Operator and technical lead
Jason Santiago
Jason Santiago is the operator and technical lead of Fox & Santiago. He specifies each workflow on site, builds the tool, and owns deployment, telemetry and the platform. He is the author of Let the AI Be Smart.
What he does
Specifies each workflow on site, builds the tool, and owns deployment, telemetry and the platform. Author of Let the AI Be Smart.
The WERCS work
Before Fox & Santiago took on clients, Jason built a full replacement system for WERCS that the team did not adopt, then the small daily tools they did. That case, and what it taught, is on the proof page.
The book
Let the AI Be Smart: How to Turn What You See Into Work You Can Ship (Independently published, 2026-07-03). The book sets out the Council Method this firm uses wherever AI touches a decision: Several AI models answer the same question separately, so none can copy another. Each then sees the others' answers and must defend or correct its own, backing every claim with a source you can open, because agreement alone is not proof. One model writes a verdict that keeps only what survived, and a person signs it. More about the book.
Patent
Patent application pending (provisional application filed December 2025).
Elsewhere
Written by Jason (168)
- Answers
- Map your workflow: the Bridge
- Contact us
- Operational failure patterns
- Field notes
- Problem guides
- How we work
- Industries
- Integrations: working with the software you already run
- Press kit
- Privacy
- Proof: the WERCS case
- Security and data handling
- Service areas: the Inland Northwest and the whole United States
- Services: workflow tools and practical AI for field operations
- Calculators
- What an operator-led workflow deployment firm is
- Workflow deployment firm or global consultancy?
- Workflow deployment firm or a full-time AI director?
- Workflow deployment firm or software development boutique?
- Field-to-office workflow automation
- Job completion to invoice: billing that follows the work
- Custom workflow software for field operations
- AI implementation for operations teams
- Workflow automation in Moscow, Pullman and Lewiston
- Workflow automation anywhere in the United States
- The re-entry trap
- The handoff gap
- The invisible queue
- The exception swamp
- The field-to-office split
- Approval drag
- The accounting system and the field app don't talk
- After-hours calls go nowhere
- Billing disputes take weeks to resolve
- Callbacks and warranty work aren't tracked
- Certifications expire without warning
- Change orders wait days for sign-off
- Closeout paperwork drags on for months
- Crew assignments change without telling anyone
- Crews arrive without the right parts or equipment
- Crews learn tomorrow's schedule in the morning
- Customer complaints get lost
- Customer sign-off is missing on finished work
- Customers call asking when the crew is coming
- Customers hear different answers from different people
- Customers hear nothing after the visit
- Daily reports from job sites are late or missing
- Dispatch depends on one person
- The same customer exists three times in your systems
- Email has become the approval system
- Emergency calls wreck the planned schedule
- Estimates don't match actual job costs
- Extra work done in the field never gets billed
- Field photos get lost or can't be found
- Finished work waits for pickup or delivery
- Inspection records are incomplete
- Invoices go out days after the work is done
- Job costing arrives after the job is over
- Finding out a job's status takes a phone call
- Job tickets reach the office late
- Jobs need a second trip to finish
- Jobs wait in the shop for missing information
- Material costs never reach the job cost
- Month-end close takes weeks
- New customers take too long to set up
- New hires take months to learn the process
- Nobody can see margin by job
- Nobody knows what is in the warehouse
- Nobody knows who approved what
- Open quotes never get followed up
- Overdue invoices have no next action
- Overtime is a surprise at payroll
- Reports for the owner are built by hand
- Parts get ordered twice
- Parts used on jobs never reach the invoice
- Pay applications take days to assemble
- Preventive maintenance visits keep slipping
- Project documents can't be found when the crew needs them
- Schedule and budget reports are always out of date
- Project status lives in one person's head
- Punch lists never close
- Purchase approvals leave crews waiting
- Purchase orders get created after the invoice arrives
- Questions to the engineer or owner go unanswered
- Quote requests go unanswered in a shared inbox
- Quotes and invoices don't match
- Quotes take too long to go out
- Reorders happen only when something runs out
- Repeat customers have to explain their site every time
- Rework isn't recorded
- Safety and compliance paperwork is always behind
- Promises made by sales never reach the crew
- Time-off and schedule change requests get lost
- Service agreements renew late or not at all
- Service reports take hours to write up
- Shop priorities change by whoever shouts loudest
- Shop travelers go missing
- Site visit notes never reach the estimator
- Special-order parts get lost after they arrive
- Spreadsheets became the system of record
- Subcontractors don't know what was agreed
- Technician hours don't match timesheets
- The business stops when one person is out
- The cash forecast is a guess
- The crew won't use the new system
- The schedule falls apart by mid-morning
- The shop doesn't know what the field needs next
- Timecards need a supervisor to chase them
- Tools and equipment go missing between jobs
- Truck stock never matches the system
- Two systems show different numbers
- Vendor invoices don't match purchase orders
- Vendor returns and cores never get credited
- Vendor warranty claims never get filed
- Work orders arrive without drawings or specs
- What a custom workflow tool costs, and why
- Your first AI tool may not have a chat box
- Why the big system never got used
- Why adoption guarantees are rare, and how ours works
- What the crew means when it says the system is too slow
- How to choose the first workflow to fix
- Build, buy or bridge: choosing how to fix a workflow
- A demo is not an operational tool
- Why the COO should own deployment, not IT
- When not to use AI in field operations
- What you should own at the end of a software project
- What a Workflow Spec actually contains
- The Council Method on a shop floor
- How to run a one-week workflow audit yourself
- Questions to ask before hiring an AI consultant
- How to tell whether a crew really uses a tool
- Commercial roofing contractors
- Electrical contractors
- Environmental and remediation service companies
- Equipment rental and service companies
- Facilities maintenance companies
- Fire protection and life safety contractors
- HVAC and mechanical contractors
- Industrial finishing and coatings companies
- Industrial service companies
- Plumbing contractors
- Specialty manufacturers
- Utility and infrastructure contractors
- Can a Spec end in a no?
- Do you replace our existing software?
- Do you use AI in every tool?
- Do you work remotely?
- How do site visits work?
- How do we get started?
- How long does a Production Build take?
- How much does a Workflow Spec cost?
- Is the Spec fee credited against the Build?
- What counts as adoption?
- What does a Production Build cost?
- What happens after launch?
- What happens if the crew does not use the tool?
- What is a Workflow Spec?
- What is Embedded Adoption?
- What is the access gate?
- What is the clock policy?
- What work do you decline?
- Where does our data go?
- Who owns the tool you build?
- The cost of retyping calculator
- Invoice lag calculator
- Approval wait calculator
- Second trip calculator