I am a non-technical business owner and my leadership team wants to hire an external software developer to build a custom machine learning model for our logistics. How do I manage this project without getting bamboozled by technical jargon?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Do not let developers drag you into technical jargon. The moment you start talking about neural networks or custom language models, you have lost control of the business outcome. Your job as the owner is to keep the project grounded in basic operational reality. First, refuse to call this a machine learning project. Frame it strictly as an operations-improvement project that happens to use machine learning. This shifts the focus from tech theater to business results. Second, manage the developer using your existing EOS tools. Treat their deliverables as a Rock on your V/TO. Hold them accountable in your weekly meetings just like any other department head. Ask them how this project will improve your weekly scorecard metrics or reduce your cost of goods sold. If they cannot explain their progress in simple business terms, they do not understand your operational workflow. You do not need to know how to code to hold people accountable. You only need to know what business problem you are trying to solve and what success looks like on your scorecard.