My overview on how operators will be successful in an AI era
I’ve been thinking a lot about the post on X called “There’s Something Big Is Happening.” He described the time right before COVID — when you heard murmurs of something coming, but life still felt normal.
Markets were up. People were in school. Life was good.
And then boom — everything changed.
He believes the same thing is happening right now with AI.
And honestly, I think he’s right.
Building Joltly inside oil and gas, I’ve watched timelines compress in real time. What used to take months now takes weeks. What took weeks now takes days — sometimes hours.
Every new model release accelerates what’s possible.
Because I work in oil and gas, this post is directed toward that industry — but the reality is that these changes apply to almost every business.
AI will reduce human suffering. Medicine will become better and cheaper. Businesses will run leaner, move faster, and become far more profitable. AI also has the potential to reduce poverty across the developing world by expanding access to healthcare, infrastructure, and economic opportunity.
But with opportunity comes disruption.
Oil and gas isn’t going away — but the way we create value is changing fast. If you are not prepared, you risk being left behind. The biggest shifts are happening in the back office right now.
So who becomes more valuable as the rules change?
With the risk of stating the obvious — it’s the people who know how to use the tools.
1. Learn to “Vibe Code.”
Work with AI coding agents to build dashboards, tools, and automations your company actually needs. You don’t need to be an engineer — just learn to think in systems. I’ll drop a beginner Cursor tutorial in the comments.
2. Be Relentless About Implementing AI.
Walk into your boss’s office with a list of tedious workflows and show how AI can improve them — data entry, approvals, reporting, billing, and revenue statements. Lead the change. This will prove your value as an employee in the AI era.
3. Think Like a Startup.
Ship faster. Test ideas. Try new tools. If you stay rigid with old workflows, you risk falling behind. Flexibility will define who continues to create value.
I’m not an AI doomsayer — and that’s not the goal of this post. But real shifts are happening right now, and ignoring them won’t make them go away.
Take the time to be prepared. Stay educated. Don’t become complacent about what you know today. Keep learning.
If you do that, you’ll be ready for what’s coming — and you’ll thrive.
I believe we should be hopeful about the future. But being unaware of what’s changing around us isn’t helpful either.
Get quick answers to common queries in our FAQs.
You only pay for what you use — no seat fees and no modules you don't need. Pricing is a monthly platform fee plus usage on documents processed, ACH payments, mailed checks, and the workflows you turn on. We size it to your actual monthly close so it scales with the work, not your headcount.
A smaller operator running 25 documents, 10 ACH payments, and 2 mailed checks a month would be priced on that exact volume. A larger operator at 100 documents, 50 ACH payments, and 10 checks pays predictably more. You always know what you're spending because it tracks the actual close.
Joltly connects directly to QuickBooks and Quorum On-Demand Accounting, and supports file-based export workflows for systems like PakEnergy and Integra. It manages accounts, items, vendors, partner mappings, JIB clearing, revenue liabilities, and netting accounts inside your existing setup.
Both sides of settlement. On expenses: invoice review, GL coding, approvals, JIB creation, ACH and check payments. On revenue: statement OCR, partner distributions, remittance emails, and netting between JIB receivables and revenue payouts — so your team replaces spreadsheet work and email follow-up during close.
Yes. Your wells, partners, revenue interests, GL mappings, approval flow, export formats, and partner-facing statements are configured per operator. Most customers go live on their existing chart of accounts and ERP setup — no rebuild required.
