Shouldered AI / Our story / Manifesto
The Shouldered manifesto
A world where no one carries their load alone.
“Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2, ESV
That is the world we work for. No owner should do the paperwork alone at midnight. No pastor should run the church office alone. No family should learn new tools alone.
We build AI that carries the load with people, not in place of them.
What we believe
Ten things we believe.
- Work is a gift from God.AI should carry the load, not take the job. People do not lose their jobs to AI. They lose them by not understanding how it works.
- AI is a tool, never a master.A machine can do the work. A person decides what matters: money, promises and anyone's job.
- The future can be safe for our families.Safe for our kids, our churches and our grandparents, if we build it on the right foundation.
- The Word should lead.We run our company on the 66 books of the Bible, and any customer can choose to run theirs the same way.
- Nobody is too old, too young or too busy to learn.If you can speak or type, you can use AI. If a woman who picked cotton as a girl could keep learning at 102, so can we.
- Every business that grows should lift a church with it.Churches get free Hero seats. When a member's business joins, its church gets an HQ, free.
- Small businesses hold our towns together.The plumber, the lawyer and the corner shop deserve the same tools as the biggest companies in the world.
- Being ethical means being open.Our prices, our numbers and our mistakes are out in the open, so anyone can hold us to our word.
- Everyone is served the same.Christian-run, open to everyone, of every background.
- We are called to bear one another's burdens.That is what Shouldered means.
What we will do
Promises we can be held to.
Keep a person in charge
Our AI does the work and asks first. It waits when a person should decide, and it always says it is an AI.
Tell the truth
Even when the number is bad. A number we do not like is still the number.
Give first
Free Hero seats for every church, before anyone asks.
Teach for free
AI Business University is open to anyone, so no one is left behind.
Build in public
Our weekly show and weekly report let anyone watch how we run, and how we fall short.
Never fire to grow
We help a business grow without letting anyone go to make it happen.
Why now
This time, we cannot wait.
AI is already in our homes. It is in our children's pockets, our businesses' inboxes and our churches' offices. It is shaping how people learn, how they decide, and even how they pray.
Most of it is being built without Scripture and without anyone to answer to.
The church has often picked up new technology ten years late, after others set the terms. This time, we cannot wait.
We will not let strangers build the rooms our children will pray in.
Our call
Carry it with us.
This manifesto is dedicated to my great-grandmother, Doris Foster, who picked cotton in the fields of Central Texas as a girl, led our family for generations, and was still doing crossword puzzles with me in Austin at 102. She passed this fall at 103.
She saw Texas go from the cotton fields to the internet, and she never stopped learning. Her faith, her family and her hard work are the foundation we build on.
“Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2, ESV
Joshua Johnson, founder, for the Shouldered family