I came to AI from the operator's chair.

For 4.5 years I ran marketing and supply chain for a 27-store RV network. It was a complicated, seasonal, inventory-heavy business, and the decisions I made showed up directly on the bottom line — so I had to answer for them when they didn't work.

Somewhere along the way I started building with AI. This was early — before the tools could really code, back when you had to fight them to get anything useful out. I built a little internal app to solve a problem that was bugging me, and it kept growing until it turned into a tool that was integrated into the company's day-to-day operations. That's when it clicked: this stuff could actually change how a business runs — not someday, right now.

And that's the part that bugs me about how AI is being sold right now. It's pitched as one magic thing that does everything for everyone — and the message underneath is always "because you can use it here, you should." So companies chase cool tools into every corner of the business, the tools get built, and... nothing really changes. Cost doesn't drop. Margin doesn't move. The bottom line looks exactly the same.

I started Hoven to do the opposite. Not AI everywhere — AI in the places where it actually moves the needle. I can do that because I've sat on both sides: I've made the operating decisions that live or die on the P&L, and I've built the tools that change them. Finding the right problem is an operator's skill. Building the solution is a builder's skill. The work only pays off when the same person can do both.

AI shouldn't be everywhere — not yet. Right now the win is finding the one or two places it moves the business most, and putting it there. Spraying it across everything isn't just wasteful; it's risky. The models are going to change, and a company that built itself on AI everywhere is one price increase away from real trouble. Point it at the right places, move the business, and stay light enough to adapt.

That's the whole idea behind Hoven. Find the right problem. Build the solution. Move the business — and not much else.