Make Your AI Tools Earn Their Keep
Connected Shacks helps Western Canadian businesses move beyond AI experimentation and turn everyday tools into practical workflows that save time, reduce admin, improve decisions, and support measurable business results.
How Connected Shacks Helps
Start with a focused fit call, move into a practical activation sprint, or bring in ongoing fractional AI leadership when your business needs senior AI direction without a full-time hire. Start with the conversation that best matches where you are.
Not sure? Book the free 15-minute AI Fit Call.
STRATEGIC FIT CALL
Free 15-minute call
A focused conversation to understand your current AI priorities, tool usage, and business goals. We’ll quickly determine whether Connected Shacks is the right fit and what next step makes sense.
____________________________
Best for: Leaders who want a clear outside perspective before committing to a larger engagement.
Investment: Complimentary
AI PRODUCTIVITY SPRINT
2-Week Scoped Engagement
For firms already using Microsoft 365, Copilot, ChatGPT for Business, or other AI tools but not seeing enough measurable value. This sprint identifies high-value workflows, builds one practical quick-win prototype, and delivers a 90-day adoption roadmap.
_____________________________
Includes
-
AI footprint review
-
Executive workflow interviews
-
AI Adoption Opportunity Map
-
Quick-win prototype
-
90-day adoption roadmap
-
Governance recommendations
Investment: Starting at $5000
Custom Quote after Fit Conversation
FRACTIONAL AI LEADERSHIP
Ongoing Monthly Engagement
Senior AI strategy and execution support without adding a full-time Chief AI Officer. Connected Shacks helps with AI governance, vendor evaluation, Microsoft ecosystem value, adoption planning, and executive decision support.
____________________________
Best for: Firms ready to move from experimentation to repeatable AI value.
Investment: Negotiated Monthly Retainer - Scope and Cadence determined together
IMPACT
Connected Shacks has helped real clients solve practical technology problems, make AI easier to understand, and improve everyday workflows.
Client Win: Blaine C. · Heritage Shade & Shutter
Construction Services Knowledge Access and Field Productivity
Problem: The business needed practical technology help across email, website setup, AI tools, and repetitive administrative work. Field technicians also needed faster access to installation and configuration information while working hands-free in real-world conditions.
What Changed: Connected Shacks helped set up core business technology, introduced practical AI tools, and implemented a lightweight retrieval-style knowledge system using installation and configuration manuals so technicians could use voice interaction to access timely information while on ladders or at job sites.
Outcome: The business reduced tedious administrative effort, improved access to field knowledge, and freed up time for customers, sales, and future projects. The client described saving well over a day per week by reducing redundant work.
“Brent made AI relevant for our business. He helped reduce the tedious admin work, improved how we access technical information in the field, and freed up time for the work that actually grows the company.”
Client Win: Charlene C. · Owner / Creative Director, Mut Hut Emporium
Retail Operations, Inventory, and POS AI Opportunity Review
Problem: The owner needed help thinking through how AI could support a busy retail operation, including inventory visibility, accounting workflows, POS-related processes, and everyday time management challenges.
What Changed: Connected Shacks listened to the business concerns, identified core operational friction points, and explored practical AI integration opportunities across inventory, accounting, point-of-sale workflows, and administrative work. The engagement also included hands-on prompt coaching to help the owner turn AI into a useful daily productivity tool.
Outcome: The client saved meaningful time by learning how to automate groundwork on a project, gained a clearer path for future AI-enabled operations, and left better equipped to evaluate AI opportunities without overcomplicating the business.
“Brent made the whole process feel approachable. He listened, understood our business, and showed us pragmatic ways AI could help with operations, time management, and future planning. I felt empowered, not overwhelmed.”
Client Win: Kathy H. - Medical Office Director
Medical Office AI Troubleshooting and Workflow Support
Problem: The client was losing time to persistent office software and hardware issues while also trying to understand how AI could fit into their daily office workflows. The real pain was not just the technology problem. It was the interruption to patient-facing work and the lack of a clear path forward.
What Changed: Connected Shacks diagnosed the immediate technology issues, helped resolve the source of the downtime, and showed the client how AI could be used as a practical troubleshooting and workflow-support tool rather than a confusing abstract concept.
Outcome: The client was able to get back to work with minimal downtime, gained confidence using AI in a practical way, and received guidance to reduce future technology friction.
“Brent’s expertise and clear explanations made everything feel manageable, even for someone who isn’t overly tech-savvy.” He solved our technical issues, explained AI prompting and privacy concerns in plain language, and helped me to start leveraging it with confidence. I highly recommend him!”
Client Win: Randy M. - Executive Marketing Consultant
AI Clarity for a Marketing Consultant Practice
Problem: The client wanted to understand what artificial intelligence and augmented intelligence could realistically do for people, businesses, and nonprofit organizations without being buried in AI slop or technical language.
What Changed: Connected Shacks translated AI concepts into plain-language examples, explained practical use cases, and connected the technology to business goals, productivity, and better client outcomes.
Outcome: The client gained a clearer understanding of how AI could be harnessed in approachable, practical ways and became confident recommending Connected Shacks to others exploring AI.
“Brent takes the mystery out of AI. He explains how it can help people, businesses, and nonprofit organizations in practical terms applicable to their business requirements. If you are wondering where AI fits, Brent is the person to call.”
From AI Confusion to Confident Execution
Brent Conradson
Founder | Fractional AI Strategy Advisor
I help Western Canadian firms move beyond AI experimentation and turn tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot, Perplexity Enterprise, ChatGPT for Business, and other emerging AI platforms (Claude, Gemini) into measurable business value.
My career spans more than 20 years in enterprise technology, including over a decade at Microsoft in advisory, support, and account strategy roles. That experience taught me a simple lesson: technology only matters when it improves how people work, how leaders decide, and how organizations perform.
Today, I bring that discipline to results-focused AI adoption. My perspective combines deep enterprise technology experience with recent MIT Sloan executive program learnings on AI Business Strategy and applied exposure to frontier AI tools through the Perplexity AI Business Fellowship.
I help leadership teams assess their AI footprint, identify high-value use cases, strengthen governance, unlock more value from the Microsoft ecosystem, and build adoption roadmaps their teams can actually execute.
Connected Shacks is built for organizations that need senior AI guidance without hiring a full-time Chief AI Officer. Practical strategy, honest advice, and execution support designed to make AI useful, measurable, and sustainable.
What Better AI Adoption Actually Looks Like
Connected Shacks is built around practical AI adoption, not theoretical strategy decks. The work focuses on clearer decisions, better workflows, and measurable value from tools your business already owns.
AI Tool Clarity
Identify where Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, automation tools, and emerging AI platforms can create value, and where they are simply adding noise.
Workflow-first Adoption
Turn repeatable admin, knowledge lookup, reporting, and communication tasks into practical workflows your team can actually use.
Executive Decision Support
Help leaders make better decisions about AI investment, vendor selection, governance, adoption priorities, and realistic ROI expectations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to Elevate?
