AI implementation for Northland businesses · Duluth, Minnesota
We learn how your business actually runs. Then we build AI into it.
We're Derek and Anthony. We sit down with you and your team, map how the work really gets done, and fit AI where it helps: on top of the tools you already use, inside them, or built around them.
30 minutes, free. You leave with a short written note on where AI would fit first.
Most AI starts with a tool. Ours starts with your day.
Large companies have people whose whole job is fitting AI into how the business runs. Most local businesses don't. So they get sold a tool, set it up alone, and it never quite fits. We work the other way around.
The usual way
- Buy a tool someone recommended
- Set it up between everything else
- Change how you work to fit the tool
- Stop using it by spring
How we do it
- Learn how the work actually moves
- Pick, connect or build what fits it
- Build it into the tools you already use
- Stay on to keep it running, if you want
About half of small businesses say they use AI, mostly to write emails and posts. Fewer than 1 in 5 of them say it's built into how they run. Sources: Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey; Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses; Intuit QuickBooks (2026).
Three ways AI fits into a business
On top
Assistants over the tools you already use
They answer staff questions from your own documents, draft replies, and summarize the day.
Inside
Automations that connect what you have
Information moves on its own instead of being retyped from one system into the next.
Around
Custom systems where nothing fits
When no off-the-shelf tool matches the way you work, we build one around your process.
Most businesses need a little of each. The workflow tells us which.
What we build
Workflow automation
Connect the tools you already pay for, so orders, jobs and paperwork move without retyping.
Learn more →AI assistants
For your team or your customers: answers from your own information, drafted replies, sorting and follow-up.
Learn more →Custom AI systems
Built from scratch when your process is yours alone.
Learn more →Customer follow-up
Missed calls, quotes, scheduling, reminders and reviews, handled on time.
Learn more →Websites
Redesigns built to bring in work, with lead capture and AI built in.
Learn more →Not sure what you need? Finding that out is the point of the first call.
How we work
- 01
Free workflow call
30 minutes on how your week actually goes.
- 02
Map the work
We sit with the people who do it: on-site, if you're close.
- 03
Show you the fit
What goes on top, inside, or around, each with a flat price.
- 04
Build it
Per project, per scope, in your accounts where possible.
- 05
Hand it over
Your team uses it with us before we leave.
- 06
Stay on, if you want
We keep it running and take on the next piece.
Ways to work with us
Per project
A single project
One workflow or one system, scoped and built. Flat price, in writing, before we start.
Learn more →The deep dive
A Workflow Assessment
We map your two or three biggest workflows with you and your people, then rank what to fix first by the hours it gives back.
Learn more →Ongoing
An ongoing partner
We keep what we built running, adjust it as tools change, and take on the next piece each month.
Learn more →Some of what we've built
BidStar
A custom AI system that reads hundreds of public bid pages every morning and sends Northland contractors one clean list.
Since 2020 in Duluth
Two people who work on-site across Duluth, Superior, Hermantown, Proctor and Cloquet.
Workflow examples
What a typical before and after looks like for quotes, staff questions and missed calls.
We're a young AI practice. We'd rather show you something working on a call than put logos on a page.
What you can expect from us
Your workflow first
We learn the day before we recommend a tool.
Straight answers
If the fix isn't AI, we'll say so.
Hours back, not hype
We measure the work in time saved. We don't promise revenue.
Flat price, in writing
Every project, before we start.
Your team, hands-on
They use it with us before we leave, with a recorded walkthrough to keep.
Two people, in Duluth
Call and you get Derek or Anthony. We come on-site.
Who you'll work with
Derek
Designs and builds the systems.
Anthony
Works with you and your team.
Tech Stars University has served Duluth since 2020.
Your information stays yours.
Two people can see your material: Derek and Anthony. We don't sell it, share it, or publish it. If you want an NDA before you send us anything, ask and we'll sign it.
Straight answers
What does the free workflow call cost?
Nothing. It's 30 minutes with Derek or Anthony, on Zoom, by phone, or in person in the Northland, and the written note we send by the next business day is yours either way.
How much does AI automation cost for a small business?
It depends on the workflow, so we price per project. You get a flat price in writing before any work starts, and nothing is built until you approve it.
Do we have to replace our software?
Usually not. We start with what you already use and build on top of it or into it. We only build something new around it when nothing off the shelf fits.
Will our team know how to use what you build?
Yes. Every project ends with your team hands-on with what we built, plus a recorded walkthrough and plain notes on how it works and how to turn it off.
What kinds of businesses do you work with?
Local businesses of about 5 to 50 people, in most industries: trades and home services, professional offices, wellness, property management, shops and restaurants, nonprofits and local manufacturers. We don't work with medical or dental offices or law firms.
Do you work outside Duluth?
Yes. We work on-site across Duluth, Superior, Hermantown, Proctor, Cloquet and the Northland, and remotely anywhere in the United States.