Phronesis Labs makes CairnCareers.
CairnCareers is made by Phronesis Labs LLC, a thought lab and idea incubator founded by Brooke Houck, PhD. The lab thinks problems through, tests each idea against one standard, and builds the ones that pass. CairnCareers is one of them: career planning for college students and recent graduates.
What does the name mean?
Phronesis (fro-NEE-sis) is an old Greek word for practical wisdom: knowing the right thing to do in a real situation, and actually doing it.
Aristotle set it apart from two other kinds of thinking, knowledge and craft. The lab asks all three of every idea: what do you know and how do you know it, can this be made and by whom, and is it worth doing at all.
What test does every product have to pass?
Two questions, and both answers have to be yes. Does it leave people better off? Can it make money without keeping anyone afraid, confused, or dependent?
CairnCareers is built to that test. The AI-exposure score measures which tasks current AI can do, and the methodology page says plainly that it is not a prediction that your job will disappear. Every number on the dashboard carries a footnote so you can check it rather than take our word for it, and there is a free tier.
How does the lab work?
It thinks a problem through, tests each idea against that one standard, and builds the ones that pass. Some become the lab's own products, like CairnCareers. Others are built alongside the founders who bring them.
It carries a habit from a family business that ran for generations on fair dealing: charge fairly, treat people fairly, and build something that lasts because it deserves to.
Who runs it?
Brooke Houck, PhD, a researcher in educational measurement and assessment, founded the lab and wrote the methodology behind the CairnCareers score.
How do I contact the lab?
For CairnCareers, use the contact page or email contact@cairncareers.com. For the lab itself, including an idea you want to bring to it, email hello@phronesislabs.net or visit phronesislabs.net.