I work on the buyer's side of both decisions. I help leadership choose the right process to pursue and independently evaluate the vendor proposal, pilot, or plan before the company commits.
Tell me what you're decidingEither starting engagement · $1,000 founding price for the first three clients · Written recommendation and executive readout within five business days
Not sure which starting point fits? Request a 20-minute fit call by email. I will reply personally and, if useful, arrange a Google Meet to understand the decision and determine the right next step.
AI is changing quickly enough that standing still feels irresponsible. That pressure creates two common failure modes: chasing a broad list of possibilities without choosing a useful starting point, or accepting a polished vendor proposal without knowing whether it will survive contact with the business.
Leadership does not need more hype or a generic strategy deck. It needs a defensible next decision: what is worth pursuing, what has to be true for it to work, and what should happen over the next 90 days.
Both engagements are intentionally small and fixed in scope. One helps you decide where AI deserves attention. The other helps you decide whether a proposed solution deserves your commitment.
Question 01 / What should we do next?
For leadership that knows the company should move, but does not yet have a defensible first priority.
Question 02 / Is this proposal worth it?
For leadership with a proposal, demo, pilot, or implementation plan that needs an independent buyer-side review.
The Next-Move Review covers up to three related candidate processes. The Vendor Second Opinion covers one vendor and one closely related decision package. Neither is a company-wide AI strategy, vendor-selection project, legal opinion, security audit, or implementation engagement. Larger work is separately scoped.
The work is designed for a mid-sized company—generally 100 employees or more—with an AI or automation decision active now or expected within 60 days. It works best when the financial or operating stakes matter and no independent person inside the company owns the buyer-side evaluation.
Manufacturing is a particular strength. I also work with distribution, logistics, field service, engineering, construction, and other operationally complex businesses.
Leadership wants to act, several possible use cases are competing for attention, and no one can yet defend which should go first.
A proposal, pilot, pricing model, or implementation plan is active and leadership needs a decision that does not come from the seller.
This is not the right starting point for general AI curiosity, free vendor selection, a search for implementation labor, or a decision without a business owner and meaningful operating stakes.
I've spent 30+ years in technology, and I've sat in nearly every seat that matters here. I started as a product engineer at a Fortune 500 computer maker, building the actual hardware. I ran ecommerce at scale for a major online reseller. And for years since, I've scoped, quoted, and delivered technology services to customers, which means I have written the kind of proposals you are now being asked to evaluate.
That is the part that matters most. I know where a vendor pads the scope, softens a number, or leaves a risk out of the document, because I have built those documents myself. I also built the operations behind the services I delivered, with formal process-improvement training, so I understand how a business actually runs, not just the technology. And I build AI agents by hand every week, so I am not reading about this from the outside. I can tell you what is real, what is oversold, and what is quietly missing.
I am based in Sioux City, Iowa, and can meet in person throughout the region bounded by Kansas City, Minneapolis–St. Paul, Lincoln, and Des Moines, including Sioux Falls and the communities between those metros. The review can also be completed remotely.
If you want to see how I separate the demo from the operating reality, read Agent Field Notes. I write from hands-on work inside real business systems: what works, what breaks, and what the organization has to solve around the AI.
Send me a short description of whether you are choosing what to pursue or evaluating a proposal already in front of you, plus the date you need to decide. I will tell you whether it fits one of the five-day reviews and how to share any sensitive material safely before an engagement begins.
If you would rather talk first, request a 20-minute fit call by email. I will follow up to arrange a Google Meet. The call is for understanding the decision and confirming fit; document review and recommendations begin with a paid engagement.