Your team is buried in manual work. I build AI systems that get it off their plate.
12+ years owning and operating hospitality, real estate, and ops-heavy businesses. Now I build the AI and automation systems I wished I had back then.
I help business owners find labor sinks, recover lost revenue, and give managers numbers they can trust. Typical builds ship in 2 to 6 weeks, not quarters.
Hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, real estate, and more. Built by an operator, not a vendor.
- −93%
- Manual count time
- +18%
- Bookings
- 68%
- Claims auto-resolved
- 99.4%
- Reconciliation matched
Hospitality inventory
Travel & STR
Healthcare RCM
Finance ops
I find labor sinks, fix revenue leaks, and build systems your team will actually use.
Owned and operated
12+ years running hospitality, real estate, sports, and technology businesses. I have sat in the operator seat, not just the consultant chair.
Built and shipped
Production systems across healthcare RCM, finance reconciliation, STR operations, and hospitality inventory. Working software in weeks, not strategy decks in quarters.
Still in the game
Independent consulting since 2022. I run the same kinds of systems I build for clients, so the bar is whether it survives real shift schedules and real managers.
Trusted by operators in hospitality, healthcare, finance, real estate, travel, and manufacturing
You don't have an AI problem. You have a time and money problem AI should already be solving.
Every hour your team spends on manual work is payroll you cannot spend on growth. Every slow follow-up or missed exception is revenue walking out the door. That is the labor sink. AI only helps when it removes work from the floor, not when it adds another tool to manage.
- 01
The labor sink
Your team spends hours on counts, claims, reconciliation, follow-up, and data entry. That burns payroll, hides errors, and leaves managers guessing where the money went.
- 02
Why most AI fails
Pilots never stick. Dashboards nobody trusts. Chatbots that make more work. Tools bought for the demo, not for the people who run the business every day.
- 03
What actually works
Systems that watch the work, catch the exceptions, and handle the rest. Your team only touches what needs judgment. Built to survive real operations, not a pilot week.
Four ways I cut labor costs and recover revenue.
Each engagement ships a working system in 2 to 6 weeks. The technology is always secondary to the time and money it saves.
Hours back, variance tightened
Stop bleeding hours on inventory and counts
POS-connected inventory systems that auto-detect variances, flag loss, and turn weekly counts from hours into minutes.
- 12-min counts
- ±2.5% variance
- <1 stockout/mo
Humans only handle exceptions
Automate data entry. Humans only handle exceptions.
Automations that move data between systems, flag what looks wrong, and leave your team with a short exception list instead of a full inbox.
- Exception-only review
- Auditable trails
- Fewer errors
Less reconciliation, more decisions
Close the books faster with smarter reconciliation
Intelligent layers over your existing platforms that match, enrich, and pre-process information so the close happens faster.
- Cleaner handoffs
- Faster closes
- Less rework
Confidence instead of gut feel
Give managers numbers they can trust
Role-appropriate dashboards and reporting built on clean data. Managers operate with confidence instead of spreadsheet chaos.
- Role-based views
- Clean KPIs
- Acted-on reporting
Real workflows. Real labor saved. Real revenue recovered.
Systems in production across industries. Not pilots. Not pitch decks.
Hospitality
Reclaim dozens of hours per month on counts and variance work.
Roughly 40+ hours/month back on payroll at a typical multi-location bar group.
- −93% manual count time
- Variance ±14% → ±2.5%
- <1 stockout/mo
Healthcare
Claims triage that surfaces only true exceptions for staff.
Faster cash flow without adding back-office headcount.
- 68% auto-resolved
- −44% cycle time
- No added headcount
Travel & STR
Lead follow-up and guest messaging built for non-technical teams.
More bookings from leads that used to go cold after hour two.
- <2 min lead response
- +18% bookings
- Always-on coverage
Finance
Automated reconciliation that shortens the close.
Three fewer days to close means decisions happen sooner.
- 99.4% matched
- −78% exceptions
- −3 days to close
Featured build, hospitality
Bar Inventory SaaS, built end to end
A POS-connected inventory system that auto-detects variance, flags loss and over-pour, and turns weekly counts from hours into minutes. Designed by someone who has run bar operations.
Manual count time
−93%~3 hours12 minutesStockout incidents
−87%8 / month< 1 / monthInventory variance
Tight±14%±2.5%
Count time
Variance
±2.5%
Stockouts
<1/mo
Proof in practice, not in pitch decks.
A featured build with full operating impact, plus a representative agentic workflow in healthcare. Both shipped, both in use.
Count time
Variance
±2.5%
Stockouts
<1/mo
Featured, hospitality
Full case studyBar Inventory SaaS, built end to end
- Industry
- Hospitality
- Role
- Solo build
- Status
- In production
- Stack
- Next.jsSupabaseOpenAIStripeVercel
Operating impact
Manual count time
-93%~3 hours12 minutesStockout incidents
-87%8 / month< 1 / monthInventory variance
Tight+/- 14%+/- 2.5%
Healthcare, representative
Intentionally vagueAgentic PIP claims triage for a regional health agency
An agentic workflow layer intelligently routed and pre-processed PIP claims data, surfacing only true exceptions for human review. Claim resolution cycles accelerated meaningfully and backlog pressure dropped on staff without adding headcount.
- 68% auto-resolved
- −44% cycle time
- No added headcount
Auto-resolved
Backlog
−210
Avg. cycle
9 days
What clients say
“Zack really understood the requirements for AI, ChatGPT, workflow automation, and n8n. He improved on them and delivered above and beyond. Highly recommend Zack for any automation projects.”
Alex G.
Best Selling Author & Worldwide Speaker
- Committed to quality
- Clear communicator
Across industries. Same job: save time and money.
If your team moves data by hand, chases exceptions, or loses revenue to slow follow-up, I can help. The industry changes. The outcome does not.
Hospitality
Inventory, variance, labor, and guest ops that eat hours every week.
See how →Healthcare
Claims, eligibility, prior auth, and back-office work that stalls cash flow.
See how →Manufacturing
Order exceptions, quality checks, and handoffs between systems and people.
See how →Finance
Reconciliation, close, and exception reporting that should not take days.
See how →Real Estate
Lead response, follow-up, and transaction workflows that leak deals.
See how →Travel & STR
Guest messaging, pricing alerts, and operator tools that actually get used.
See how →
Also work with ecommerce, law firms, professional services, and other operations-heavy businesses. Browse all services
A practical build process.
Clear discovery, scoped implementation, and adoption support. Built for adoption, not demos. Bring one workflow you want to fix and 30 minutes. No prep deck required.
- 01Week 0
Free workflow review
We look at one real process in your business, where AI or automation could save time or money, and whether it is worth building.
- Workflow map
- Opportunity list
- No obligation
- 02Week 1
Roadmap & build plan
A prioritized plan covering workflows, integrations, data needs, and adoption risks. Scoped to outcomes, not to features.
- Scoped requirements
- Tooling decisions
- Cost & timeline
- 03Weeks 2 to 6
Build, train, iterate
Implementation, rollout, documentation, and training so the system moves from prototype to daily use. Plus 30 days of support.
- Working systems
- Team training
- 30-day support
Clear engagement options.
Start with a free review, scope a build when there is a fit, or book hours when you need senior guidance.
Tier
Workflow review
We look at one real process in your business, where AI or automation could save time or money, and whether it is worth building.
- Live workflow review
- Opportunity map
- Honest fit assessment
- No obligation
Tier
Project build
Full implementation for automations, internal tools, or dashboards. Covers discovery through 30-day support. Fixed price per project.
- Discovery & roadmap
- Build & deployment
- Training & docs
- 30-day support
Tier
Consulting
Focused support for AI adoption, technical review, or implementation guidance when you need senior help without a full build.
- Senior technical guidance
- Architecture review
- Adoption support
- Flexible scheduling
Tell me what process is eating your team's time.
A 30-minute call to map one real workflow, where automation could save labor or recover revenue, and whether it is worth building. No pitch. Direct reply from me within one business day.
Frequently asked questions.
What do you actually do?
I help business owners implement AI and automate processes so teams spend less time on manual work and stop leaking money. Most projects start with a free workflow review, then move into a scoped build, training, and iteration.
How do we know what is worth automating?
We map the work as it happens today and score it on four dimensions: frequency (how often it runs), friction (how painful it is), error exposure (cost of mistakes), and revenue sensitivity (does it touch money, claims, or compliance). The best opportunities sit at the intersection of all four.
How long do projects typically take?
A focused automation can move quickly. A custom internal tool needs more discovery, testing, and rollout. Typical engagements are 2 to 6 weeks, scoped after reviewing the actual process. Project builds typically range from $2,500 to $15,000.
Do I need technical knowledge to work with you?
No. The work is designed for operators, managers, and frontline users, the people who will actually run the system. Technical teams are welcome but not required.
What is included in the free consultation?
A focused 30-minute workflow review. We look at one real process, where AI or automation could save time or money, and give you an honest picture of fit, even if that answer is "not yet."
What happens after I submit the form?
I reply within one business day, directly from me, not a sales team. We schedule the 30-minute call, you bring one workflow to walk through, and you leave with a candid take on fit and next steps. No pitch deck, no obligation.
Who is this not for?
If you want a strategy deck without implementation, a generic chatbot demo, or a team to manage 14 disconnected AI tools, I am not the right fit. I work with owners and operators who want one practical system that removes real work from the floor.
What industries do you work in?
Hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, real estate, travel and short-term rentals, and other operations-heavy businesses. The common thread is repetitive manual work, real error exposure, and managers who need visibility they can trust.
Zack Shields
Operator who builds AI systems, based in Orlando, FL
Twelve years operating real businesses, before building the systems that run them.
I have run the workflows I now help teams automate: follow-up, client communications, pricing, reporting, training, and day-to-day execution across hospitality, real estate, and technology businesses. I know what it feels like when a process eats a shift and nobody can tell you where the numbers went wrong.
Today I map labor sinks, scope fixes that recover revenue, and build AI and automation systems that survive real users and real edge cases. The difference between a tool and a system is whether your team still uses it six months later. That is the bar I build to.
- 12+ years operating real businesses: hospitality venues, real estate, sports, and technology
- Led production and launch of a software platform for the hospitality industry
- Built AI systems across healthcare, finance, hospitality, real estate, staffing, and manufacturing
- Independent consulting since 2022, based in Orlando, FL
A free 30-minute workflow review. No pitch.
We'll look at one real process in your business, where AI or automation could save time or money, and whether it is worth building. Honest answer either way, even if that answer is “not yet.”
- Direct reply from Zack, not a sales team
- Typical first builds ship in 2 to 6 weeks
- Recent builds cut manual count time by up to 93%
- Free
- Cost
- 30-min call
- Format
- Reply in 1 day
- Next step