes something different, and often something important.

If you are working in an environment where authority moves in ways that are not yet understood, where AI participation is changing how consequential decisions are made, where accountability gaps are becoming visible. The Institute welcomes thoughtful observations.

This is not blogging. This is not opinion. This is the accumulation of disciplined observational records from people positioned to see things differently. Independent observations help strengthen, challenge or refine the discipline.

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