Resources · Guides
AI implementation guides
A cornerstone guide for each service area, plus the work every project needs: scoping it and evaluating it. Each is written from the systems we build and run: how the architecture works, how it fails, what it costs and when not to use it. Every guide lists its sources with the date we read them, and its card shows whether the founder has reviewed it yet.
Step 1
Written from a working system
Each guide starts from something we build or run, such as the assistant on this site, and quotes its real configuration where one exists.Step 2
Every outside fact is sourced
Vendor behaviour, list prices and regulations are cited from the publisher’s own pages, with the date we read them.Step 3
Founder review before indexing
Until the founder has reviewed a guide, its card says “Awaiting founder review” and search engines are asked not to index it.Step 4
Re-dated when anything changes
An edit changes the updated date. Vendor prices carry their own date and are flagged for re-checking as they age.
Guides by topic
Guides by topic
Guide · AI chatbots
How to build a RAG chatbot
Versioned ingestion, hybrid retrieval, a confidence gate and cited answers, from the assistant on this site.
Awaiting founder reviewUpdated 10 min readGuide · Workflow automation
Reliable workflow automation
Failure inventory, idempotency keys, retry classes, dead letters with replay, and alerts people act on.
Awaiting founder reviewUpdated 9 min readGuide · AI agents
AI agent design and guardrails
A pattern catalogue from single calls to tool-using agents, six guardrail layers, and when not to use an agent.
Awaiting founder reviewUpdated 8 min readGuide · AI voice agents
Voice agent buyer’s guide
A call minute priced line by line, a latency budget per stage, consent pointers and vendor questions.
Awaiting founder reviewUpdated 7 min readGuide · AI video
AI video: rights, consent and disclosure
Five production stages with the clearance each needs, an asset ledger, release terms and platform AI labels.
Awaiting founder reviewUpdated 7 min readGuide · Evaluation
Evaluating AI systems
Build a first evaluation set: real inputs, slices, expected behaviour, calibrated graders and a release check.
Awaiting founder reviewUpdated 9 min readGuide · Scoping
Scoping your first AI project
A readiness checklist, the scope variables that set price and timeline, a first-project rubric and a brief.
Awaiting founder reviewUpdated 6 min read
Method
Which guide to read first
If you are still deciding what to build, start with the scoping guide. Otherwise, start with the guide for the system you are planning. Each one stands on its own, and each ends with a checklist you can hand to whoever builds it, whether that is us, your own team or another vendor.
- Choosing a first project and briefing a builder: the scoping guide.
- A website or support assistant that answers from your content: the RAG chatbot architecture guide.
- Moving data between tools, forms and your CRM: the workflow reliability guide.
- Letting AI take actions in your systems, such as refunds, bookings or record updates: the agent design and guardrails guide.
- Answering or placing phone calls: the voice agent buyer’s guide.
- Marketing videos with AI presenters, voices or generated footage: the AI video rights and disclosure guide.
- Proving any of the above works before and after each change: the evaluation guide.
What these guides are not
They are not case studies and contain no client stories. Worked examples are illustrations and say so. Numbers are either vendor list prices with their date, configuration values from our own systems, or sample inputs you are meant to replace. Nothing here is legal advice; where a guide touches regulation, it points to the rule and suggests checking it with counsel.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Who writes the implementation guides on this site?
Vijay K, the founder of MiniAI Labs, writes each guide from systems we build or run. The byline on every guide shows the date of the last real change and whether his review has happened; until it has, it reads “Drafted for MiniAI Labs · Awaiting founder review”.
Why does a guide say it is awaiting founder review?
Guides are published for reading as soon as they are written, but they are only offered to search engines after the founder has reviewed them. Until then the page carries “Awaiting founder review” in its byline and a noindex instruction, the same rule this site applies to blog posts.
Where do the numbers in these guides come from?
From three places only: vendor list prices with the date they were read, configuration values from systems running on this site, and sample inputs that are labelled as such. None of them is a measured client outcome, and none should be read as a quote.
How do we know a guide is still current?
Check two dates. The updated date in the byline changes whenever the text changes, and each source shows the day it was read. Vendor prices in the cost models carry their own date, so you can see at a glance how fresh they are.
Can a guide’s checklist become the acceptance criteria for a build?
Yes, that is what the checklists are for. Each item is a design decision a reviewer can check in a demo or in the code, so it works as an acceptance criterion whoever does the work. Pair it with the evaluation guide to decide how each criterion is tested, or book a strategy call for a second opinion on a plan.
Next step
Have a workflow in mind? Let’s scope it together.
Book a free 30-minute strategy call. Bring one process you want to automate and we will talk through scope, integrations and a sensible first step.
Free 30-minute call · no commitment