Services
What BrainIT Consulting does
I teach AI integrations, run workshops, and build solutions for you or with you. Most small businesses start with one automation. Larger companies sometimes need someone who ran a 164 TB database at Verizon.
Free 30-minute consultation. After that, $60 an hour.
For small businesses
AI automation
The repeat jobs that eat an owner’s evenings: answering the same questions, chasing bookings, copying details from one tool into another. I set up the tools to do them, train you and your staff to run them, and write down how everything works.
Jobs I automate
| The problem | What gets built |
|---|---|
| New clients fill in the same details by phone or email, and things get missed. | A smart intake form that asks the right follow-up questions and emails you each answer. |
| Booking takes too many back-and-forth calls and emails. | A booking form tied to your calendar, with automatic confirmations and reminders. |
| Nobody follows up with leads after the first contact. | Follow-up emails that go out on their own after a set delay. |
| Quotes, invoices or HR forms wait days for sign-off. | An approval flow with email steps and a status you can check. |
| Staff don’t know when something needs them. | Email, Slack or Teams alerts based on what the form says. |
AI assistants that answer for you
A trained assistant on your website, behind a QR code, or at the end of a booking link. It answers the questions you get every day and collects the details of each request so you can follow up.
- Sends a clear reply confirming each request
- Gives you a summary of what the customer asked for
- Reminds you to follow up
- You can read every conversation and step in
How I keep it small
If a spreadsheet and one form will do, that is what you get. You won’t get an enterprise system when you need a worksheet. Every tool I set up comes with a written guide, and the goal is that you can run it without me.
Tools I work with
Everyday business tools: HubSpot, Jotform, Make, Zapier, n8n, Airtable, Notion, Google Sheets, Shopify, ChatGPT and Claude. I use what you already pay for where I can.
The modern agentic stack: MCP integrations that connect Claude and other AI assistants to your own tools and data; Claude Code and Codex for building; the Claude, OpenAI and Gemini APIs; Vercel for hosting; Neon for the database; Resend for email; Inngest for background jobs; Stripe for payments; Better Auth for sign-in; and Cloudflare R2 for files.
For owners with an idea, and for teams
Agentic build consultations
An agentic build is software written with an AI coding agent doing most of the typing while a person makes the decisions. I’ve built 50+ projects this way since 2023, using Claude Code and Codex every day. I build your app for you, or with you: alongside your team, so they learn to build with agents themselves.
- 1
Interview
We talk through the job the software has to do, who does it today and what goes wrong. I write it down.
- 2
A plan you approve
A plain-language plan of the first release. We agree it in writing before any building starts.
- 3
A demo in your colours
A working demo with sample data, so you can click through it and change your mind cheaply.
- 4
The real build
Built and launched on accounts you own, with tests, a handover guide and a way to roll back.
Credential
Anthropic Certified Developer, Claude Code
What I build with
Next.js, React, TypeScript, Vercel, Neon and PostgreSQL, Drizzle, Better Auth, Stripe, Resend, Inngest, MCP servers, and the Claude, OpenAI and Gemini APIs.
Examples of the method
- BarnBuilder: the interview, plan and demo steps, as an app.
- App-Building Companion: my free field guide to building a first app with an agent.
- Requirements interviews: getting the rules of the work out of the heads of the people who do it.
For owners and staff
AI training and workshops
Hands-on sessions. You use the tools yourself, with help beside you. No question is too basic, and nothing is dumbed down.
The Whole AI Trail in One Ride
A 120-minute workshop, laptops open. You leave with a live web page for your own business, made during the session. Little or no experience is exactly right. Sessions run at the Rabun County Public Library in Clayton.
Workshop details and datesWorkshops for your team
Practical AI for Small Businesses and Practical AI for Enterprises, run at your office or at an event you host or sponsor.
Free for libraries. For a business, $60 an hour, or we co-host the workshop at your premises and you cover my basic costs and travel.
Ask about a date for your groupTool training and support
One-on-one or team training on HubSpot, Jotform, Zapier, Make, Notion, ChatGPT and Claude. I also help with software setup, user accounts and connecting tools. I don’t repair hardware.
Free, self-paced: BrainIT Guides, seven field guides starting with AI in Plain English, and courses at DreamForge Academy.
For companies with serious data
Enterprise data and SQL architecture
30+ years of enterprise systems work, 24 of them at GTE and Verizon. This part of BrainIT Consulting has nothing to do with chatbots. It’s databases that have to stay up.
What I did at Verizon
- Designed and led a 10-server SQL Server cluster on a 164 TB private-cloud data tier, with heartbeat failover, hot-swap storage, backup and recovery, and disaster recovery.
- Built the routing optimization engine in T-SQL. It contributed to $150M+ in operational savings and earned a U.S. patent.
- Led the move from SQL Server on Windows to MySQL on Red Hat Enterprise Linux with zero production downtime: data-model conversion, T-SQL translation, cutover sequencing, failover testing and tuning afterwards.
More of the record
- Owned the architecture of Verizon’s least-cost routing platform across two technology generations.
- Led DBA and engineering teams and vendor partners, and explained risk and trade-offs to executives.
- Since then, in 2023, ran platform administration for Arietis Health, a healthcare revenue-cycle company: secure file transfer, role-based access and PHI-sensitive workflows.
What I can do for you
- Review a database design before you build on it
- Find out why queries are slow, and fix them
- Plan and run a migration, including off SQL Server
- Write a backup, recovery and failover plan, and test it
- Get your data in order before an AI project
- Reporting and analytics, including Power BI
SQL Server and T-SQL, MySQL on RHEL, PostgreSQL and Neon, Oracle, SQLite.
Pricing
What it costs
First
Free
A 30-minute consultation to help you discover the best way to benefit from AI in your business.
After that
$60 an hour
For teaching AI integrations and building solutions for you or with you.
Workshops: free for libraries. For a business, $60 an hour, or we co-host the workshop at your premises and you cover my basic costs and travel. Ask about a date.
Let’s talk. Book the free consultation, or text (972) 900-6286.