Chaparral Software — Independent AI Diagnostics | Russ Kohn

# Chaparral Software > Independent AI diagnostics and consulting firm, founded 1986. Russ Kohn, Principal. Forty years building production systems — now helping people and organizations find ground truth in their AI implementations. Offers Ground Truth Assessment, an independent technical diagnostic for founders, executives, and PE/VC firms evaluating AI initiatives. ## Services - [Ground Truth Assessment](https://chapsoft.com/ground-truth): Independent AI technical diagnostic for non-technical buyers. Structured discovery and analysis pipeline producing a Claim Register, Landscape Scan, Gap Map, Campaign Plan, and Velocity Check. Weeks, not quarters. Three case studies: enterprise platform (41 phantom API endpoints, pricing vulnerability), civic org spec (architectural impossibility), and a vibe-coded business tool (5 field failures found over coffee). ## Dispatches All dispatches available as clean markdown at /dispatches/{slug}.md (e.g. https://chapsoft.com/dispatches/fog.md). - [Shifting Ground — Dispatches](https://chapsoft.com/dispatches): Publication on navigating the AI transformation. 3-4 dispatches per month. - [Fog](https://chapsoft.com/dispatches/fog): On navigating uncertainty when the ground shifts — professional identity in the age of AI disruption. - [The Garden Timer](https://chapsoft.com/dispatches/the-garden-timer): When your tools start thinking, what happens to the gardener? On expertise, displacement, and what remains. - [The Twenty Percent](https://chapsoft.com/dispatches/the-twenty-percent): What's left for experienced professionals when AI handles 80% of the work? The answer isn't what you'd expect. - [Why AI Projects Fail](https://chapsoft.com/dispatches/why-ai-projects-fail): What the evidence says when you actually trace the citations. Only 5–12% of organizations achieve significant AI impact. The difference isn't the technology — it's structured assessment before committing. - [The Moat Is the Harness](https://chapsoft.co