Find where AI actually pays off in your business.

I interview your team, map the work, and show you where AI genuinely increases productivity. Then, if you want, I build it.

Let's Talk

The Reality

Everyone says use AI.
Nobody says where.

Missed productivity

Somewhere in your operation, people are spending hours on work AI could do in minutes. Finding those spots takes someone who looks at the actual work, not the org chart.

Failed pilots

Most AI tools get abandoned within months because they were bought first and aimed at a problem second. The tool is rarely the hard part. Knowing where to point it is.

Quiet risk

Your staff are already pasting things into chatbots, including things that probably shouldn't leave the building. Without guidance, every employee is making up their own rules.

Vendor noise

Every vendor says their product is the answer. I don't sell software or take referral fees, so my only job is finding what actually fits your business.

The Work

What working together looks like

01

Understand

I sit down with the people who do the work. Not just leadership: the folks processing the paperwork, answering the calls, and wrestling the spreadsheets. Those interviews, plus a review of your workflows, surface where the hours actually go and which problems are worth solving first.

Staff interviews Workflow mapping Prioritized opportunities Written roadmap
02

Build

You get a short list of places where AI genuinely helps, ranked by payoff and effort. Then we build the top ones together. Sometimes that means adopting the right tool and training your staff. Sometimes it means custom software, which I design and build myself.

Pilot projects Custom software Staff training AI use policy
03

Sustain

AI is moving fast. Ongoing advisory keeps what we built working and your strategy current as the tools change. You own everything we make, and nothing depends on me staying in the picture.

Leadership advisory Measured results You own everything Ongoing access

Outcomes, not outputs.

About

Black and white portrait of Nate Irish.

20 years in technology. Product director, builder, veteran.

Over two decades I've watched organizations struggle every time the technology shifts underneath them. AI is the latest version of that pattern, and most of the mistakes are familiar ones. I'd rather be in the room while it's still taking shape.

I've spent my career translating between the people who run organizations and the people who build technology. These days I also build it myself: my most recent engagement went from staff interviews to a secure, deployed web platform for a California human-services provider in a matter of weeks. My goal is to leave your organization more capable than I found it.

  • Director of Product Management, 20 years
  • U.S. Air Force veteran
  • Deep hands-on AI experience
  • No vendor relationships, no tools to sell
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Who I serve

Professional services firms

Law, IP and patent services, accounting, and agencies where AI is starting to touch the core work product.

Small & mid-size businesses

Companies being told to have an AI strategy without a CTO to figure it out.

Nonprofits & mission-driven orgs

Teams doing more than anyone should reasonably expect, where saved hours go straight back to the mission.

Government & public agencies

Smaller municipalities navigating AI procurement without dedicated tech staff.

What people I’ve worked with say

Nate has the ability to pull together all of the threads from the engineers, the marketing team, industry trends, and customer feedback, while authentically threading them together into a perfectly crafted product plan.

Katie D.

Nate is patient, thoughtful and calm under pressure. He actively listens to stakeholders, and ensures that they are fully briefed throughout the development process and are involved in any ongoing decision-making.

Sandy B.

Nate is a unique combination of professional excellence and authentic personal connection.

Achilles M.

Get Started

Start a conversation

No pressure either way. Tell me about your organization and what's prompting the question.

Initial consultation is complimentary.

Ready to talk now?

Book a 30-minute call nate@nateirish.com (206) 468-2704

FAQ

Common questions

Do I need to know anything about AI before we start?
No. Most of the organizations I work with are starting from scratch or have only experimented informally. The assessment is designed to meet you where you are and build understanding as we go.
What size organization do you typically work with?
Most of my clients have somewhere between 10 and 250 people. That range is large enough for AI to make a real difference and small enough that we can involve the right people directly.
We already have IT staff. Do we still need this?
Building is rarely the bottleneck. Most organizations that struggle with technology have plenty of capable people. What they lack is clarity about which problems to solve first and confidence that they're pointed in the right direction. If you've ever worked somewhere that built constantly but never seemed to move forward, you've seen what happens when implementation runs ahead of strategy. Your IT team handles execution. I make sure what they're executing will matter.
How long does a typical engagement last?
The assessment usually takes two to three weeks. Build work runs four to eight weeks depending on scope. Many clients continue with a lightweight advisory arrangement after the initial engagement.
Do you actually build the software, or just recommend it?
Both, depending on what the problem needs. Sometimes the right answer is an off-the-shelf tool and good training. When the problem calls for custom software, I design and build it myself. My most recent engagement went from staff interviews to a secure, deployed web platform in a matter of weeks.
Will you recommend specific AI tools?
Yes, when it makes sense. But tool selection comes after understanding your workflows, data practices, and budget. I have no vendor partnerships or referral arrangements, so my recommendations are based entirely on what fits your situation.
What if our staff are skeptical or resistant to AI?
That's common and usually reasonable. Staff concerns tend to come from real experience with tools that were introduced poorly. The process includes staff interviews early on, which builds trust and surfaces practical knowledge that leadership often doesn't have.
Can you help us write an AI use policy?
Yes. A practical AI use policy is one of the most common deliverables. It covers which tools are approved, where sensitive data can and cannot go, and what disclosure expectations look like. The goal is a document your team will follow, not a compliance artifact that sits in a drawer.
What does this cost?
The assessment is a fixed fee agreed before we start, so there are no surprises. Build and advisory work is scoped and priced per project. The initial 30-minute conversation is free, and I would rather tell you AI isn't ready to solve your problem than sell you something that won't stick.
What happens after the engagement ends?
You keep everything: the assessment, the policies, the training materials, and any software we build together. Many clients move to a lightweight advisory arrangement for ongoing questions, but that's optional. The goal is to leave your organization more capable, not more dependent.