Put AI to work.
Keep your people
in control.
A part-time Chief AI Officer for small and mid-sized manufacturers. We set the priorities, put safeguards in place, connect AI to the systems you already run, and teach your people to use it well.
Bring us one process that takes too much time. Serving Marshfield, central Wisconsin, and the Midwest.
Decide where AI pays off.
Most companies already have people trying AI on their own. We help leadership decide what's worth doing, what to skip, and who owns it.
Fractional AI officer thread: Your RoundHelix fractional AI officer joins your leadership work part-time, so AI decisions have one accountable owner.
- A look at what's already in useWhich AI tools staff already use, including personal accounts, and where the risk is.
- Priorities tied to your quarterly goalsA short list of AI opportunities ranked against the business priorities you already set.
- Clear yes, no, or not yetA simple way for staff ideas to reach leadership and get a real answer.
- AI spend that stays ownedAI tools and spend tracked as their own line, reviewed with leadership.
Connect AI to the systems you already run.
No rip-and-replace. We connect AI to your existing systems so staff can get plain-English answers, with safeguards in place first.
Fractional AI officer thread: the same person who set the priorities owns the build, the safeguards, and the results.
- Company sign-in on AI toolsStaff use AI through company accounts, not personal ones.
- Permission-scoped data accessAI sees only what each connection needs, and read-only access comes first wherever possible.
- Human approval before changes go livePeople review and approve before anything new reaches daily work.
- Tested and measuredAnswers are checked against what your team already knows before anyone relies on them.
Staff who use AI with confidence.
Tools only help if people know how to use them well and safely. Training comes before access.
Fractional AI officer thread: Your fractional AI officer keeps the safety rules and training current as the tools change.
- Plain-English sessionsWhat AI is, how it works, what it's good at, and where it gets things wrong.
- Training before accessStaff learn the rules before they get access to company AI tools.
- Role-based practiceExamples drawn from the work each team actually does.
- Ongoing Q&AA regular place for staff to bring questions and share what's working. We set the format with you.
Small apps, one job each.
Focused tools and AI helpers for the gaps between your systems, scoped and tested with the people who will use them. Your fractional AI officer stays accountable for them.
Start with one problem, not a big AI project.
We start small, prove it's useful, and then decide together what comes next.
Choose one problem
Pick one painful, repeated task that's worth solving first.
Put safeguards in place
Company sign-in, training before access, scoped data access, and human approval.
Build, test, and measure
One useful workflow, built and checked with the people who will use it.
Ongoing fractional leadership is available once that first workflow has proven itself. Pace, meeting rhythm, and training format are set with you, not sold as a fixed package.
Questions a plant might want to ask its own systems
These illustrate the kind of questions we help make answerable. They are not client case studies.
- EXAMPLE“Which orders went back for rework last week?”
- EXAMPLE“What's late, and why?”
- EXAMPLE“Which jobs are waiting on material right now?”
- EXAMPLE“Where did we spend the most overtime this month?”
Hands-on, practical, and local.
RoundHelix brings about 30 years of IT experience and hands-on work building and running an in-house AI program at a working manufacturing business. That work covers connecting AI to production systems, teaching staff, and keeping AI spend within plan. You work with the people doing the work, not a sales layer.
- About 30 years of IT experience
- Hands-on experience running an in-house AI program at a working manufacturer
- Serving Marshfield, central Wisconsin, and the Midwest
AI inside the operating system you already use.
We work comfortably with EOS rhythms: leadership meetings, quarterly priorities, and issue-solving. AI work shows up in the meetings and priorities you already have, not as a separate track off to the side.
Not running EOS? That's fine. We fit whatever rhythm your leadership team already uses.
What owners usually ask first
Do we need new software?
Usually not to start. We begin with the systems you already run and connect AI to them. If a new tool is genuinely needed, we'll explain why and help you decide.
Is our data safe?
Safeguards come first: company sign-in, training before access, permission-scoped connections (read-only wherever possible), and human approval before changes go live. No setup is risk-free, so we're clear about what each connection can and can't reach.
Will this replace our staff?
That's not the goal. The work is meant to help your people do their jobs better: fewer manual lookups and faster answers. People stay responsible for decisions and for how answers are used.
How much does it cost?
It depends on what you want to solve. Pricing is scoped after a first conversation, once we understand the problem and how much help you want.
We're a small company. Is this for us?
Yes. Fractional means you get AI leadership part-time, sized to your company, without hiring a full-time executive. Starting with one process keeps it manageable.
Bring us one process that takes too much time.
We'll talk through it plainly, tell you whether AI is a good fit, and suggest a sensible first step.