You chatted with it
- Ask a question, get an answer
- Copy-paste between a dozen tabs
- Clever — but it couldn't touch your tools
- The work still landed on you
AI & Systems Consulting
Put AI to work in your business — without the jargon.
I'm a finance-trained operator who helps small businesses automate the busywork, connect the tools they already pay for, and adopt AI that actually fits how they work. Practical, measured, and built to last.
- Finance-trained, AI-fluent
- Plain-English, no hype
- You own everything we build
Finance-trained · AI-fluent
- Vanderbilt UniversityM.S., Finance
- University of South FloridaB.S., Finance
- Corporate Finance InstituteAI in Finance — Certified
Built for small businesses — not the enterprise
- Clinics & practices
- Law & accounting firms
- Agencies & studios
- Home & trade services
- E-commerce & retail
- Real estate
Why now
From chatting with AI to AI that does the work
When ChatGPT launched, AI could hold a conversation. A few short years later, it can read your documents, use your tools, and run real work end to end. That's the line we just crossed — and it's where the efficiency gains actually live.
It does the work
- Reads your documents and data
- Takes actions across your tools
- Runs entire workflows end to end
- Hands you back the hours
The technology crossed a line: AI went from a clever assistant to a capable operator. For a small business, that's the difference between a fun demo and real hours back every week — and putting that shift to work, safely and on your terms, is exactly what I do.
Just curious about AI?
A hunch that AI could help is all you need to start
You don't have to understand the technology, know the tools, or have anything figured out. If you've just got a feeling that AI could save you time or money somewhere in your business — that's the perfect place to begin. Finding the rest is my job, not yours.
Start a no-pressure conversation-
No homeworkYou don't need to learn a tool or read up beforehand.
-
No jargonI explain everything in plain English, at a pace that feels good.
-
No dumb questions"Wait — can AI even do that?" is exactly the right place to start.
-
No pressureIt's a relaxed conversation, not a pitch. If AI won't help, I'll tell you.
What I do
Four ways I help you get real results from AI
Most engagements start with one and grow from there. Everything is scoped up front, so you always know exactly what you're getting.
01
AI workflow automation
The repetitive stuff — data entry, invoicing, follow-ups, scheduling, document handling — handled automatically so your team spends time on work that matters.
- Inbox triage & reply drafting
- Invoice, quote & document processing
- Lead routing & reminders
02
Custom AI tools & chatbots
Assistants trained on your business — your docs, your policies, your tone. For your customers, or for your team behind the scenes.
- Customer support & FAQ assistants
- Internal "ask anything" knowledge search
- Quoting & intake copilots
03
Systems & integrations
Your CRM, accounting, scheduling, and email finally talking to each other — so information flows on its own and nothing falls through the cracks.
- Connect the tools you already pay for
- One source of truth for your data
- Reliable, monitored automations
04
AI strategy & training
A clear-eyed look at where AI actually pays off for you — backed by a finance mindset for ROI — plus hands-on training so your team uses it confidently and safely.
- Opportunity audit & roadmap
- Tool selection & policy
- Live team workshops
How it works
A calm, five-step path to your first win
No giant "digital transformation." We find one painful, expensive process, fix it, prove the value — then expand from there.
-
1
Discover
A free consult and a short audit of how work actually moves through your business. We find where time and money leak.
~1 week -
2
Map
You get a plain-English roadmap: the highest-leverage opportunities, ranked by effort and payoff, with an honest read on the ROI.
scoped & quoted -
3
Build
We start with one well-scoped pilot. I build it, test it on real data, and keep you in the loop the whole way — no black boxes.
2–4 weeks -
4
Train
Your team learns the new workflow with documentation made for humans. AI should feel like a relief, not another thing to learn.
hands-on -
5
Support
I keep things running and look for the next win. Stay on month-to-month, or take the keys and run it yourself. Your call.
optional
In practice
From a flood of listings to the five deals worth a call
A real engagement with a real-estate investor who runs rentals and flips houses — the kind of high-volume, numbers-heavy decision-making where AI earns its keep.
The challenge
He was drowning in deal flow — MLS alerts, wholesaler blasts, and off-market leads — underwriting each one by hand. Good deals slipped away while he chewed through the backlog.
What I built
An AI deal-screening pipeline: it ingests every incoming property, runs the numbers against his buy-box for both rentals and flips, and ranks them. The first thing he sees each morning is a shortlist — not an inbox.
- Auto-underwrites cap rate, cash-on-cash, ARV, rehab & margin
- Pre-qualifies every acquisition against his buy-box and flags edge cases
- Surfaces the handful worth a closer look — with the math attached
Who's behind Northpath
Finance-trained, AI-obsessed — and on your side of the table.
Hi, I'm Matt. I'm the person you'll actually work with — not a sales rep, not an offshore team.
I came up through finance: a B.S. in Finance from the University of South Florida and an M.S. in Finance from Vanderbilt University. So I read a P&L before I touch a workflow. I care about what actually moves your numbers — not shipping AI for its own sake.
That training came with real reps. Through Vanderbilt's Summer Accelerator I worked on live strategy-consulting projects for organizations like Dollar General, Nashville Superspeedway, and Nissan — briefing real stakeholders on real business problems. The same rigor now goes into every small-business engagement.
For the last few years I've gone deep on applied AI: building with the frontier models, automating real back-office work, and earning the Corporate Finance Institute's AI in Finance certification along the way. These aren't tools I read about — they're tools I use every day to get real work done.
When we work together, you get someone who speaks both languages: the business side that worries about ROI and risk, and the technical side that knows which model, which integration, and which guardrails actually fit a small business.
Let's talk it through
Consulting experience
Strategy projects through Vanderbilt's Summer Accelerator
- Dollar General
- Nashville Superspeedway
- Nissan
A note from Matt
Let me be straight with you
Because a lot of people in my line of work won't be. Small businesses get burned constantly — by agencies that overpromise and vanish, by "experts" who hide behind jargon and lock you into long contracts, and lately by a wave of overnight "AI gurus" selling hype.
I've spent years around small businesses, and I kept noticing the same thing: AI could genuinely help them — real hours saved, real money back — but there was a knowledge gap, and no one they actually trusted to walk them across it.
That's why Northpath exists. No hype, no lock-in, no jargon you have to pretend to follow. I'll show you plainly what AI can and can't do for your business, prove it on something small before you commit real money, and hand you everything I build — so you're never stuck depending on me.
And if AI isn't the right answer for you, I'll tell you. That honesty is the entire point — it's exactly the part the shady operators leave out.
— Matt
The toolkit
Fluent across the tools that matter
I don't bet your business on a single vendor. I pick the right tool for the job — and I work in these every day, so I know their real strengths and limits.
Frontier models & research
AI
OpenAIGPT & o-series
A
AnthropicClaude models
G
Google Geminimultimodal
P
Perplexityanswers & research
Assistants & agentic dev
Cp
Microsoft CopilotM365 & GitHub
{ }
Claude Codeagentic coding
Cx
OpenAI Codexcode agent
Co
Claude CoworkAI teammate
Open models & platforms
OS
Open-source LLMsopen-weight · private
OR
OpenRoutermodel routing
Ab
Abacus.AIAI platform
Voice & visuals
11
ElevenLabsvoice & audio
R
Recraft AIimages & design
…and the right new tool the week it ships. Staying current is part of the job.
How good implementation works
The tools are the easy part
Anyone can buy a subscription. Good implementation means bringing your data and honest research to the table, understanding how your business actually runs, and integrating that knowledge into solutions built around you. The tools are commodities — the understanding is the edge.
The right tools
Frontier models, open-source, and the rest of the toolkit — the commodity part.
Your data & real research
Grounded in what's actually true about your market and your numbers — not guesswork.
How your business really works
The context most implementations skip — and the reason solutions actually fit.
Solutions that power your business
Built around how you actually work — not bolted on.
Data & trust
Your sensitive data, handled like it's mine
Client records, financials, proprietary processes — the data you can't afford to leak. Here's how I keep it protected, and yours.
You own the keys
Everything runs on accounts and credentials you control. I don't train public models on your data, and I switch off data-sharing wherever the tools allow.
Private by design
For proprietary or sensitive information, I can run open-source models inside your own environment — so your data never leaves your walls.
Built around your rules
NDAs, least-privilege access, and clear data boundaries agreed up front. For regulated data — health, financial, or otherwise — I design to your requirements and work alongside your compliance advisors.
Straight talk: I'm a consultant, not a law firm or a certifying body — so I won't claim a compliance stamp I can't back. What I will do is build to your standards and stay transparent about exactly where your data lives and how it flows.
How I work
A partner who speaks your language, not the algorithm's
You don't need a 40-person agency or a year-long contract. You need someone who'll understand the business and make AI quietly useful — then get out of the way.
Book a free consultResults in weeks, not quarters
Small, focused pilots that pay for themselves before we expand.
ROI-first, like a finance person
If the numbers don't work, I'll tell you. No AI for AI's sake.
Security-conscious by default
Your data stays yours. I choose tools and settings that protect it.
You own everything
Every account, automation, and prompt is yours — no lock-in, ever.
Ways to work together
Start small. Scale when it's earned.
Three simple ways to begin. Every engagement is custom-scoped and quoted to your needs — no packages, no pressure. The free consult sorts out which fits in 30 minutes.
Audit & Roadmap
Perfect if you're curious but not sure where to start. You walk away with a plan you could hand to anyone.
- Deep-dive into your workflows
- Ranked opportunity roadmap
- Tool & cost recommendations
- 90-minute findings walkthrough
Most popular
Automation Sprint
We pick one high-value process and ship a working solution — built, tested, and handed over with training.
- Everything in Audit & Roadmap
- One workflow or AI tool, built end-to-end
- Integrated with your existing tools
- Team training & documentation
- 30 days of post-launch support
Fractional AI Partner
For businesses ready to keep improving. A steady hand to build, maintain, and advise — month to month.
- Continuous automation & tooling
- Monitoring & upkeep
- Priority support & advice
- Cancel anytime
Every engagement is scoped and quoted in writing before any work begins. You'll never be surprised by an invoice.
How engagements work
Structured so the risk stays on me
Real deliverables, paid in stages as the value lands. You're never writing a blank check and hoping — at every step you know what's coming and what it's worth.
Clear deliverables, in writing
Every engagement is broken into milestones, each ending in something concrete you can see and use — not vague "consulting hours."
Pay in stages, as value lands
Billing is tied to those milestones, not a big sum up front. You fund the next step once the last one has proven out.
Never locked in
Engagements pause cleanly between phases. If your priorities shift, you can step off at a natural break — no year-long contract holding you hostage.
Accountability, not fine print
If a milestone ever misses the mark, I'd rather fix it — or settle up fairly for the work that landed — than keep money I didn't earn.
To be clear: none of this is me planning for you to be unhappy — it's the opposite. Taking the risk off your plate is how I earn the trust to keep going. Most engagements grow because the first one paid for itself.
What good looks like
The difference shows up in your week
Illustrative outcomes from typical small-business engagements. Yours start with measuring the real numbers in your discovery.
8hrs
of manual work taken off the team's plate each week
3×
faster response to new leads and customer questions
2wks
from first conversation to a working pilot in your hands
0%
lock-in — keep every tool and automation if we part ways
Good questions
The things people ask first
Still wondering about something? Bring it to the call — no question is too basic.
Do I need to be technical to work with you?
Not at all. My whole job is to handle the technical part and explain things in plain English. If you can describe how your business runs, we can find ways to make it run smoother.
How do you charge?
Every engagement is custom-scoped, because no two small businesses are the same. After the free consult I'll quote the work in writing — a fixed fee for projects, or a simple monthly rate for ongoing help. No packages, no surprises, and you approve the number before anything starts.
Is my business too small for this?
Small is exactly who this is for. A solo practice or a 20-person shop often sees the biggest relief, because a few hours saved each week makes a real difference. We scope everything to fit your size and budget.
What about my data and privacy?
Your data stays yours. I choose tools and settings that keep your information private and avoid training public models on it. We'll agree on exactly what's connected and what isn't before anything goes live.
Why does a finance background matter for AI?
Because the goal isn't "cool AI" — it's a better business. A finance lens means I evaluate every idea on real return: what it costs, what it saves, and how quickly it pays back. You get technology decisions made like investment decisions.
What if it breaks, or you stop working with me?
Everything is built on accounts you own, with documentation you keep. If we part ways, it all keeps running and any other developer can pick it up. No lock-in, and nothing held hostage.
Let's find your first win
Book a free 30-minute consult
No slides, no jargon — just a straight conversation about where AI could save you time and money. Worst case, you leave with a few free ideas.