The Background
For 15 years, I ran digital businesses. Web agencies, e-commerce ventures, SaaS products. I hired teams, managed clients, handled P&Ls, and did all the things CEOs do. It was a good career, and I learned an enormous amount.
But in 2023, something changed. I started building AI tools for my own businesses, and the work itself – the actual building – became more interesting than managing people doing the building.
Why AI Consulting
The decision to become an AI consultant wasn’t impulsive. It was the convergence of three things:
The Technology Matured
LLMs went from research curiosity to production-ready technology seemingly overnight. GPT-4, Claude, and the open-source ecosystem created opportunities that didn’t exist two years earlier. For the first time, you could build genuinely useful AI systems without a machine learning PhD.
The Market Needed Translators
Every business I spoke to wanted to “use AI” but had no idea how to start. They didn’t need a research team – they needed someone who could understand their business problems AND build the technical solutions. That intersection of business experience and technical capability is where I add the most value.
Individual Impact Over Organizational Scale
As a CEO, my impact was mediated through the organization. As a consultant, my impact is direct. When I build a RAG system that saves a client’s support team 20 hours per week, I can see the result immediately.
What I Brought From My CEO Years
The business experience isn’t wasted. It’s actually my biggest competitive advantage:
- Understanding stakeholders: I know how to talk to executives, developers, and end users in their own language
- Project management: I can scope, estimate, and deliver projects reliably
- Business model thinking: I can evaluate whether an AI solution makes financial sense, not just technical sense
- Risk assessment: I’ve seen enough projects fail to know the warning signs
One Year In
A year into this new chapter, I have zero regrets. The work is intellectually stimulating, the clients are engaged, and every project teaches me something new. If you’re considering a similar transition, my advice: follow the work that energizes you.