Jim Coleman. Founder of Modern Thesis.

What is Jim Coleman's background?

Jim started his career as a detective. The work taught him to read people, and it is still where he begins in a client's business: with the people doing the work.

In 2014 he began building local service companies, and he later sold them. He became a partner in a software company that was later acquired. From 2018 to 2020 he ran operations across the portfolio of LTV SaaS Growth Fund, a private equity fund. That job taught him to judge every change by what it adds to the value of a business.

In 2020 he co-founded xFusion, which now has 70 people on three continents. He first put AI to work there, on live operations, and then for several of xFusion's clients. He is also a co-owner of GrooveJar, a software company, and from 2021 to 2022 he hosted the Fuse Show, a podcast of interviews with founders.

In October 2026 he founded Modern Thesis. He lives near Denver with his wife, and together they raised five children as a foster and adoptive family. He holds a private pilot license.

What does Jim Coleman do at Modern Thesis?

Jim leads strategy. He works directly with the CEOs, COOs and founders of non-tech companies, typically with $10 million or more in annual revenue, for clients across the US. Every engagement starts with a strategic assessment. It maps how work moves through the company, measures time, cost and error rates on the workflows that matter, ranks the opportunities by return and defines the first build.

Modern Thesis's AI specialists and Forward Deployed Engineers shape that strategy with him and lead the build. Change management is part of every engagement. After launch, stewardship has no end date: the team monitors, maintains and improves what it builds, and reports results against the baseline.

How does Jim Coleman think about AI?

Incentives before tools

In Jim's experience, most AI efforts stall on people. If a team believes AI will make them redundant, they resist it, and a good tool goes unused. So he starts with incentives: a plan that shows people how their own work gets better, training to get them there, and rewards for the people who adopt it.

Capacity, not cuts

Jim treats AI as a way to add capacity. Many owner-led companies cannot hire the people they need. When AI takes the routine volume, the team already in place can take on more clients and more projects, and people move up to the judgment calls that need them. In firms that bill by the hour, time saved only pays when it becomes work the firm can now take on.

Judge AI by the P&L

A demo, a license count or a tally of automations is not a result. Jim's test is the one private equity taught him: what did the change add to the business? He measures a workflow's time, cost and error rates before anything is built, and reports the same numbers after launch. If AI won't pay for itself somewhere in a business, he says so.

Where can you find Jim Coleman?

Jim writes about AI, operations and ROI for owner-led companies on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/jim-coleman. Modern Thesis is on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/modern-thesis. To talk with Jim about your company, email jim@modernthesis.org or start a conversation below. More about the firm is on the About page.