Over the past three decades, I’ve spent my time immersed in technology. Over the past three decades, I’ve worked in a variety of fields, from IT network administration and foundational IT layers to developing sophisticated software at large corporations like AWS and leading transformations on a massive scale. A consistent pattern has emerged from my work with major industry players such as Airbus, AstraZeneca, and Decathlon. Every time I saw grand projects or promising ideas fail, it was never because technology wasn’t up to par, nor were the goals unrealistic. Instead, the failures occurred due to fundamental problems in human dynamics. Lack of alignment, lack of clarity, and erosion of trust among people were what consistently slowed down progress. The story of why I chose to build CapabiliSense instead of just watching the problem.
This is not another startup tale. The mission is the result of many years of frustrations and a strong belief in our ability to improve. Post-mortems rarely blame the software when a project is a failure. You’ll hear instead about resistance to changes, poor communications, and a lack of shared goals. They are confused by the grand strategy and wonder, “How is it going to affect me in my everyday work?” This is a question that many team members ask themselves: “How does this grand strategy affect my daily work?” This type of question, born out of uncertainty and disconnect, can undermine even the brightest ideas. CapabiliSense was created to address this issue, which is human-centric. It fosters clarity by creating bridges between the Vision and implementation.
Most Transformations Failed due to the Human Factor.
The statistics are staggering: 70% to 95% (or more) of all large-scale AI or digital transformations fail to achieve the intended result. Budgets, deadlines, or even the tech stack can be blamed. I’m in the trenches and can tell you that the main culprit, almost always, is the human factor. Lack of alignment between leadership, failure to address risk and compliance concerns early in the process, or even one key stakeholder arriving late in the decision-making process to veto it, can cause everything to grind to a stop. One of the biggest issues I encountered was the absence of a tool that could give a comprehensive, objective, and clear view of your entire organization. Although we had systems for monitoring data, managing processes, and tracking projects, nothing could cut through all the conflicting voices, office politics, or hidden resistance. There was no way for us to understand the cultural, social, and emotional dynamics fully. It was true that a dashboard based on ‘apolitical values’ was needed to highlight conflict, reveal gaps in knowledge, and show what is really going on beneath the surface. I was able to fill this gap, and the idea of capability intelligence took shape.
It was a truly formative experience for me to work at AWS. I particularly enjoyed creating and scaling frameworks of transformation like the Cloud Adoption Framework. I worked on assessments, such as Cloud Maturity Assessment (CMA) and Migration Readiness Assessment (MRA), which were used by thousands of internal teams and clients. The work I did taught me valuable lessons on how structured roadmaps could help large companies accelerate change. The work revealed an important truth, namely that there are no universal solutions. The roadmaps must be tailored for the particular context of each organization. What I found most important was how hard it can be for a solid theoretical framework to become a working, real-world reality. Even if it is well researched, an AI platform driven by AI that can adapt in real time, or even a 200-page static presentation, will be a far cry from any dense, static PDF. CapabiliSense is the result of this insight. It is fundamentally sense that an organization’s capability, its strengths, weaknesses, and hidden potential, to chart the best path. The compass is designed to help bring clarity and trust to the complex organization’s roadmaps. It can be used by all employees, including managers and leaders, as well as teams, and even external vendors.
How to Generate an Idea by Using a Pattern of Repeated Issues
CapabiliSense wasn’t born out of a dramatic, “aha” moment. The repeated failures in different industries drove the slow-burning realization. This routine was painfully familiar. A new transformation initiative began with much enthusiasm. After weeks of gathering data, creating business objectives, and strategic plans, we would finally create a plan. My job was to translate this Vision at a high level into something individual employees and teams could connect and relate with. Then I needed to demonstrate how this grand strategy affected the roles of each employee, explain what they were expected to do, and show why their contributions mattered. I had to constantly bridge the gap that existed between corporate aspirations and actuality.
The more I went through this cycle, the more a question began to grow in my head. This became an ongoing task for my brain: “Why don’t we automate it through a software platform?” As the failure patterns are so well-known and universally needed, translation is so common, technology should be able to provide a more effective and efficient solution. CapabiliSense’s true beginning was this question. CapabiliSense wasn’t born out of a single flash of insight, but rather from repeated experiences over many years. This was the result of numerous meetings, workshops, or difficult conversations that all pointed towards the need to find a better way to handle the human element of an organizational change. My platform is an attempt to convert those lessons I’ve learned into a tool that others can use to avoid the many pitfalls I saw.
A Living Platform: From Frames
CapabiliSense owes its existence to the experience I gained at AWS. When I was working on maturity and transformation assessments, I witnessed first-hand the power of a structured process to bring order to enterprise change. We developed detailed roadmaps and checklists, such as a 12-step guide for building a Cloud Center of Excellence. This helped internal and external teams to gain their bearings. They were very powerful, yet they were static. The documents they were delivered in, which were snapshots from time, quickly became out-of-date. A dynamic world requires an adaptable tool.
CapabiliSense has been designed as an AI-driven, living platform. CapabiliSense takes those lessons and uses artificial intelligence technology to transform them into a dynamic GPS for business. This tool is meant to guide you on your journey, not just to tell you where you stand and what you need to do, but also where your team will be, how much money you have, or even if you can keep your mind. This tool goes far beyond the simple checklist and provides continuous, data-driven insights. This tool allows organizations to understand what their real capabilities are and to identify any potential issues or roadblocks before they escalate. The evolution of a map from paper to an interactive navigation system that reroutes when traffic is detected ahead.
Why build it on Medium?
Why did I choose Medium to tell my story? It’s simple. Authenticity and transparency. Let’s pull back the curtains and reveal the true, unvarnished tale of building a company. This is not just a highlights reel. I’m committed to sharing everything, including the victories, the mistakes, and the pivots. The blog is my place to openly discuss the experiences and lessons that have helped shape this endeavor, as well as detailed stories about transformation programs that both succeeded and failed spectacularly. Since I started my career, I’ve learned a great deal. I find it valuable to share not only successes but also failures.
The platform’s ultimate purpose is to document both the human and the AI side of a startup. In a manner that is more similar to a reality TV show than corporate blogs, I will share honest feedback, my opinions unfiltered, and the hard-won insight gained from this journey. You can follow me along on what will no doubt be an exciting and frustrating journey. Sharing the process with you will help me build both a great product and a strong community that is passionate about solving organizational challenges. This is about building publicly, learning from the collective wisdom, and remaining accountable to that original mission.
The Vision: fostering capability intelligence
CapabiliSense Medium goes beyond sharing stories. It’s about a discipline that I refer to as “capability Intelligence.” The idea is that organisations can do more when they are able to gain a deeper, data-driven insight into their collective abilities, knowledge, and potential. The platform is designed to serve as a center for this new thinking. It combines Vision, utility, and storytelling with technology. The platform is designed to be a hub for this new way of thinking, blending Vision with utility and technology with storytelling. Every article will show how capabilities-sensing can be used to map skills, identify performance trends, and lead people towards smarter and more informed decisions.
The goal isn’t to promote a specific product. The goal is to create a wealth of intelligence upon which other people can build. In time, the collection of articles, case studies, and stories will become a digital archive dedicated to art and science in capability intelligence. Medium is a platform that values substance and depth, so we can ensure that the valuable information will remain visible, available, and helpful for years to come. We want to develop an ecosystem that goes beyond simple content. Knowledge will become a catalyst for real-world actions and improvements.
The Community Driven Learning and Collaborative Approach
CapabiliSense cannot address the human issues that CapabiliSense seeks to solve with technology alone. Progress is only possible with interaction, collaboration, and feedback. It’s also important to cultivate a lively community. The built-in platform ecosystem creates an atmosphere where reader engagement becomes organic and powerful movements can be created from insightful discussions. CapabiliSense is my dream. It will be a hub for developers, researchers, and data scientists to come together and exchange ideas.
This area is reserved for key individuals. The space was created for my “ambassadors,” people who have known me, and those who believe in the mission I am on. The “investors” are all types of people, including those without capital but who will invest valuable time, expertise, and money to assist in the process. Finally, the “transporters” are those who’ve already been down this path: thought leaders and founders. The insights they have gained from past successes and mistakes will be priceless. By engaging in open discussion, sharing stories, and using real examples, the community not only gains knowledge but also actively helps shape capability intelligence.
AI and human collaboration: An Enhanced Approach
CapabiliSense and artificial intelligence are subjects that I’m particularly interested in. Understanding that our model doesn’t replace the human intellect but enhances it is crucial. In our system, AI and creativity are working in harmony. It will be possible to use AI in the platform’s structure to identify patterns or summarize complex insights. The knowledge gained from this system is more easily accessible. But the human factor–creativity, empathy, and strategic thought–remains in the center. AI and writers work together to ensure precision, clarity, and reach.
CapabiliSense is built around this collaborative model. The ability to demonstrate how AI technology can enhance human potential, while not competing with that of humans, is crucial in an age where AI-generated noise and misinformation are on the rise. Content creators will be able to access analytics beyond views and Likes. It’ll provide an ability feedback model to measure how much readers have improved their understanding after engaging with the content. Writing becomes a teaching tool, and reading becomes a learning experience that is measurable, creating a mutually beneficial relationship between creators and audiences.
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It’s Onward: the Journey Continues
How can we expect to move forward? I will provide regular updates in the coming months and weeks. I will share insights on our Minimum Viable Product development, early use case stories by partners and customers, and my evolving views of the AI landscape. You’ll learn how AI has changed my life professionally, and I will share with you how it could change yours in the near future. Expect my candid take on all the opportunities and challenges that come up as we start this AI startup.
It is only the beginning of this journey. CapabiliSense’s ultimate aim is to transform from a simple publishing platform into an integrated global intelligence system. The ecosystem we envision will integrate with corporate and educational learning programs in order to personalize, measure, and make intuitive the skill-development process. The Vision is ambitious, but it’s grounded in an idea that can be easily understood: Turning information into ability, and then capability into meaningful actions. You are welcome to join me on my adventure. We’ll see what happens.
