AI Transformation Advising

AI transformation informed by hands-on experience

Named inventor on a US AI patent. Founder of a machine-learning platform sold to universities. Twenty-five years of senior leadership across analytics, ML, IoT, and cybersecurity — and today, leading cross-functional AI transformation as CTO at Liferaft Labs. I bring technical depth, executive perspective, and coaching to the work.

The challenge

An AI strategy has to work in the organization

Boards are asking for an AI strategy. Vendors are pitching a dozen of them. And most transformation efforts stall not because the technology is wrong, but because the organization wasn't ready — leadership wasn't aligned, teams weren't equipped, and the change wasn't led.

I bring deep, hands-on AI engineering experience together with iPEC-certified executive coaching. I can help shape the roadmap and support the leaders who need to carry it forward — connecting the technical plan to the organizational work required for adoption.

Executive team reviewing an AI strategy on a wall display in a modern conference room
Built it before I advised on it

Relevant AI experience

A career of building, leading, and applying AI in real organizations.

Named inventor, US patent

Inventor on US Patent 2025/0384341 A1 — Methods and Systems for Training Artificial Intelligence Models. Not just deploying AI; contributing to how it gets built.

Creator, ioModel

Built and sold ioModel, a point-and-click machine-learning platform, to universities for higher-ed and medical research — sunset in the LLM era after shipping real value to real customers.

Senior Director, Analytics & ML

Led the Analytics and Machine Learning engineering organization at McGraw-Hill Education — applying ML at enterprise scale across product, content, and learner-outcome data.

Cross-functional AI rollout

Currently driving AI transformation across Sales, Marketing, Revenue, Operations, Customer Success, and Engineering at Liferaft Labs — an open-source threat-intelligence platform for physical security teams.

How we can work together

Engagement options

Tailored to where you are — from "we don't have a strategy yet" to "the rollout is underway and something isn't sticking."

Assessment

AI Readiness & Opportunity Assessment

A structured review of where AI can create real value in your business — and where it can't yet. Honest, technically grounded, free of vendor pitch. Delivers a prioritized opportunity map and a clear-eyed view of organizational readiness.

Strategy

AI Strategy & Roadmap

A practical 12–18-month roadmap covering use-case selection, build-vs-buy, data foundations, governance, and the team and budget shape required to execute. Built to inform board discussions and guide engineering execution.

Ongoing

Transformation Advising

Hands-on advising across Sales, Marketing, Revenue, Operations, Customer Success, and Engineering. Practical guidance for program leads and executive coaching for the leadership team responsible for the change.

Workshop · 1 day

AI Literacy for Leadership Teams

A focused, jargon-free session for executive teams and boards. What today's AI can and can't do, where it's headed, and the questions every leader should be asking of their organization — so the C-suite can lead the conversation rather than be led by it.

A leader in conversation with a team member during a coaching session
Why this is different

AI initiatives succeed when technology and people move together

An AI strategy alone does not create change. Leaders need to make decisions, teams need the right capabilities, and the organization needs a clear way to turn a plan into day-to-day practice.

As an iPEC-certified Professional Coach and ICF member with twenty-five years of technology leadership experience, I work across both dimensions. That can mean shaping a roadmap while supporting the executive briefing the board, the VP reskilling a team, or the engineering lead adapting a plan.

The result is a transformation effort grounded in both technical realities and the people responsible for carrying it through.

Frequently asked

Common questions

An AI transformation advisor helps leadership teams assess where AI creates real business value, design a credible strategy and roadmap, and lead the cross-functional organizational change required to ship it. The work spans technical architecture, change management, and executive coaching for the leaders carrying the rollout.

When the board is asking for an AI strategy, when initial AI experiments aren't translating to business outcomes, when leadership disagrees on priorities, or when the technical and people sides of a rollout need to be coordinated. Earlier is cheaper than mid-rollout.

A consultant typically delivers a defined output — a strategy document, a model, or a system. A transformation advisor also helps lead the organizational change required to put that work into practice: strategy, executive coaching, and guidance for the people responsible for implementation.

Engagements range from a focused AI Readiness and Opportunity Assessment, to a 12–18-month Strategy and Roadmap engagement, to ongoing Transformation Advising across functions, to one-day AI Literacy workshops for leadership teams and boards.

Where is AI on your strategy?

Tell me where you are — exploring, planning, or mid-rollout — and let’s map a practical path forward.

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