AI strategy consulting in Austin that ends in one priority, one owner and one number.
I'm Yiannis Papastergiou, an independent AI consultant based in Thessaloniki, Greece. I help Austin companies with roughly $1M+ in revenue turn scattered AI use into a plan their leaders agree on. The work is remote. I have no Austin office, team or local clients, and I'd rather say so up front. Start with a free 3–5 minute conversation about your company.
AI strategy consulting · Austin · Remote from Greece
About 3–5 minutes, mostly one-tap answers, then your name and work email. Your result on screen, with a 7-day plan. No call required.
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What does AI strategy consulting in Austin deliver?
AI strategy consulting in Austin turns scattered AI use into one ordered plan: which job to automate first, who owns it, and the number it must move. I deliver it remotely from Greece as a one-page 90-day plan with a go, not yet or no verdict, built from short interviews rather than a week of workshops.
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The short answer
In what order should an Austin company sequence its AI moves?
In September 2026 the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area had 1,416.6 thousand nonfarm jobs, up 1.1% on a year earlier. Underneath, sectors moved in different directions (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, preliminary figures, read 13 November 2026). The release gives no reasons, so I draw no conclusion about AI from it. What I do use it for is a question a roadmap must answer: where is the work that can be counted? These are patterns I would test, not results I am claiming.
Quote requests, supplier follow-ups and order status are countable. A roadmap here usually ranks one quoting job first and puts anything that changes a price or an order behind a person's approval.
Manufacturing: 87.6 thousand jobs, up 2.9%
The largest private sector in the area. Proposals, status reports and client onboarding are the countable work. The roadmap decides which single document type to start with and which partner signs it off.
Professional and business services: 291.2 thousand, up 2.8%
Onboarding checklists and monthly client reports. A roadmap here separates drafting, which AI can do, from anything that moves money or sends a document, which it never does.
Financial activities: 93.0 thousand, up 1.5%
Software and media teams usually already use AI daily. The roadmap question is different: which of those uses is wired into a process with a number attached, and which is just a browser tab.
Information: 49.5 thousand, down 0.6%
If you sell to public-sector buyers, first drafts of bid responses built from your past submissions are the countable job. A senior person signs off before anything is submitted.
Government: 204.6 thousand, down 2.9%
The first line of the roadmap is one job. The rest are ranked behind it and told to wait.
Sequencing
How should the Texas AI law and the NIST framework shape an Austin AI roadmap?
The Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (HB 149) was signed on 22 June 2025 and took effect on 1 January 2026. It covers anyone doing business in Texas that develops or deploys an AI system. Its core is a list of banned purposes, judged by intent, and only the Texas Attorney General enforces it, after a 60-day window to fix a violation (Baker Botts, July 2025).
The same summary notes that a company is not liable if it discovers a violation through internal testing, or if it substantially complies with the NIST AI Risk Management Framework. NIST describes that framework, first released on 26 January 2023, as intended for voluntary use, and says it is being revised as part of the White House AI Action Plan (NIST).
Under an intent test, the roadmap itself is evidence.
That is my reading, not a legal conclusion. A roadmap that records what each AI system is for, how it was tested and who approves its output is the paperwork that shows what you intended. I write those three lines for every item on the plan. This is not legal advice, and your counsel decides what applies to you.
What applies here
Is an AI strategy the right first step, or should an Austin company start with a pilot?
Start with
Fits when
Watch for
If one job is already obvious and has a number, skip the strategy and go straight to a build. I will say so.
A pilot
You already know the one job
A second pilot starts before the first has a number
A strategy and roadmap
Several people use AI and nobody can say where first
A deck nobody owns after the workshop
An in-house AI lead
AI is a permanent priority
A fixed hire before anything ships
Three starting points an Austin founder usually weighs. None is right for every company.
Your options
What does an Austin company hold at the end of an AI strategy and roadmap?
The priority, today's number, the target, the owner and what gets built. Agreed with you before anything is built.
A one-page 90-day plan
Each one scored by value and feasibility, with what to ignore for now written down next to it.
Every opportunity scored
Support may think the problem is volume while sales thinks it is unclear delivery dates. The roadmap shows both.
A map of where your people see it differently
Go, not yet or no. Sometimes the answer is not AI, and the verdict says so.
A verdict
Scoped with its number and quoted, so the next step is a decision rather than another workshop.
The first build, scoped
The plan starts from €1,500, with a seven-day refund if it wasn't worth it.
The deliverable
How does AI strategy consulting work for an Austin company from Greece?
Delivery is remote, from Thessaloniki. I have no Austin office, no local team and no Austin client reference. You choose who answers, usually one or two people per function. Each gets a link and spends 10–15 minutes in an interview with my AI, typing or speaking, whenever suits them. You add three to five rough numbers.
I read every answer, write the plan and walk you through it in a short recorded video, then we hold a single 20-minute call to agree it. 24timezones lists Austin as 8 hours behind Athens, so 9 a.m. Central is 5 p.m. for me. That is why the interviews are asynchronous: nobody on your side needs to be in a room at a particular hour.
How it works
Who writes the roadmap, and what have I not done?
I have no Austin clients to point to, and I won't invent any. Here is the work behind the way I plan.
As Product Owner at Natech I led its anti-money-laundering software from desktop to a modern web platform. It is now the company's market spearhead.
Regulated fintech
At Companies House, the UK's official business registry, I worked on the systems behind millions of searches and filings every year. At KLA I built and hardened production software for the modules that control chip fabrication.
Things that must not break
At ARAG UK, a 500-person legal insurance business, I started as the sole developer and became technical lead.
A 500-person business, one developer
For Bronzed Studio I automated the Instagram booking flow, and the owner got back at least 10 hours a week.
A small example
None of that proves what a roadmap would find in your business. The free AI Growth GPS lets you test my thinking on your own company first.
Who writes the roadmap
Which services sit around an AI strategy for an Austin company?
See the AI P.R.O. Method
In the AI P.R.O. Method (Discover, Plan, Run, Own), a strategy is part of Plan. AI governance and EU AI Act compliance can be added at any step.
What is worth doing, in order, with one priority, one owner and one number. Plan starts from €1,500.
AI Strategy & Roadmap
How ready you are across data, people, process and governance, and a verdict on a decision you name.
AI Readiness Assessment
Plan: decide what to build first
A system that does one job, with clear limits on what it may and may not do.
AI Agents & Custom AI Solutions
Repetitive workflows automated and measured in hours back each week.
Automation
Senior AI ownership, monthly, stop any time.
Fractional Chief AI Officer
Your leaders and team learn to run it themselves.
AI Training & Executive Workshops
Written rules for what AI may and may not do in your company. Added at any step.
AI Governance & EU AI Act Compliance
Run and Own: build it, then keep it running
Not the place to start if you want a list of tools rather than a plan. I'd rather tell you that now.
For your business
What happens after you click?
Each step leaves you with something you keep, and you can stop after any of them. Everything built stays yours.
your biggest growth constraint, named, and a 7-day plan on screen
Step 1
Discover, free: the AI Growth GPS. You answer questions about your company for 3–5 minutes.
a one-page 90-day plan with today's number, the target and a verdict (go, not yet or no). Seven-day refund
Step 2
Plan, from €1,500. Each person you choose does a 10–15 minute interview with my AI. I write the plan, then take you through it on a single 20-minute call.
a working system, the number it moved and a recorded walkthrough. The last payment waits until the number is met
Step 3
Run. One build and one agreed number. Six weeks to build, with a 3-minute video from me every week, then 90 days to prove it.
a named owner, a scoreboard and the rules for using AI safely
Step 4
Own. Monthly, until your team runs it without me.
The AI P.R.O. Method
Questions Austin leaders ask about AI strategy consulting
Plan, which is where the strategy and roadmap sit, starts from €1,500, with a seven-day refund. Anything built is part of Run: one fixed investment, quoted in your Plan before work starts, with the final payment invoiced only when the agreed number is met. I publish no fee list.
What is the investment for AI strategy consulting in Austin?
A pilot tests one job. A strategy decides which job comes first, who owns it and what number it must move, and what waits. If you already know the job and have a number, skip the strategy and build. If several people use AI and nobody can say where first, start with the plan.
How is an AI strategy different from a pilot?
No. I work from Thessaloniki, Greece, and everything is remote: interviews, shared documents, a recorded walkthrough and one 20-minute call. There are no Austin clients to cite and I make no claim to a local presence. If you need someone in your office, I am the wrong choice.
Do you have an office or a team in Austin?
It applies to anyone doing business in Texas that develops or deploys an AI system, and it took effect on 1 January 2026. It is built around banned purposes judged by intent, and only the Texas Attorney General enforces it. The roadmap records what each system is for. Your counsel decides what applies.
Does the Texas AI law apply to my company?
NIST describes its AI Risk Management Framework as intended for voluntary use. A law-firm summary of the Texas Act lists substantial compliance with it as a defense. I borrow its habits, such as recording purpose, testing and approval, without turning your plan into a compliance project.
Do we have to follow the NIST framework?
Each person you choose spends 10–15 minutes on an interview, on their own time. I then read everything, write the plan and record a walkthrough, and we hold one 20-minute call to agree it. Nobody needs to be available at a fixed hour, which is why Central time is not a problem.
How long does it take?
Only if a tool earns its place. Where possible I plan around what you already pay for, such as your office suite, CRM or ERP. Sometimes the verdict is not yet, or no, and I say so rather than invent work.
Will the roadmap tell us to buy more tools?
Yes. The free AI Growth GPS takes 3–5 minutes and names what is holding the business back, with a 7-day plan you can start without me. Plan is the next step when you want the inside view and a plan your leaders agree on.
Can we start smaller than a full roadmap?
Not the way I work. The aim is the same team, with hours of repetitive work taken off them every week, measured in hours saved.
Will AI replace people in my company?
None published with an Austin company. One small example: I automated the Instagram booking flow for Bronzed Studio, and the owner got back at least 10 hours a week. Behind it are 15+ years building software that has to keep working, at KLA, Companies House, ARAG UK and Natech.
What results have you delivered?
Questions
Not ready for a roadmap? Start with a free 3–5 minute conversation about your Austin company.
About 3–5 minutes, mostly one-tap answers, then your name and work email. Your result on screen, with a 7-day plan. No call required.
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A guided conversation with my AI Growth GPS. Tap or type your answers. Why it's free: you're pitched by AI consultants every week, so you get something useful before we ever speak. Nothing is shared.
Discover · The free AI Growth GPS
You don't need a longer list of AI ideas. You need one priority, one owner and one number.
Take the free AI Growth GPS, or see how the AI P.R.O. Method works first. Neither starts with a call.
About 3–5 minutes, mostly one-tap answers, then your name and work email. Your result on screen, with a 7-day plan. No call required.
Take the free AI Growth GPS
See the AI P.R.O. Method