AI consulting for Kingsport and the Tri-Cities
I'm Ryan Hayes. I live in Kingsport, and I help small and midsize businesses across Northeast Tennessee adopt AI without turning the company into a science project.
Most of the noise around AI is either a demo that never ships, or a tool dumped on a team with no rules. I work on the part in between: the system, the governance, and the rollout. That's the work that actually sticks in a real company.
If you're in the Tri-Cities — Kingsport, Johnson City, Bristol, or nearby in East Tennessee — and you want AI in the business without betting the company on a chatbot, this is the work I do.
Who this is for
Owners, operators, and software leaders of SMBs who are past the "we should try ChatGPT" stage. You have real workflows, real data, and real risk. You need someone who has shipped software, led teams, and can sit in the room with both the executives and the engineers.
Typical fits:
- A leadership team that wants AI in the operation, not another unused license.
- A company that already has a few pilots and no way to decide what gets into production.
- A software org that just grew from three developers to three developers plus a pile of agents, and the old process is cracking.
If you mainly need a website rebuilt or a phone bot for after-hours calls, I'm not the right hire. There are good local people for that. I work on the system the company will still be running a year from now.
What I actually do
AI systems. How the pieces fit: data, tools, people, and the software you already have. Architecture that a midsize company can operate, not a slide about agents.
Governance. Who is allowed to use what, what data can leave the building, and how you keep a free ChatGPT window from becoming your unofficial stack. Guardrails that a team will follow.
Rollout. The sequence. What we try first, how we measure it, how we train the people who have to live with it, and when we stop. Clarity over theater.
I do this as consulting, not as a product. You keep your systems. I help you put AI into them on purpose.
Why work with someone here
I live in Kingsport. I can meet in Johnson City or Bristol. I already work in this community: I co-organize TriDev, I sit on the board at Founders Forge, and I help put on Startup Mountain Summit.
I'm a former nine-time Microsoft MVP. I've built award-winning products in publishing, education, and healthcare, and I've spent my career helping software teams ship faster. The AI work sits on that, not on a weekend certification.
Northeast Tennessee companies should not have to import a coastal firm to get serious about this. The work is the same. The context is better when the person doing it knows the region.
Where I work
Based in Kingsport, Tennessee. Serving the Tri-Cities and East Tennessee, including Johnson City, Bristol, Jonesborough, Elizabethton, and Greeneville. Remote work is fine when that's the better fit. In-person is available when it isn't.
How to start
Email [email protected] or use the contact page. Tell me what you're trying to change in the business, not which model you bought. If I'm not the right person, I'll say so.