# The Jagged Frontier

AI helps most when a task sits inside its capabilities and can cause harm when people trust it outside them. Use this one-page map to decide what to ask, what to verify, and what should stay human-led.

## Inside the frontier

AI is useful for structured work grounded in the material you provide, including summarising documents, drafting from your notes, research planning, and turning goals into task lists. Review outputs by sampling against the source.

## Outside the frontier

Verify fresh, private, or high-stakes information at the source. Do not rely on AI alone for personal judgments, market figures, legal or tax specifics, irreversible actions, or claims that reach a customer.

## Questions to ask before you trust the output

- Did I supply the facts, or is AI recalling the world from memory?
- Would I recognise an error before it causes harm?
- How current, private, or fast-moving does the information need to be?
- Can I cheaply undo the action if the output is wrong?

## Source and related Academy tools

The map is informed by Dell’Acqua et al., Harvard Business School, Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier.

- [AI Academy](/en/learn-ai) — Free courses, research, tools, and practical learning.
- [Founder Delegation Wall Chart](/en/learn-ai/founder-delegation-wall-chart) — Sort work into human-led, augment, delegate, and automate.

## FAQ

### What is Sistava Academy?

A free, plain-English course that teaches you how to work with AI employees. Not how to program them, how to manage and delegate to them. It is built for people who run a business, not a codebase.

### Is it really free?

Yes. Every lesson is free. No upfront cost, no monthly fee, no card required to join. You give us your email so we can send you the lessons as they open.

### Do I need to know how to code?

No. Nothing in the Academy assumes you can code or have a technical background. If you can write an email to a new hire, you can do this.

### Do I need a Sistava account to join?

No. The Academy is open to anyone. You can apply what you learn inside Sistava or with any AI employee tool you already use.

### Is this only about Sistava?

No. The skills carry over to any AI employee. We use real examples, and Sistava happens to be the easiest place to practice, but the lessons are about working with AI employees in general.

### How long does it take?

It is self-paced. Lessons are short and focused, so you can go through one in a few minutes and apply it the same day. There is no schedule to keep up with.

### When does it start?

The first lessons are opening soon. Join now to get them as they go live and to help shape what we cover next.

### What will I be able to do after?

Brief an AI employee so it gets the task right, ask for better results without tricks, connect the tools it needs, customize it for your work, and stay in control with approvals and review.