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AI over-promised us better lives and easier work. We've already seen how "easier" meant "done" in the form of layoffs. And so many folks have used AI as a listener. So life is better? Agents are trained with certain ideas about how to engage human users. How to be helpful. How to solve problems. How do they make it feel better and easier? They remove friction. One of the peskier aspects of humans, friction. In the eyes of some, it's expensive. Conflict, differences of opinio

Many nonprofits are small crews of one-person departments, so we get accustomed to doing things alone. We've always done our best with what we've had, but the work never ends. AI has imposed its pace on all of us. We don't get to choose when our software changes anymore, so keeping up isn't so much a challenge as another daily demand. Maybe you're feeling FOMO. Maybe you're feeling FAFO. My guess is you're seeing a whole lot of SNAFU. And somehow, you're expected to keep up l

Look closely. They may not have all the answers, or even the strongest building materials, but they've figured out something important: there's strength in sharing the work. Two Cents has spent the last four years building a solid foundation of integrated apps, practical tools, and data management solutions for affordable housing. We're inviting affordable housing nonprofits, your staff, leadership, and managed IT partners to explore what's possible with the Microsoft licens

At Two Cents we've spent the last few years immersed in building a collection of integrated apps for the affordable housing industry. We've taken the time to build it well. Now we're looking for neighborhood nonprofits ready to take a safe first step toward better technology as part of a cohort willing to learn, experiment, and figure things out together. This isn't just another app. It's a vision. Time to put data in its proper place. And the more of us who participate,

Working with AI is a little like training a dog. Hear me out -- You bring home a puppy. It wants to be good. It's attentive and eager and it watches you for cues. You are filled with love and joy. You feel like a kid and you can't help but collapse into the most playful mode you've felt in years. This puppy is adorable. The most adorable puppy ever. Those eyes. Those paws. The way he trips over himself trying to reach you. You take seventeen photos in the first hour and post

Cloudflare went down this morning for a few hours. ChatGPT, X, and Anthropic vanished from the internet for millions of users. "What is Cloudflare?" most of the population wondered. I had my eye on Copilot, which kept working -- even though it's built on OpenAI's tech. This is a great example of one of my goals for Two Cents: to act as translator and mentor for nonprofit staff who are not steeped in tech savviness. For three years I've been in a master class studying "the

You don't need another mascot while you're still trying to figure out the basics. Microsoft is a powerful ecosystem, but their infinite menu of options can be a set-up for failure. Even the best-equipped IT department and the most engaged and motivated staff can fall into the trap of polarizing into a culture of blame. One department resents the others for not doing their part or not trying hard enough. The good news: this is predictable. And preventable. I'm not a Microso

This is not a team. Let’s be honest: it's common for dysfunctional patterns to emerge at work, and patterns are hard to break. Sometimes...

As exciting as it's been to train my own personal virtual agent "Kitt" to help me run my small business ... I am all about human...

Two Cents Consultants: Solutions for Affordable Housing Bring us your tired, your poor, your huddled spreadsheets yearning to be free —...