Frameworks & Research
The thinking behind the advisory work
Every framework here came out of client work or the classroom, not a whiteboard. Each one is something I use with finance leaders, published in full so you can pressure-test it before we ever talk. The writing underneath is where the ideas get worked out.
Frameworks
Evergreen, published in full
The Deals Desk
A front-line, pre-signature technical accounting function that shapes contract terms before they are signed, so revenue is protected while it is still cheap to fix.
The AI Adoption Method
Five moves for putting AI to work in finance without losing control of the numbers: Map it, Split it, Fuel it, Guard it, Review it.
The AI Readiness maturity model
A maturity matrix that scores your organization across five weighted dimensions, from strategy to execution to risk, on a five-level scale from None to Best in class.
The Integration Blueprint
An owner-side framework for planning an ERP or systems integration: a seven-phase assessment, five decision gates, ten workstreams, a live partner scorecard, and a cost calculator.
The AI-Augmented SOX Framework
Replicate GRC platform capability with your team, AI, and targeted consulting: fifty SOX 404 steps across nine phases, a 24-capability feature-parity matrix, and a live economics calculator.
AI Foundations for Finance
A hands-on deck for finance and accounting teams: what an LLM is, tokens and context, the shift from chat to agents, skills, and the AI Adoption Method. Play the reconciliation game, then keep the whole thing.
The Founder Archetype
A 36-question diagnostic that maps how a founder leads across five dimensions, then matches the advice to the founder rather than the other way around.
AI in Finance: Statistics
Sourced, dated statistics on AI adoption in corporate finance and accounting: adoption rates, productivity findings, CFO surveys, talent, and spend, each linked to its primary source.
The frameworks, drawn
The method, the matrix, and the maturity model
- 1
Map it
Describe the finished artifact first
- 2
Split it
Separate the deterministic from the judgment
- 3
Fuel it
Give the model the minimum clean context
- 4
Guard it
Run the red-lines check before data moves
- 5
Review it
The person who signs it still owns it
Execution and Impact carries the most weight because adoption that does not change outcomes is not adoption. The composite renormalizes over the dimensions you answer, so a partial assessment still reports an honest score rather than an artificially low one.
Career Changer
Capital without context
Primed Founder
Best-resourced position
Aspiring Founder
Highest-risk quadrant
Bootstrap Expert
Skill without runway
Career Changer
Capital without context
Primed Founder
Best-resourced position
Aspiring Founder
Highest-risk quadrant
Bootstrap Expert
Skill without runway
Goal orientation, from lifestyle to growth, splits each quadrant into two, producing the eight archetypes above. The matrix diagnoses founder context so advice can be matched to the founder’s resources, goals, and constraints. It does not predict venture success.
More frameworks, from the courses
Taught in the Academy
The Venture Economics Framework
A layered read on the economic quality of a venture, from problem-solution fit through unit economics, rolled into a single Venture Viability Scorecard.
MARCS forecasting
A discipline for building forecasts that hold up: Measurable, Aspirational, Realistic, Controllable, Sequenced.
The AI governance one-pager
The red-lines check, the data-tier rules, and the five-point human review that keep AI work defensible. A single printable page.
The prompt-pattern library
The recurring finance workflows drawn as input, AI step, human checkpoint, and finished artifact, each with a working prompt template.
The workflow-maturity dashboard
A self-scored rubric that maps a finance team against the eight capabilities behind putting AI to work in the close, the forecast, and the memo.
Writing
All writing and talks- LeadershipBefore You Advise a Founder, Diagnose the GameA practitioner framework for matching advice to founder context, built on the Founder Archetype Matrix and three diagnostic questions.May 14, 2026
- AI & FinanceClaude Cowork and Skill Packs for FinanceA practitioner's guide to Claude Cowork and Skill Packs. How AI-powered workflows are transforming financial close, reconciliation, and reporting.March 25, 2026
- AI & FinanceClaude Can Now Build Visuals Mid-ConversationAnthropic shipped a feature this week that sounds incremental but isn't: Claude can now generate interactive visualizations directly inside the chat window.March 20, 2026
- AI & FinanceYour AI Strategy Is BackwardsEvery finance leader I talk to asks the same question first: "What AI tools should we buy?" That's the wrong question and it's costing you months of progress.January 19, 2026
- AI & FinanceIs the AI Boom Built on Funny Money?Circular deals, trillion-dollar commitments, and depreciation assumptions. How the money behind the AI buildout is structured, and what investors should watch.January 1, 2026
- Personal GrowthHappy Holidays, Grateful for 2025, and Looking AheadReflections on 2025. Gratitude for the community, lessons learned, and what's ahead for AI, finance, and building a life with purpose.December 19, 2025
Teaching Professor of Finance, Santa Clara University · ex-Google Cloud · CPA, MBA
The frameworks here come out of Devon’s advisory work with finance leaders and the finance courses he teaches. He writes about applied AI, complex transactions, and the teams that execute them. He is the author of The 10 Laws of Finance, available to get it on Amazon.
Put one of these to work
Each framework has a way to go deeper, from a self-serve assessment to a working session with your team. Start wherever is useful, or start a conversation about the problem in front of you.