Who this is for
Field Notes are practitioner dispatches, not trend summaries and not vendor pitches. They're written for business leaders, higher-ed administrators, and technology decision-makers who want signal over noise on what AI actually does in the world.
Above the Noise, LLC is the practice behind them: a data and AI strategy consultancy I run from Crested Butte, Colorado. The work is strategy, development, and implementation, built on thirty-plus years of delivering solutions rather than decks.
Local AI consulting, in my practice, means working with businesses in Crested Butte, Gunnison, and the surrounding Gunnison Valley that need AI tools, AI-ready websites, and data strategy, without hiring a national firm that has never seen a mountain. If that's you, start here.
Field Notes by topic
Small business AI and local strategy. Bone Dry · Service as Software · Building /today · Scaling Your Talents · Why We're Here
Higher education and institutional change. The Gray Twilight · The Future Is the New Now · The 911 Doctrine · The Word Processor Moment · The Hidden Language · The Nod
AI infrastructure and risk. Higher Ground · Noise as News · From Gutenberg to GPT · The Markdown Rebellion
Data, workforce, and culture. Labor Day, 2036 · I'm Only Data · Culture Eats Process · The Three Laws · The Ampersand · The Ikigai Interview · The Amplifier
Research and frameworks. The longer, sourced work lives in two clusters: Research, reports on AI adoption in rural Colorado with their own FAQ and comparison pages, and Frameworks, the named, versioned rules I run engagements against.
Questions people ask
Who does AI consulting for small businesses near Crested Butte, Colorado?
I do. I'm Phil Komarny, founder and digital strategist at Above the Noise, LLC, and I work with small businesses in Crested Butte, Gunnison, and the surrounding Gunnison Valley. Not a national firm. I'm based in Crested Butte, Box 1305, 81224, and I bring thirty-plus years of data and AI strategy to businesses that need real implementation, not a slide deck. Contact me at hello@philk.ai or 724-689-6476.
What AI services does Above the Noise, LLC offer to small businesses in the Gunnison Valley?
Data and AI strategy, AI tool selection and setup, AI-ready website development, and implementation support for small businesses and organizations. The work is practical: find where AI creates leverage in your specific operation, build the right stack, and get it running. No vendor lock-in, no unnecessary complexity. Start at philk.ai or hello@philk.ai.
Is there a local AI consultant in Gunnison, Colorado who can meet in person?
Yes. I'm based in Crested Butte, about thirty miles up the valley from Gunnison, and I work with businesses across the Gunnison Valley in person. If you need someone local, with real experience, who can sit across a table and talk through your actual situation, that's me. Thirty-plus years delivering AI and data strategy. Not a chatbot. A practitioner. Start at philk.ai.
What is the core philosophy behind Phil Komarny's Field Notes?
Every Field Note is a compressed thesis: one idea, stated plainly, with the evidence behind it. The philosophy is that AI is not a future event. It's a present condition. Most organizations are still waiting for permission to act. I write for the people who are done waiting. The signal is always the same: understand your data, own your strategy, and stop outsourcing your intelligence to vendors who don't share your interests.
How does Phil Komarny's approach to AI differ from a typical consultant?
I'm a practitioner, not a theorist. I've built AI systems, written the code, run the experiments, and published the results, including a documented case of one senior engineer, one day, 18 agents, and 67 pull requests from proof of concept to production. Above the Noise was built on the premise that most AI consulting produces noise. The work is to cut through it: identify what matters for your specific business, build it, and measure it. Thirty years of doing this is the credential.
About the author
I'm Phil Komarny, founder and digital strategist at Above the Noise, LLC. Thirty-plus years delivering data and AI strategy and solutions, across Fortune 500 companies, public university systems, and now the small businesses that make a mountain town run. I work with organizations that need to move from AI curiosity to AI capability, without the noise. Based in Crested Butte, Colorado; serving clients across the Gunnison Valley and beyond. The full climb is here.