2025 Recap

Good morning from the Coast!

Quick housekeeping: last issue was #20, but Beehiiv (the newsletter platform) displayed it as #17 in the header—this one is correctly #21.

This is a year-end reset edition: what 2025 proved (without the hype), what’s shifting heading into 2026, and a one-page Protocol Starter you can request by replying so you can benchmark your position and start January with a clean, confident plan.

TL;DR

• The businesses getting real wins aren’t “using more AI” — they’re shipping a small number of workflows and training the team to adopt them.
• Queensland businesses are engaging with AI, but confidence and capability are uneven, which makes a simple protocol (foundations → safety → ship → adopt) the advantage going into 2026.
• Reply CHECKLIST to get the 2026 Protocol Starter (PDF) + a 2‑minute self-assessment.

Source: The state of enterprise AI - OpenAI

What 2025 proved

Across Australia, the pattern has been consistent: AI _experimentation_ is easy, but outcomes come when AI is built into repeatable workflows with clear standards (what’s allowed, what’s not, and what requires human review).

Recent enterprise data mirrors this: AI usage is accelerating and deepening where it’s integrated into day-to-day workflow systems, and the gap between “leaders” and “laggards” is widening.

Source: The state of enterprise AI - OpenAI

The 2026 shift: from prompts → protocols

In 2026 the constraint won’t be “which model is best.” The constraint is organisational readiness: foundations, governance, workflow ownership, and change management.

That’s why we’re refining our delivery into a clearer protocol. We’ve always offered Done‑For‑You work — now it’s packaged into a tighter, easier-to-follow 4-stage operating system so teams can move from chaos to compounding results without guessing.

Reply to get the 2026 checklist (PDF)

Reply with CHECKLIST and we’ll send you the Tech Horizon 2026 Protocol Starter One‑Pager (printable + forwardable).

To make it genuinely useful, copy/paste these 4 lines in your reply (takes 2 minutes). You’ll get a short recommended next step tailored to your current stage:

• Stack: Google Workspace / Microsoft 365 / Mixed
• Data sensitivity: Low / Medium / High
• Current stage: 0 Foundations / 1 Safety / 2 Ready to ship / 3 Adoption
• January workflow to ship: __________________

3 x 15‑minute wins (do these today)

1) Pick your January workflow (the “one thing”)

Write: “When X happens, we do Y manually, it takes Z minutes, and it happens N times/week.” Choose the highest frequency × time cost. That’s your first workflow to ship.

2) Create your “Never Paste” rule (reduce risk instantly)

Draft a 5-bullet policy for your team: what data can’t go into AI tools (PII/health/financial/legal/client identifiers), and what must be human-reviewed before it goes out the door.

3) Turn one workflow into a repeatable SOP

Open a doc and write: Owner → Inputs → Steps → Output → “What good looks like.” This becomes the backbone for AI assistance, automation, and training.

A note from one of my clients

We are positioned to support the Federal & State Government AI Adoption Initiatives

Queensland Digital Future of Work summary: https://businesschamberqld.com.au/article/2025-digital-future-of-work-report-shows-queensland-businesses-are-cautiously-engaging-ai-but-need-support-to-realise-economic-and-productivity-gains/

Wishing you all a safe and happy holidays, and a great start to the new year!

— Huxley Peckham Tech Horizon Labs

(Reply CHECKLIST to get the one-pager.)