Fundamentals Before the Prompt
Executive leadership in the era of artificial intelligence.
95% of AI projects are failing. While everyone races to automate, the business fundamentals — mindset, purpose, process, metrics, and systems — decide who thrives and who burns out.
Master Joe Phillips·Costa Rica
Track record
25+
years building software
Since 2000
1,000+
clients served
SaaS and custom dev
1
verifiable exit
Zumo → Huli Health, 2018
4
academic credentials
Accounting, CS, MPM, ML
About me
Builder, not commentator.
I'm Master Joe Phillips. A Costa Rican by birth and a citizen of the world by choice. I've spent more than two decades building software — first as an employee, then as a founder.
I founded Trifecta Software in 2011 ( CostaRicaCRM.com and custom dev for U.S. clients). In 2014 I co-founded Zumo Imagination as CTO; the healthtech scaled across Latin America and was acquired by Huli Health in 2018. In 2016 I founded Spearhead Technologies (Facturero.com).
In January 2021, before the GenAI boom, I completed Expert in Machine Learning with Python at PROMIDAT. The black-belt metaphor isn't borrowed — I learned it in the dojo, across decades of disciplined practice.
The belt path
Seven belts. One path.
It isn't metaphor — it's the book's method. Each belt is a domain you train, not an event you acquire. Skipping them amplifies chaos. Walking them builds mastery.
The black belt isn't the end of the road. It's the beginning.
White Belt
The human foundation of every system
Mindset · Learning · Team · AMARTE
Yellow Belt
The warrior's judgment
Honor · Respect · Focus · Discipline · Hwa · Won · Ryu
Green Belt
Mastery of continuous improvement
Measure · Detect · Improve · Customer Centric · Green Matrix
Blue Belt
The science of leverage
5 levers: money · people · processes · technology · influence
Brown Belt
Systematize before you scale
PAF: Prepare · Aim · Fire · Purpose-Metric-Promise Triangle
Red Belt
Living systems
Measure / adjust · Operational resilience · Continuous evolution
Black Belt
Everything that exists before the prompt
Master Map of AI Systematization · The prompt as consequence
The book
AI Black BeltFundamentals Before the Prompt.
A progressive seven-belt path — White, Yellow, Green, Blue, Brown, Red, Black — for executives, founders, and managers moving from anxiety to business mastery. AI shows up in the Red Belt, but only after the fundamentals are in place.
*"The black belt isn't the end of the road. It's the beginning."* The martial metaphor isn't decorative — it reflects an operational belief. Mastering AI in an executive role is a discipline that gets trained, belt by belt, repetition by repetition. Not an event acquired in a weekend course.
- eBook
- USD $11.11
- USD $22.22
- Foreword
- Spencer Hoffmann
Available on Amazon · Legacy Publishers · Spanish available now, English coming soon
Speaking
On stage, next.
Upcoming
Summit de Ismael Cala
El 95% Está Fallando: La Verdad Sobre la IA Que Nadie Te Está Diciendo
Miami, EE.UU.
Upcoming
Blockchain Jungle Costa Rica
Pilares Fundamentales de la Aceleración Tecnológica
Costa Rica
Past
Business Essentials
Curso intensivo de fin de semana
San José, Costa Rica
Contact
Ready to enter the dojo?
Keynote · Executive mentoring · Workshops · Consulting · Media. Three direct paths, a human reply in 24-48h.