OneAccord's When2AI Imprint released Volume II: Leadership & Oversight, the second book in The Field Guide to the New Economy series by J.R. Covey, on September 7, 2026. The new volume gives executives a structured governance framework for AI adoption - covering business case development, deployment sequencing, and acceptable-use standards - at a time when most organizations are still scaling AI team by team without clear accountability.
From individual operator to organizational governance
Volume I of the series gave individual operators a repeatable framework for producing defensible work with AI. Volume II extends that discipline upward, targeting the leadership layer that determines whether AI output meets a competitive standard across the organization. The series argues that most operators evaluate AI-generated work against their own previous output, which Covey calls "the lowest possible bar."
"The question is not whether this output is better than the last AI-generated draft," Covey said. "The question is whether it is better than the best work your competitor is going to send."
What the series covers
Volume I (ISBN 979-8-9957659-4-1) and Volume II (ISBN 979-8-9957659-1-1) are published in paperback by the When2AI Imprint and available on Amazon. Covey also created the When2AI diagnostic platform, which generates AI deployment use-case reports for businesses based on size, industry, and need. OneAccord plans to teach the framework in a hands-on two-day workshop this fall.
"J.R. has spent his career helping leaders see the patterns they can't see in themselves," said Nick Anderson, CEO of OneAccord. "This series takes that same discipline and applies it to the biggest operational blind spot most businesses have right now: how they're actually using AI."
The firm behind the framework
OneAccord is a business advisory and consulting firm headquartered in Kirkland, WA, with more than 25 years of experience and 750-plus client engagements across 27 states. The firm provides strategic planning, business coaching, talent advisory, and fractional and interim C-suite leadership. Its stated mission is Building Value, guided by core values of Truth, Compassion, and Service.
Why this matters for executives and strategy leaders
Volume II addresses a gap that strategy leaders encounter once AI moves beyond experimentation: who owns the standard for acceptable output, and what process governs scaling decisions. For executives building an AI for Executives & Strategy function, the book offers a repeatable governance model rather than leaving each team to set its own bar. It also pairs with the When2AI diagnostic platform, which ties deployment recommendations to specific business characteristics - size, industry, and operational need - giving leadership a fact base for sequencing investments.
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