Meet James
Greetings,
As a small business AI consultant, I help organizations make sense of AI and put it to work in practical, responsible ways.
Over the years, I’ve found that organizations rarely struggle because they lack talent or technology. They struggle because change moves faster than clarity.
New tools reshape work before expectations are defined. Capabilities grow before oversight catches up. People are asked to adapt while still trying to understand what responsible use even means.
AI is simply the latest example.
This insight has shaped much of my career.
For more than four decades, I’ve worked in environments where trust mattered, accountability had consequences, and decisions still had to be made under pressure. Across federal operations, enterprise technology, Fortune 500 consulting, and large-scale transformation, the same pattern held true: successful change isn’t just about deploying new tools. It’s about helping people understand what’s changing, why it matters, and how to move forward without losing sound judgment.
Today, through The Agile Phoenix (TAP), I help small businesses, nonprofits, and lean teams understand where AI can help, get more from the tools they already have, and build the confidence and practices needed to use it responsibly.
My work focuses on practical AI adoption, with responsible AI and governance providing the safeguards that help organizations move forward without losing accountability.
The Perspective I Bring
I didn’t become a small business AI consultant through a single discipline or industry. My perspective was shaped over decades spent helping organizations navigate complexity, adopt new ways of working, and make decisions when the path forward wasn’t always clear.
Long before today’s AI tools, I was helping teams integrate emerging technologies, manage organizational change, and turn new capabilities into work people could actually understand and use. AI brings new possibilities, but many of the challenges surrounding adoption are familiar.
This is what I’ve learned:
- Capability grows faster than shared understanding.
- Ownership is unclear.
- Assumptions go unexamined.
- Accountability becomes everyone’s job—and therefore no one’s.
Those aren’t technology problems alone. They’re leadership, adoption, governance, and human challenges.
That’s the gap TAP exists to help close: helping organizations move from simply having access to AI toward using it purposefully, responsibly, and with greater confidence.
Credentials & Continued Learning
My work as a small business AI consultant is grounded in decades of experience with organizational change, technology, facilitation, and continued learning in AI and responsible adoption.
Highlights include:
- More than 40 years of professional experience spanning government, enterprise consulting, technology, and organizational enablement
- Specialized coursework in AI strategy, governance, ethics, accountability, and responsible adoption
- Ongoing education focused on AI fluency, facilitation, practical adoption, and emerging governance practices
- SAFe® Program Consultant (SPC), Release Train Engineer (RTE), and Lean Portfolio Manager (LPM)
- ICAgile certifications in Agile Coaching, Enterprise Coaching, and Business Agility
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
- Graduate studies in Management Information Systems
I believe continued learning is part of the responsibility that comes with advising others—especially in a field changing as quickly as AI.
Beyond the Work
Outside of client work, I’ve always felt a responsibility to pass along what I’ve learned. Over the years, that’s taken a lot of different shapes—mentoring through Men on a Mission, bringing a human-centered lens to my work as an Agile Coach, and creating learning experiences that help people and organizations grow into stronger versions of themselves.
As AI reshapes how we work, I’ve found another way to pay it forward.
I’ve spent a lot of time exploring how AI can be used in practical, responsible ways—not as technology to admire, but as something that can help people:
- think more clearly,
- sharpen ideas,
- solve problems, and
- move meaningful work forward.
I want that knowledge to be accessible to people who are still early in their own exploration.
That’s what led to Team Renee,
a hands-on AI learning experience built around Renee—a fictional working professional and small-business owner navigating the same kinds of everyday challenges many people face.
Renee starts with the work—not the AI. Instead of beginning with features or technical terminology, participants learn alongside her as she explores:
- where AI can help,
- where human judgment still matters, and
- how to turn what she learns into practical action.
I set the one-hour workshop at $7.25—the federal minimum wage.
It’s not a comment on the value of the material. It’s a reflection of something I care about: keeping practical AI learning within reach for people who are just starting out, building something new, or simply trying to understand how AI can support their everyday work.
For me, Team Renee continues something that mentoring and coaching have been part of throughout my career: sharing what I’ve learned in ways other people can actually use.
If you’re a new entrepreneur, a small-business owner, or simply trying to understand where AI fits into your work, I’d love for you to meet Renee and learn alongside her.
Let's Start the Conversation
Whether you’re trying to understand where AI fits in your business, get more from the tools you already have, or establish responsible practices around how your team uses AI, I’d welcome the opportunity to learn more about your goals and challenges.
If you’re looking for a small business AI consultant who starts with the work rather than the technology, let’s talk.
