SHIM
Systems Harmonization & Iterative Modernization
SHIM is a workflow-first methodology for AI transformation, built from four years of shipping AI in production across mid-market and Fortune 500 environments. It harmonizes work into a single custom workflow interface, then modernizes it by iteratively adding AI until humans mainly handle exceptions and approvals.
Why we’re publishing SHIM now
For the last four years, we’ve been implementing AI in real operational environments. Along the way, we tried many of the patterns that still dominate conference stages and consulting decks today. Some created isolated wins. Many stalled when they hit real workflows, real adoption, and real integration complexity.
SHIM is the pattern we arrived at after that iteration: unify the work first, then add AI in production, in small increments, until the workflow compounds.
We’re publishing SHIM now because too many organizations are still being pointed toward approaches that sound right on paper but don’t hold up in practice.
SHIM solves two problems at once
Most AI transformation approaches solve for one problem at a time. Some focus on the technical system and ignore adoption. Others focus on change management after the system is already designed.
SHIM is different because it solves both at once.
It creates the technical conditions for AI to succeed, and the human conditions for teams to adopt it. By creating a custom workflow interface first, and then introducing AI gradually inside that workflow, SHIM gives organizations a path that is both operationally sound and organically adoptable.
That is what makes it simple. And that is what makes it work.
The SHIM method
Harmonize first. Modernize iteratively.
At its core, SHIM creates a custom workflow interface for a process so the team can do ~95% of the work in one place while existing systems remain systems of record.
Identify the company’s most important operational processes, assess their impact, and prioritize the first Tracks to transform
Build a custom workflow interface for each Track that becomes the primary place the work happens and connects to your existing systems.
Add AI in production, every 2–4 weeks, to the slowest, most repetitive, and most painful parts of the Track.
Expand across Tracks, deepen automation, and move toward multi-agent operations with humans focused on exceptions and approvals.
Everything you need to start
without committing to a monolithic AI platform.
SHIM is the method. TrackFrame™ is our implementation accelerator.
It gives teams enterprise-grade guardrails, integration patterns,
and AI-accelerated delivery so SHIM can ship in weeks, not quarters.
Two ways to adopt SHIM
Use the Guide, Checklist, and Artifact Pack. Start with one Track. Iterate. Scale.
We lead the SHIM Sprint → ship production Tracks → compound improvements with the SHIM Loop.
Get SHIM Updates
New versions, new templates, and real-world lessons from shipping SHIM in production.