For leaders responsible for services, operations and communities

Understand your
organization before
deciding where AI fits.

New Manual helps Canadian organizations understand their priorities, people, work and constraints—then determine where AI can create value, what responsible use would require and where it does not belong.

New Manual field map with a gold route
Your organizationWhere AI fits
New Manual / practical AI adoptionIssue 01 · begin with the work

What this practice is

New Manual is a field practice led by two principals in British Columbia, working across Canada.

Jason Carroll brings an operating and implementation lens. Sagar Saxena brings a community, partnership and economic-development lens.

Together, they help leaders understand the organization as a whole, identify where AI may be useful and build the conditions for sound decisions and responsible adoption.

Who New Manual works with

Organizations, partner networks and people.

Each route explains the work New Manual does for that group.

01

Organizations

A clear view of where AI fits—and where it does not.

For businesses, governments, nonprofits, educational institutions and operating teams. Understand the organization, identify worthwhile opportunities and set a practical direction.

Read the organizational pathway
02

Partners

A program built around a network that already exists.

For associations, agencies, institutions and community organizations that know who needs support, what local constraints matter and how people can be reached.

Read the partner model
03

People

Live learning anchored in one task the participant knows.

For workers, founders, graduates, career changers and people adapting to changing work. Practice, compare, check and document before claiming capability.

Read the learning formats

Work order · organizations

Your organization. The whole picture. A practical direction.

The engagement begins with the organization, not a software shortlist or a predetermined pilot. Each phase sharpens the choices available.

Read the full 90-day pathway
  1. Days 01–15
    Understand the organization

    Mandate, priorities, people, services, current use, constraints and intended outcomes.

  2. Days 16–30
    Map where AI may fit

    Opportunities are considered across the organization, with value, feasibility and consequences made explicit.

  3. Days 31–60
    Assess what each option requires

    People, data, governance, technology, partnerships, procurement and change capacity.

  4. Days 61–90
    Set the direction

    Pilot, prepare, redesign, procure, build capability, pause or decline—with owners and reasons recorded.

The file should contain

01

Organizational picture

The mandate, people, services, operating realities and outcomes that matter.

02

Current-use map

Where AI is already being used, formally or informally, and what that reveals.

03

Opportunity portfolio

Potential uses compared by value, feasibility, consequence and organizational fit.

04

Capacity profile

The people, data, governance, technology and partnerships needed to proceed well.

05

Practical roadmap

Priorities, owners, next steps and the reasons to act, prepare, pause or decline.

THE STOP RULE / VALID OUTCOME

“No AI” is a successful decision.

Stop when value is weak, a simpler alternative is better or risk cannot be reduced to an acceptable boundary.

Read the method →

The method

A sequence for getting from interest to a sound organizational direction.

The MANUAL Method moves through organizational context, capacity, value and risk, the right next step, operating practice and review. It guides an engagement; it is not a maturity score, a certification or a promise that AI is the answer.

Read the MANUAL Method

The principals

Jason Carroll
& Sagar Saxena

Jason leads workflow design, implementation and measurement. Sagar is a community builder, entrepreneur, impact investor and technology advocate who connects traditional industries, emerging technologies and community development.

Meet Jason and Sagar
From AI Interest to Adoption Capacity — New Manual's field guide
Field guide 01 / adoption capacity

The field guide

From AI Interest to Adoption Capacity

The longer argument behind the practice: how to assess a real use case, specify an evidence contract and build the conditions needed to carry a useful result forward.

Read the field guide Download PDF ↓

The starting-point brief

Describe your organization.

Name the mandate, the priorities, the people involved, where AI is already appearing and the questions leadership needs to answer. Keep the output as a brief for the first conversation.

Prepare the brief