Notes from the Aether team
Short writing on building consulting tooling, living with client context, and what we're learning from design partners.
·Rui LuísMost Consulting Firms Don't Have a Knowledge Problem. They Have a Retrieval Problem — and It's Costing Them Compounding Advantage
The retrieval problem consulting firms face costs a 15-person firm $87K/year in billable capacity — not because knowledge isn't captured, but because it can't
narrative
·Rui LuísThe True Cost of Context Recovery in Small Consulting Firms (And Why It Gets Worse Every Time You Add a Tool)
Consulting firm context recovery silently absorbs 20–40% of billable-feeling hours. Here's the full cost model by firm size — and why your tool stack is making it worse.
pain
·Rui LuísDecision Velocity: Why Speed on Client Decisions Is the KPI Consulting Firms Ignore—and Why It Matters More Than Utilisation
Consulting decision velocity—how fast your firm answers client questions—predicts profitability better than utilisation. Here's the architecture that makes it possible.
narrative
Your tools are filing cabinets — nobody's reading what's inside
Consulting firms pay $47K/year to store knowledge and $450K/year to retrieve it. The real cost isn't your SaaS stack — it's the human middleware filling the gap between tools.
The Hidden Cost of Poor Knowledge Management in Consulting Firms (and How to Calculate Yours)
Consulting firms lose $12K–$100K+ annually to scattered client knowledge. Learn the three failure modes driving the Recall Tax and how to calculate your firm's cost.
Why every consulting firm will need a knowledge management system by 2032
The shift from model quality to prompt quality means consulting firms need a context layer — a system that knows your clients. Here's why 2032 is the deadline.
Why consulting client handovers fail (and what it actually costs your firm)
Three real scenarios where consulting firms lost revenue to scattered client knowledge. The handover problem isn't about people — it's about missing infrastructure.
How to deploy AI agents in your consulting firm (without making the GM mistake)
Most consulting firms deploy AI agents like GM — replacing humans. The Toyota approach uses agents to unlock capability. Here's how to tell the difference and why it matters.
Why small consulting firms are the best use case for AI operations tools
Three reasons consulting firms are uniquely suited for AI operations: data density, quantifiable costs, and multi-person-per-client complexity. Here's the thesis.
Why your consulting firm scales headcount but not profit (and what to do instead)
Three hidden friction points — the Ghosting Gap, Reporting Lag, and Recall Tax — explain why growing consulting firms scale labor costs faster than profit margins.