I'm the AI guy your network keeps mentioning.
I help business owners turn AI from a toy you mess with in a browser tab into infrastructure your team actually uses. Without a $200K platform contract.
15 years building products. 50+ shipped. Now mostly building AI workflows for operators running $1M-$50M businesses who want a real plan, not another deck.
Quick Answer
AI for business owners means using LLMs (Claude, GPT) and the agents built on them to compound the work a $1M–$50M business already does — not replace people, but give every team member an extra colleague. The highest-leverage starting points in 2026 are content production, customer support, internal knowledge management, sales follow-up, and any operations workflow with repeatable patterns. Most business owners need a 2-week written roadmap and 1–2 specific implementations, not a $200K AI platform contract.
Author: Justin McKelvey, fractional CTO · 15+ years shipping products · Updated May 2026
What "AI for business owners" actually means
AI for business owners means using large language models — Claude, GPT, and the agents built on top of them — to compound the work your team already does. Not replacing people. Giving every person on your team the leverage of an extra colleague who never sleeps.
For most $1M-$50M companies, the highest-impact starting points are: content production, customer support, internal knowledge management, sales follow-up, and any operations workflow with repeatable patterns. That's where AI compounds. Everything else is a distraction.
Most business owners are using AI as a search engine. The 5% who treat it as infrastructure are pulling away. This page exists to help you join that 5%.
If you've ever thought one of these, we should probably talk
Real things business owners say to me on intro calls:
What I actually do
For a $1M-$50M business owner, my work is usually one of three things, in this order:
First, a written plan. Two weeks. I look at your specific workflows, find the AI opportunities ranked by ROI, and hand you a 30-60-90 day roadmap. That's the AI Readiness Assessment.
Then, building the first thing. Together with your team, I build the highest-impact item from the roadmap — usually a custom Claude or GPT setup with workflows pre-loaded, an internal tool that automates a manual process, or an AI feature inside your product. Usually 4-8 weeks.
Sometimes, training the room. A workshop or keynote for your team or a peer group (EO, Vistage, conferences). I demo what working AI looks like and answer the dumb questions everyone is afraid to ask in front of their team. Goal: walk people from "AI is overwhelming" to "OK, I know what to try Monday."
Stuff I've actually shipped
GetLocalCall.com
AI phone answering for local service businesses. Built end-to-end. Captures leads after hours, books appointments, and texts the owner with summaries. Real customers, real revenue.
SuperDupr
My agency. Builds custom AI workflows and internal tools for SMB clients. Has shipped agents, dashboards, automation, and AI-powered product features for service businesses.
Vibe Code Rescue
For founders who built an MVP with Cursor or Replit and now need it production-ready. Rebuilds for apps stuck in vibe-code purgatory. Several case studies on the blog.
AI Readiness Checklist
30 honest yes/no questions across data, workflows, team, governance, and execution. Score yourself in 5 minutes. Find out where the leverage actually is before you spend on AI.
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How we'd work together
Free 30-min strategy call
No chargeA real conversation about what you're trying to figure out. No pitch. If we're not a fit, I'll tell you who is.
AI Readiness Assessment
2 weeksTwo weeks of focused work on your specific business. Workflow audit + opportunity map + 90-day roadmap, all written down.
Builds, workshops, and ongoing work
CustomDone-with-you setups, done-for-you implementation, executive workshops. After the assessment, this is where most engagements go.
Frequently Asked
- How can a small business owner start using AI?
- Pick one workflow that eats time every week — proposals, customer emails, meeting summaries, social content. Build a simple AI workflow around that one task. Measure how much time it saves over two weeks. Then use that win to fund the next implementation. Most owners try to do everything at once, fail, and conclude AI doesn't work.
- Should I hire an AI consultant?
- Not a firm. Hire a person who's actually shipped AI workflows in production. Big AI consulting shops sell 6-month strategy decks staffed by junior consultants. You need a 2-week roadmap from someone who's done the work. That's what my AI Readiness Assessment is.
- How much does AI cost for a small business?
- Tools are the cheap part — most teams of 10-50 spend a few hundred per month on AI subscriptions. Implementation cost varies by scope. The number to avoid: any vendor pitching a $200K AI "platform" to a $5M business — that's enterprise SaaS dressed up as a solution.
- What AI tools should I use in 2026?
- For most business owners under $50M revenue: Claude or ChatGPT (one or both), Zapier or Make for connections, Otter or Granola for meeting capture, a custom Claude project for workflows. That's 80% of what you need. The other 20% depends on your industry.
- Do I need an AI strategy?
- Less than people think. You need a list of 3-5 specific things you'll try in the next 90 days, with owners and deadlines. Most "AI strategies" are 60-page decks that produce zero working implementations.
- Why does my network keep mentioning the same AI guy?
- Because business owners are looking for one trusted human who's used AI for years and can tell them what to do without selling a $200K platform. The market is in an education phase — every operator wants a "guy" instead of a vendor. If three of your friends mentioned me, that's why.
Ready to figure this out?
30-minute call, no pitch. Or hire me for two weeks and walk away with a written plan.