I Call It The Bill Of Work

Stephen Forte puts a name on the record: the Bill of Work™. Every manufacturer knows its bill of materials: every part, what it costs, the order it goes in. Almost no company has the same document for its work. "Your payroll is your people cost," Stephen says, "but your Bill of Work is really what it costs to get the work done." Drawn from his recent talk at the CEO Global Leadership Forum in New York, this episode is about the difference between an incremental improvement from AI and reinventing your P&L.

In this episode, Stephen Forte covers:

• Why the big AI bets are waiting on business. Most companies haven't reassessed their standard general and administrative processes in years. Everyone knows their seat mile or bed night. Almost nobody knows what one request costs.
• The line shaft. Why a 1903 factory put its machines where the belts were, and why the org chart grew the same way around where capability lived.
• The motor on the old line shaft. Bolting a new motor onto the old arrangement is the sensible first move, and it is where most companies are with AI today. In 1899, William Tapley at the Government Printing Office gave his presses their own motors, then found room for 40 more presses.
• The Bill of Work. Payroll tells you what your people cost. The Bill of Work tells the task. It is also an audit of complexity in an organization.
• Taking the work apart. Follow one request task by task, the way a chef knows every step of a dish, and sort the tasks by what they are, not which department does them.
• Why the cost of one task now matters. Vendors are starting to sell work by the outcome. If you don't know what a task costs you, you can't judge their price.
• The question for your next leadership meeting. Pick one thing your company does every day and ask the room what one of those costs.

Earlier on the show: Stephen first used the name on air in S1E158, "Your Company Has No Bill Of Work," September 26, 2026: https://rss.com/podcasts/ypo-technology-network-ai-brief/3180260/

The book: Bill of Work, Stephen's book on taking the work apart, is coming. Follow the show to hear first when it is available.

Feedback? Write to Stephen at stephen@buildclub.com.

Sources:

• Stephen Forte, recent talk at the CEO Global Leadership Forum, New York
• William Tapley, Journal of the Franklin Institute, 1899, on electric drive at the Government Printing Office
• S1E158, "Your Company Has No Bill Of Work," September 26, 2026: https://rss.com/podcasts/ypo-technology-network-ai-brief/3180260/

The AI Brief from the YPO Technology Network is a daily executive briefing on the AI developments that matter to business leaders. Hosted by Stephen Forte.