# Chaparral Software

> Independent AI diagnostics and consulting firm, founded 1986. Russ Kohn, Principal. Forty years building production systems — now helping people and organizations find ground truth in their AI implementations. Offers Ground Truth Assessment, an independent technical diagnostic for founders, executives, and PE/VC firms evaluating AI initiatives.

## Services

- [Ground Truth Assessment](https://chapsoft.com/ground-truth): Independent AI technical diagnostic for non-technical buyers. Structured discovery and analysis pipeline producing a Claim Register, Landscape Scan, Gap Map, Campaign Plan, and Velocity Check. Weeks, not quarters. Three case studies: enterprise platform (41 phantom API endpoints, pricing vulnerability), civic org spec (architectural impossibility), and a vibe-coded business tool (5 field failures found over coffee).

## Dispatches

- [Shifting Ground — Dispatches](https://chapsoft.com/dispatches): Publication on navigating the AI transformation. 3-4 dispatches per month.
- [Fog](https://chapsoft.com/dispatches/fog): On navigating uncertainty when the ground shifts — professional identity in the age of AI disruption.
- [The Garden Timer](https://chapsoft.com/dispatches/the-garden-timer): When your tools start thinking, what happens to the gardener? On expertise, displacement, and what remains.
- [The Twenty Percent](https://chapsoft.com/dispatches/the-twenty-percent): What's left for experienced professionals when AI handles 80% of the work? The answer isn't what you'd expect.
- [Why AI Projects Fail](https://chapsoft.com/dispatches/why-ai-projects-fail): What the evidence says when you actually trace the citations. Only 5–12% of organizations achieve significant AI impact. The difference isn't the technology — it's structured assessment before committing.
- [The Moat Is the Harness](https://chapsoft.com/dispatches/the-moat-is-the-harness): The competitive advantage isn't the AI model — it's the governance, verification, and orchestration layer around it.

## Cairns

- [Technical Cairns](https://chapsoft.com/cairns): Trail markers — short technical notes, lessons learned, and observations from building production AI systems.

## About

- [About Russ Kohn](https://chapsoft.com/about): 40-year career journey from databases to web to cloud to AI. Chaparral Software, founded 1986, and contact information.

## Key Topics

- Independent AI project assessment and second opinions
- AI career navigation for non-technical professionals
- Knowledge graphs and orchestration pipelines
- MCP (Model Context Protocol) tools and AI-native development
- Production AI vs AI hype — what actually works
- AI strategy for founders and executives

## Feeds

- [All Content RSS](https://chapsoft.com/feed.xml): Combined feed with dispatches and cairns. Full text in content:encoded.
- [Dispatches RSS](https://chapsoft.com/dispatches/feed.xml): Long-form dispatches only.
- [Cairns RSS](https://chapsoft.com/cairns/feed.xml): Short technical trail markers only.

## Optional

- [Full content index](https://chapsoft.com/llms-full.txt): Extended version with dispatch summaries and Ground Truth Assessment methodology overview.