UNHYPED: From Hype to Hard ROI in the Age of AI

Cut through the hype. Build what actually works. Deliver real ROI.

Every organisation is under pressure to “do something with AI.”

Noise is high. Vendor promises are loud. Teams are stretched. And many AI initiatives acquire momentum long before anyone can explain how value will materialise, how risk is contained, or who is answerable when outcomes fall short.

UNHYPED is a practical, architectural playbook for leaders who are accountable for AI decisions that carry organisational, financial, and reputational consequence.

This book focuses on the conditions that actually determine outcomes:

• Why demos, pilots, and vendor narratives dominate early decisions - and why they rarely survive contact with real operations

• How to identify value flows that genuinely affect revenue, cost, and risk exposure

• How to pressure-test initiatives before they harden into sunk cost, political commitment, or board-level embarrassment

• Why coordination, governance, and workflow design matter more than model choice

• How to build architectural foundations that support measurable, repeatable ROI

UNHYPED is not about futurism or prediction.

It treats the organisation as a system under load. It asks where intelligence should legitimately sit, how authority should be exercised, and what must be true before automation is allowed to act.

Most AI programmes do not fail because the technology is immature.

They fail because accountability was never made explicit early enough.

If you want traction instead of theatre, this is where the work actually begins.

About the Author

Stuart Winter-Tear works with executives, boards, and operating leaders on AI architecture and decision-making in organisations under real constraint. His work focuses on forcing clarity early: where intelligence belongs, who owns outcomes, and what must be true before systems are allowed to act.

He helps organisations design the structures, controls, and workflows required for intelligent operations that are accountable, durable, and economically grounded.

Find him at unhyped.pro.