Justin Smith

Put AI to work.

“AI doesn’t understand my business.”

If you’ve said that, I get it. What surprised me wasn’t one answer. It was what became possible once the foundation was there.

I run operations, build systems and integrate AI into service businesses. The foundation is connected business records, operating rules and the tools people already use, with people responsible for consequential decisions.

Tell me what’s getting in the way → Start with a free 20-minute conversation.

From whiteboard to working system

  1. Before

    During a short-staffed peak season, I photographed our trip-planning whiteboard and asked ChatGPT to fix the schedule. It assigned guides who were days away in the Idaho wilderness to half-day trips. Useful, if we’d invented teleportation. The whiteboard, scattered messages and my memory could not show qualifications, travel or existing commitments.

  2. Foundation

    44 connected database tables, API integrations and custom code capture how the business actually works: people, equipment, qualifications, schedules and capacity. Calculations and operating rules turn that information into checks the software can run. AI now has the business’s records and logic to work with, instead of trying to figure everything out from a photo.

  3. After

    I can speak to my phone in plain English. The AI checks connected messages, schedules, qualifications and vehicle availability, then proposes an answer or plan. I approve consequential changes. Approved updates reach our crew board and team phone apps, where people see their assignments, vehicles and schedules.

Read the first whiteboard attempt.

What sits behind a useful action

Connected operating records give people and tools something reliable to check. They are useful when a message, a schedule change or a customer question reaches the work behind it.

What I use now

How I built it · See the connected operating system.

See the records, rules and connections behind it

I sometimes call this a “company brain”: 44 connected tables hold 207,000 data points across trips, people, vehicles and commitments. Their relationships make a proposed change checkable.

  1. Company data modelTrips, people and equipment share current records.
  2. Operating rulesQualifications, timing and travel define constraints.
  3. Tool connectionsBooking data is read-only; crew apps and messages connect through APIs.
  4. Change detectionShared messages and tool updates flag affected commitments and draft follow-up for review.
  5. Checked recommendationsAI interprets a message; rules test the proposed plan.
  6. Human-approved actionsA person decides before consequential records change.

Approved staffing changes update our own schedule and team tools. The current booking connection does not write those decisions back to the booking provider.

What actually needs AI?

Some work needs a rule. Some needs interpretation. Some needs your approval.

Sometimes the right answer is to buy existing software. Sometimes it is to connect the tools already in use. I build missing pieces when the payoff is worth the cost and upkeep. The choice starts with the work, not a tool.

For the customer-facing side, read what our guides taught me about AI search visibility →

What I can do for you

We choose a useful starting point together, whether that is a repeated task, an inquiry problem or a decision that keeps coming back to one person.

  1. Find the right scope. Look at the actual work, the information it needs and where a person must stay involved.
  2. Set it up and test it. Choose suitable tools, connect records, define rules or build a missing piece when that earns its place.
  3. Train and hand it over. Test with your team, document the work and agree on who reviews and approves changes.

Start with a free 20-minute conversation. A clear bounded setup can be quoted directly. Scope and price are agreed before paid work begins; larger builds have a separate scope. One-time work includes training and handover. Monthly monitoring, fixes or improvements are optional and separately defined, as are software charges. Your business controls its accounts and data.

How we start

Tell me what’s getting in the way

Tell me where work gets stuck, and I’ll reply personally about a free 20-minute fit call. A clear, bounded project can be quoted directly. We agree on scope and price before any paid work begins.

Send your note here, or directly.

Where should we start?

This is a starting point, not a commitment. You can change it.

What needs attention?

Select any that fit.

Choose or change areas

Customers and growth

Operations

How would you like me to reply?

If your first goal is demand, get more customers. For connected records, operating rules and custom software, run the business better.