AI CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT · NASHVILLE, TN
Most AI advice comes from people who will never have to build the thing they recommended. I've shipped four products in the last two years, and I read every plan that leaves here myself.
That changes what I tell you. It is easy to recommend an automation when somebody else has to make it work. Knowing what it costs to build is what makes “don't build this” a useful answer rather than a cautious one.
I work with businesses in Nashville and across the country. Start with the free Checkup and I'll tell you what I see.
Free · About 3 minutes · No call to book
Three steps. You can stop after any of them.
Already know what you want built?
Zack Massey · AI consultant & developer · Based in Nashville, Tennessee
Not slide decks. Working software that people use.
Before that, twenty years of solving business problems with technology. Fourteen of them at iHeartRadio, building campaigns for some of the biggest artists in music. In 2020 I launched Black Label Creative, where I'm still Creative Director for Luke Combs. Along the way my work helped generate more than 2 billion social views.
I now build software through my own company. The Checkup on this site is one of those products: I wrote it, and I read every paid plan it drafts before it reaches anyone.
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Maybe you're already using ChatGPT. Maybe your employees are. Maybe someone has tried to sell you an AI chatbot, phone agent, or automation package.
But those tools don't answer the questions that actually matter:
Where would AI actually help my business?
What would actually save my team time?
Where could it help us make or keep more money?
What is easy to do, and what turns into an expensive mess?
What should we do first?
What should we not spend money on?
That is the problem I help solve.
Nearly every AI project I have seen fail did so for the same reason. Somebody bought a tool before anybody had described the process the tool was supposed to fix. The software worked. It was pointed at the wrong thing.
So the first step here is free, and it is a diagnosis. I read how your business presents itself, work out how a customer becomes a paying job, and tell you what I noticed. Sometimes that is a list of places AI would help. Sometimes it is one sentence saying the problem is a process nobody has looked at in three years, and no software will fix that.
Both answers are worth having. Only one of them makes me money, which is exactly why the first one has to be free.
Most of what I do is business process automation, though nobody calls it that. I look for the same handful of things in every business, whatever the industry. Where the same information gets typed twice. Where work waits for one person. Where a decision is stuck behind a number nobody trusts. What still happens by hand at nine at night.
None of those are AI questions. They are operations questions, and they are the ones that decide whether AI is worth anything to you. A business with a clean process and a slow tool has a software problem. A business with a broken process and a new tool has two problems.
Once I can see the process, the recommendation is usually obvious, and it splits three ways: do this now, do this next, and don't spend money on this. The third list is often the most valuable, and it is the one an agency selling implementation hours has no reason to write.
One of the best consulting engagements I can have is telling you not to hire me.
Most of the time the software you need already exists and somebody just has to say which one, out loud, in the room where the decision gets made. That is not a project. I would rather spend an afternoon telling you that than three months building you something you could have bought.
I build when the thing genuinely does not exist, or when what exists does not fit how you actually work and bending the business to fit the software would cost more than the software saves.
And often the answer is neither. The tool is fine, the process underneath it is broken, and adding software to a broken process makes it break faster and more expensively than it did before.
Most people don't need custom software. That is exactly why I start with the Checkup instead of a proposal.
| The answer is | When | What it usually costs you |
|---|---|---|
| Buy it | Something on the market already does this, and your process is close enough to the way it expects to work. | A subscription and an afternoon of setup. |
| Build it | Nothing off the shelf fits, or bending the business to fit it would cost more than the software saves. | A scoped project, quoted against one specific thing. |
| Fix the process | The tool is fine. Nobody has written down how the work actually moves, so any software you add inherits the confusion. | Attention, mostly. This is the cheapest answer and the one nobody sells. |
A customer's details go into the quoting tool, then the calendar, then the invoice. Nobody planned it that way. It happened one integration at a time. This is usually the cheapest thing on the list to fix and the one people have stopped noticing.
One person knows how the quoting works, or where the files live, or which supplier to call. That is not a staffing problem. It is an undocumented process, and it is the first thing I look for.
Inbound email, quote requests, invoices, applications, forms. Somebody opens each one, decides what it is, and puts it somewhere. This is the category where current AI is genuinely good, and where most of the honest wins are.
The report exists. It gets rebuilt by hand every month, and everyone quietly discounts it. Fixing the number is usually worth more than any tool you could point at it.
Sometimes that is right. Often the calls are a symptom of something upstream, and answering them faster just means hearing about the same problem sooner. I will tell you which one it is.
I'm based in Nashville and a lot of my work is here, though the Checkup and the Action Plan are written and delivered online, so where you are does not change what you get.
The sectors I can speak to honestly, because I have either worked in them or built software for them:
Twenty years of it, and two of the products I've built run inside it. Labels, radio, artist teams, touring. I know where the spreadsheets are.
Typically: audio files, release dates and station lists arrive by email and live in three places at once, somebody reconciles them by hand, and the output is a delivery that either made the deadline or did not.
Owner-led, five to fifty people, and usually running more software than anyone realises.
Typically: a call or a form comes in, somebody works out whether it is worth quoting, the quote gets built from a previous one, and the job closes because a person remembered to follow up.
I have run an agency for years, so I know which parts of this are worth automating and which are the job.
Typically: an enquiry becomes a proposal built from an old proposal, time gets recorded somewhere it has to be re-typed to invoice from, and a monthly report gets rebuilt by hand from the same four sources.
Nashville runs on it. I'll look at process and paperwork, and I'll say plainly where a data boundary means the answer is no. That is a real constraint, not a disclaimer.
Typically: intake forms, referrals and records arrive on paper, by fax and through a portal, somebody keys them into one system, and the work that repeats is the sorting rather than the deciding.
One of the first things I do is work out what data should never go near an AI system.
I don't have SOC 2 and I'm not going to imply I do. What I have is a boundary I hold to, and it is the same one whatever industry you are in.
I don't need any of the right-hand column, and a plan that required it would be a worse piece of work, not a more thorough one. For healthcare, legal, financial and insurance businesses I can read how a process runs without ever touching a regulated record, because the process is the thing I am reading either way.
If something I recommend would need a compliance review before it could be built, that goes in the plan. You should find out from me, not from your lawyer six weeks later.
STEP 1 · FREE
“Where could AI help?”
Give me your website and answer a few quick questions. I'll take a first look and tell you where AI is worth a try, and where I'll be clear about what I can't know from the outside.
For: Anyone wondering whether there is anything here worth their time.
STEP 2 · $999 FLAT
“What should I actually do?”
I learn how your business really works, map one of the workflows you actually run, and tell you what I'd do now, what I'd do next, and what I wouldn't spend money on. You get a written plan, in the order things have to happen, and it ends with a walkthrough: in person if you're in the Nashville area, otherwise video. Most plans are delivered within three business days after I have everything I need.
For: You read the Checkup, something in it rang true, and you want the version that goes inside the business.
STEP 3 · SCOPED SEPARATELY
“Want me to build it?”
If one of the recommendations is worth building, I can scope and quote it. Anything from workflow automation and simple internal tools to custom AI development. Only after we've identified something worth solving.
For: The plan named something worth doing and you would rather I did it than hand it to someone else.
Free · About 3 minutes · No call to book
AI ACTION PLAN
$999 flat
A website only tells me so much. The Action Plan goes inside the business. How your team works, where time goes, how customers move through the company, and what work keeps getting done twice.
You get a written plan: how one of your workflows runs today, how I'd run it instead, what to buy, what to build, and what to leave alone. I read every one myself before it goes out.
A few questions I can't answer by looking at your site. Ten minutes or so.
Examples of real work, if you have them. Optional.
How a workflow runs today, and how I'd run it instead
Who does each step: a person, an automation, or AI
What to buy, what to connect, what to build, what to leave alone
Numbers only where you gave me the inputs, with the math shown
What I wouldn't spend money on
Read by me before it reaches you
Your Action Plan separates recommendations into three simple buckets.
DO NOW
High-value opportunities that are practical enough to tackle first.
DO NEXT
Good ideas that need more work, integration, data, or process change.
DON'T DO
Things I don't think are worth your money right now.
The goal is not to put more AI into your business. The goal is to make the business better.
If you receive your Action Plan and don't believe it was worth the $999, tell me within 14 days and I'll refund it in full.
I'm not going to make up savings numbers or recommend projects just to make the report look impressive. Sometimes the right answer is to leave something alone.
Alongside the diagnosis, I work as a hands-on AI developer. Once we know what's worth building, I build it. I scope and quote against the specific thing we found. Not sold as a package before anyone knows what the problem is.
There is no retainer and no package. One plan, then one build, if the plan says a build is worth it.
The workflow, the guardrails, the places a person still checks the work, and getting your team to actually use it. Scoped and quoted against the specific thing we found, after we both know what it is.
If you can already describe the software you want, you do not need me to diagnose anything first. Skip the plan and tell me about the project.
If I build it, you should understand it. My goal isn't to create something only I can maintain.
What you get, every time:
The training is not a formality. The most common way one of these fails is not a technical fault, it is that nobody on the team uses the thing, usually because it arrived without anyone explaining why it exists. If I build it, I want the person who has to live with it to have met it before go-live.
What happens after that is your call. Some people want me to stay involved. Others want the handover and then never to think about me again. Both are fine, and I don't price the second one as a punishment.
Software breaks eventually. An API changes, a vendor deprecates something, the business moves. If you're running it yourself, the documentation should be enough to fix it. If you would rather I handled it, say so and we will agree what that looks like before I start. What I won't do is build you something that is deliberately hard to leave.
Implementations are scoped one at a time, because the right answer might be connecting two tools you already pay for, or it might be something custom. The Checkup exists so that neither of us has to guess which one it is.
You are ready when you can describe how one job moves through the business from first contact to paid. If you cannot, that is not a reason to wait, it is the first thing worth fixing, and it usually costs nothing but attention. Software pointed at a process nobody has described is how AI projects fail.
Not at all. That's the whole point. You tell me how your business works. I handle the technical side, including deciding what's realistically buildable and what would turn into an expensive mess.
It's best for established small and midsize businesses with a team, recurring processes, and enough operational work that saving time or improving a workflow creates real value. Contractors, home services, accounting firms, insurance agencies, law firms, real estate and property management, staffing, dental and medical practices, professional services, manufacturers, agencies, and multi-location local businesses.
Yes. That is who this is built for. Five to fifty people, owner-led, where the person deciding is also the person doing the job. Smaller businesses usually get more out of this than large ones, because there is nobody in the building whose whole role is noticing which processes are broken.
Whatever you are currently doing twice. The same customer typed into two systems, the report rebuilt by hand every month, the inbox somebody sorts every morning. Those are boring and they are where the honest wins are. Anything that starts with a demo rather than a process is usually the wrong first move.
The Action Plan is a $999 review built around one question: where can AI actually help your company? I read how the business presents itself, ask you only what I couldn't work out on my own, then map how one of your workflows runs today and how I'd run it instead. What to buy, what to build, what to leave alone. I read every plan myself before it goes out.
Most Action Plans are delivered within three business days after I have everything I need. Your part is a short set of questions, about ten minutes, and the clock starts when those are in rather than when you pay. If I need a short call to understand part of the business better, I'll tell you before I start.
Start with the free AI Business Checkup. It costs nothing. The AI Action Plan is $999 flat, and it's the diagnosis: what's worth doing, what isn't, and what to do first. If you want something built after that, I scope and quote it separately against the specific thing we've already validated. I don't quote a build before I understand the problem.
No. The Action Plan is yours. You can implement it yourself, use another provider, or ask me to quote the work. There is no required retainer or follow-on purchase.
You decide, not me. If you receive your Action Plan and don't believe it was worth the $999, tell me within 14 days and I'll refund it in full — no argument, no test you have to pass. Sometimes the honest answer is that your process needs fixing before any AI belongs near it, and I'll tell you that too.
No. The Checkup is free and the Action Plan is $999 flat, so you know the cost before you start rather than watching a meter. Builds are quoted as a fixed scope against a specific thing we already agreed was worth doing. I have never found the hourly conversation to make anybody's project better.
No. AI helps me research, organise information, and evaluate possibilities, but I review every recommendation and make the final calls. The point of the service is judgment, not generating more pages. No Action Plan goes to a client without me going through it first.
Yes. I provide custom AI development and implementation when there's a clear reason for it. Internal tools, workflow systems, document and data processing, custom applications. I've personally shipped multiple AI products. The Action Plan exists to make sure we identify the right problem before spending money building anything.
It depends on scope. A simple standalone tool is usually a few weeks. Something that integrates with your existing systems takes longer, and I say so up front rather than discovering it halfway through. The Action Plan tells you which category each recommendation falls into before you commit.
Often, yes, and it is a common starting point. Usually the tool is fine and it is pointed at the wrong part of the process, or it was bought to fix a symptom. I will tell you whether it is worth keeping, and I have no incentive to tell you to replace it with something I sell.
Whatever fits, and often the answer is not code at all. For workflow automation, Zapier, Make or n8n handle a surprising amount of what people arrive asking me to build, and when one of those will do I will say so rather than quote a project. When it does need building: Claude, OpenAI models, and open-source models where they fit, with Python, TypeScript, React, and Node.js, integrating with services like Supabase and Vercel. The specific tools depend on your problem. I recommend what's right for your use case, not what's trendy.
You do. You get the source, the documentation and the training, and you are free to take it to another developer or run it in-house. I am not interested in being the only person who can maintain your business.
It will eventually, because APIs change and vendors deprecate things. If you are running it yourself, the documentation is written so somebody technical on your side can fix it. If you would rather I handled it, we agree that up front rather than discovering it during an outage. There is no mandatory support contract either way.
Yes, happily, before you send anything you would rather I did not have. The Checkup only uses your public website and what you choose to tell me, so most people do not need one at that stage.
Not by me. I also will not tell you your data is never stored anywhere, because that depends on which model provider a given piece of work uses and I would rather be accurate than reassuring. What I will tell you is which providers are involved and what their handling is, before anything of yours goes near them.
Yes, and it's included. Every Action Plan ends with a walkthrough: if you're in the Nashville area I'll come to you, otherwise video, same hour either way. Whether you attend is your call, and the plan is written either way. If I hit something I can't work out from what you've given me, I'll reach out before I finish.
Yes. I'm in Nashville and a lot of the work is around Middle Tennessee, so Franklin, Brentwood, Murfreesboro and the rest of Williamson and Rutherford County are an easy drive if you want to sit down. The Action Plan is written and delivered online either way, so where you are doesn't change what you get.
An agency makes money when you build something. I make the same $999 whether the answer is build three things or build nothing, which is the only reason the third list, what not to spend money on, is worth reading. I also write the software myself, so when I say something is a two week build rather than a two month one, that is an estimate from someone who will have to do it.
Three minutes, no call to book, no obligation. If it turns out there's something worth digging into, the Action Plan is there.
Or email me directly: hello@zackmassey.com