About
Paul Ann Labs deploys AI inside the operating core of a business — the systems that run payroll, safety, dispatch, maintenance, purchasing. The unglamorous machinery that never appears in a marketing report but decides whether a company works.
Where the methodology came from
Strangler Fig wasn't designed in a conference room. It came out of doing the work — applying AI to real operations where a bad decision had consequences that showed up the same week.
That produced a specific conviction: small and mid-sized businesses will not replace systems that currently work, and they're right not to. Every methodology that starts with migration is solving the consultant's problem, not the owner's. So the approach had to grow around what exists rather than demand its removal.
Why an internal owner, always
Most AI deployments don't fail technically. They fail because the person who understood the system left, or never worked there in the first place. So the audit identifies a Stem — someone already inside the company, frequently not the person with the relevant title — and the engagement is structured so that person ends up owning it.
Peppermint exists for the same reason. Capability that walks out the door with a consultant was never capability.
The family
Paul Ann Labs sits under Trimmie Holdings, alongside Paul Ann Media. Media handles demand — audience, brand, pipeline. Labs handles operations. Most businesses need one before the other, and we're direct about which.
The names come from a family. Trimmie from two first names, Paul Ann from the middle ones. It seemed like the right way to sign work you intend to stand behind.
How we work
- Small first. One process, one month, visible output before anything bigger.
- Reversible. Every phase can be undone. That's what makes it safe to start.
- Hand it over. The goal is your Stem running it, not a permanent retainer.
- Stop when it's enough. Most engagements shouldn't reach Phase Five.