iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 06/10/2026

I've seen first-hand how much time is wasted, how much pain is caused, how much frustrations are built up, when you are fighting against a strong current of crappy processes that are pulling you away from where you want to be. It can drag everyone down, including and your business.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 06/10/2026

So it made me think what other type of optimisation-related jobs are there. I'm also mindful that BPO does not have the same pull and "glamour" as SEO. But using my background combined with being knee-deep in building up my business, I feel that they are just as important as each other.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 06/10/2026

Even though running Untangli is about untangling business processes and making them more efficient, it didn't really occur to me that it's essentially a part of BPO when I dissected it down. I didn't realise that I have an interest in...well, optimising.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 06/10/2026

During the earlier days of my career, my jobs revolved mainly around SEO. And now I'm in a different kind of optimisation: BPO, aka business process optimisation. This only came about because I wrote a post what is business process optimisation:

untangli.com

What is business process optimisation? | A beginner's guide

Regardless of how it looks, every business has a process and requires regular business process optimisation (BPO). But what is that?

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 23/09/2026

I've followed Noah for years, bought (and regularly use) software via his Appsumo website and listened to his podcast/interviews on numerous occasions. It's not often I disagree with him. But on this occasion, I do.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 23/09/2026

No digging through old emails threads (🤢), no reconstructing decisions from memory, just open the page and carry on. There is a separate argument to make about whether to use Notion AI vs integrating it with Claude. But to say that it's "cooked"...well, I'm going back for more 🤌🏽

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 23/09/2026

Ever picked up a project after weeks away and felt that dread of not knowing where you left off? This is where I use Notion to plug that gap for me. Every meeting note and idea sits against the relevant project. So when time has gone by and you come back to it, the context is already there waiting.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 23/09/2026

Many people get the wrong idea of how to use Notion. I'm biased, as I use it everyday for my business, but it has become become like my operating system. That means nothing lives in my head. Notes, ideas, decisions, all tagged to the project.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 23/09/2026

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 23/09/2026

I saw this screenshot shared round on how Noah Kagan believing that "Notion is cooked", all because Claude now has the ability create and edit interactive documents. He's not really making a detailed reason. Only saying that it's a waste of money to use Notion (and any tools like it) anymore.

Tweet by Noah Kagan: Notion is cooked. Claude quietly launched interactive docs. Tables, adding collaborators, charts, etc. Not sure why people would keep paying extra for Notion AI. Still using Notion? What's keeping you there?

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 16/09/2026

Or your accountant asks for recent expenses and the bank statement has SaaS subscriptions next to the weekly shop. Or your first freelancer spends most of their time asking you questions, because nothing is written down.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 16/09/2026

You notice it at specific moments. A client asks for the raw files at the end of a project and it takes days to work out where everything lives. A bigger client's finance team wants a PO number and an onboarding form you have never seen.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 16/09/2026

It is not carelessness. It is sequencing. You get good at the work, more work arrives, and there is less time to build the thing that should have grown alongside it. Admin gets done at 9pm. It made sense at the time. Then it became permanent.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 16/09/2026

Front of house is the work people pay for. Back of house is everything that makes it happen: where files live, who dealt with what, whether anyone else could pick it up if you were off sick. Most small businesses have a wide gap between the two.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 16/09/2026

In one office I worked in, the sales team took calls with pen and paper. Financial details included. Some notes made it to the CRM. The rest piled up around the desks. The customers had no idea. They were happy.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 03/09/2026

None of it is a crisis. It just adds up, and it gets worse the second anyone else is involved. But you can diagnose them yourself using the free digital health check here: untangli.com/tools/digita... untangli.com/tools/digita...

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 03/09/2026

Most operational messes do not start as messes. They start as a sensible shortcut. Personal bank account, because opening a business one felt like admin. Passwords saved in the browser, because it was quicker. Invoices in Word, because it worked at the time. Processes kept in your head

Headline: 8 operational habits costing small businesses time
1. Personal bank account doing business work
2. Client emails going to a Gmail inbox
3. The same password, reused everywhere
4. Subscriptions nobody opens
5. Invoices written out by hand
6. Processes that live only in your head
7. Accounts you do not actually own
8. No shared view of what is live or due

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 31/08/2026

But I will also use human touches along the way to help make it even better. I strongly believe that without the latter, the process will not work, and the business will suffer. But without using AI, you will also miss out on being more efficient. So what's the solution? A balance.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 31/08/2026

We can use our real-life experiences, both in personal and professional worlds, to learn nuances that only we know and AI don't know. And then use AI to support and elevate that. With my clients, I use AI. It will always have its place.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 31/08/2026

I'm not saying I want my treatments to be based on just "feelings", but I believe his definition of a gut feeling is something doctors gain after years of experience making quick decisions for their patients. I feel like it's the same thing for all of us.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 31/08/2026

Meanwhile, another senior doctor, who was kind of against the idea of AI, is often bringing up the importance of using "gut feeling" to figure out what's wrong with their patients, with a smirk to the new doctor.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 31/08/2026

Her response (which gives off an amusing hint of an embarrassed tech bro), "Generative AI is 98% accurate at present," emphasising that you should always check your work. Sounds familiar?

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 31/08/2026

Some of the junior doctors were impressed. Others rolled their eyes (it's almost as if it knows what happens in the real world). But there's no denying it works...to an extent. A junior doctor spots a mistake: the tool heard "Risperdal" (an antipsychotic) instead of "Restoril" (a sleep aid).

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 31/08/2026

A senior doctor has been brought to make the process more efficient within the Emergency Room in a bid to treat more patients quickly and efficiently. It was quickly found that she's a big AI advocate and demonstrated a speech-taking AI tool that quickly wrote and uploaded up her patient notes.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 31/08/2026

I'm not one to watch TV series, but I've recently been winding down by watching the medical drama, The Pitt. One episode has a relatable scene about how a new doctor trying to encourage the use of AI within the ER to make things more efficient.

Two doctors from The Pitt TV series are standing outside the Emergency Room, facing each other, and having a conversation. Photo from Warner Bros. Discovery/Official Website.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 21/08/2026

The same applies to running a business. Is that moving things forward or just being busy for the sake of it? Being busy and being effective are not the same thing, and mixing them up gets expensive. 2/2

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 21/08/2026

I've learnt this the hard way: busy ≠ productivity. Like when you are jumping from one tab to another, frantically ticking checkboxes on the to-do list, sending emails...it's work, but is it productive? 1/2

Busy is not a business model. A quote by Untangli.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 10/08/2026

Rub it in, why don't you? But it sounds like the process could be done improved, whether it's from the company's automated process that they have created or the tool they are using are that slow to act on it.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 10/08/2026

Worse if the language used is condescending: "We will continue to send you emails about delivery and order information regardless of your email subscription." This is like a child saying "naah nah na-naah nah. You can't catch me". 2/3

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 10/08/2026

I can never understand what's going on in the background that takes more than 48 hours to unsubscribe from newsletters. For such a simple process, it should be instant and automatic. But when they say "it takes x amount of time", something is off with that tech. 1/3

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 05/08/2026

If this feels familiar, it's not you. It's the process, or the absence of one. A frustrating one, and I've been at the end of it so many times. But it's on the business, not the individual, to sort this out.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 05/08/2026

None of this is really on the colleague. It's what happens when there's no agreed channel for anything, so everyone reaches for whatever's fastest to hand in the moment.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 05/08/2026

Received: one email. Followed by a chat message to say an email had been sent. Followed by a comment on the document, in case the chat didn't land. Followed by a text message, from the same person, about the same brief.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 04/08/2026

I get the sense that running is becoming trendy. And with trends, comes new products, apps and clothes that one "must have" to be the best runner. For me, I'm just concerned about enjoying the actual running bit. I don't enjoy that part, but I do enjoy the post-run endorphins that comes with it.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 03/08/2026

Every extra tool is another bottleneck, another place data gets duplicated, another reason your AI features never earn their keep. Master one tool, don't be average at many. Full piece:

untangli.com

How Using Multiple Project Management Tools Will Cost You

Multiple project management tools quietly cost you more than money. Here's what changes when you commit to just one.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 03/08/2026

Most solo founders don't work that way. Two or three tools running at once, each added because the last didn't quite do everything, none of them properly retired. Teams do the same, or worse, it all lives in email.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 03/08/2026

For years I only used one project management tool at a time. Trello, then Evernote, back to Trello, now @notion.com. Never two running together, never a new one added without retiring the last.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 24/07/2025

So, their two points, accessibility and the hidden meaning in the ‘g’—almost contradict each other. If it’s not clear, so is it truly accessible? What do you think? You can read their blog post about it here: www.goodreads.com/blog/show/29...

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 24/07/2025

I get that once you know, you know. But even with the explanation, their depiction is still a stretch. It’s kind of there, but not obvious. And how many people will actually read the blog post to learn this backstory? Unless you have an interest in this like I do, I suspect most will not.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 24/07/2025

Eventually, I gave up and checked their explanation. Apparently, it's a magnifying glass over an open book. Honestly, my first impression was that it looked like a person kneeling and praying, almost monk-like. Even after knowing the answer, I had to squint to see their intended design.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 24/07/2025

Their second claim: “The lowercase ‘g’ incorporates a magnifying glass over an open book.” This is where it gets interesting. Whenever there’s a new logo, I play a game: can I guess what it’s supposed to be? This time, I stared at it for a while and just couldn’t see what it's supposed to be.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 24/07/2025

First, they say the logo is “optimized for accessibility so it looks clear and sharp no matter where you see it.” Maybe! The bolder font and type choice could help on different platforms. But I don’t have a visual disability, so I can’t confirm how accessible it truly is.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 24/07/2025

I've noticed Goodreads has launched a new logo. Normally a rebrand sparks lots of discussion and pushback from loyal fans and design pros. I’m neither, but I do have thoughts on two claims from their blog. Let’s break it down. 🧵

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 14/07/2025

Because truly inclusive events don't just talk about accessibility, they live it. I've written more about reimagining conference networking here: www.iamahmedkhalifa.com/conference-p... What's your conference networking experience like? 💭

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 14/07/2025

But here's the hopeful bit: small changes make huge differences. Quiet networking spaces, better acoustics, flexible formats, clearer communication. It's not about creating special accommodations, just good design that works for everyone even other for the organisers and attendees.

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 14/07/2025

Every networking break becomes a calculation for me: Do I have energy left? Can I position myself where I can actually hear? Will I catch what they're saying over the keynote speaker's mic? Will we catch the conversation during those hallway conversations?

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 14/07/2025

Those "ultimate networking experiences" conferences promise? They're built for one type of person. Bright lights, constant chatter, rapid-fire convos, juggling coffee and name badges, noisy background...and then your energy depletes rapidly (it does for me) What if that's not how you thrive? 🤷🏽‍

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Ahmed Khalifa @iamahmedkhalifa.com · 14/07/2025

The conference paradox: I speak about accessibility on stage, then struggle to network afterwards due to the very barriers I just presented about. The irony is... a lot. 😅

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