Fractional Chief AI Officer and CTO · CPG Manufacturing

Your operation is ready for AI.
Are you?

We help CPG manufacturers in personal care, nutraceuticals, and consumer goods build AI and systems strategies that work on the floor, led by an operator who has done it from the inside.

30+
Years of systems experience
$250M
Market cap grown as CTO · $15M to $250M
2
ERP/MES systems built from scratch
4
Quality certifications earned & maintained
The problem

Every manufacturer is being told
to "do AI." Almost none know where to start.

The gap isn't ambition, it's that the people selling AI strategy have never run a production floor, managed a quality system, or navigated a supply chain failure.

⚙️
Fragmented systems
ERP, MES, QMS, and spreadsheets that don't talk to each other, and data that isn't clean enough to train anything meaningful.
📊
Generic advice
Consultants who understand AI in theory but have never managed a production floor, a quality audit, or a real supply chain disruption.
🎯
No clear ROI path
Pilot projects that never make it into production workflows, and boards asking for AI results with no credible roadmap to get there.
Why now

The window to build an AI advantage
in manufacturing is open right now.

Mid-market CPG manufacturers have an 18-month window to act before larger competitors lock in AI advantages that are hard to close.

01
MCP connectivity has arrived
Model Context Protocol now allows AI tools to connect directly to your existing systems (ERP, MES, QMS) without rebuilding your infrastructure. The integration barrier that blocked earlier AI adoption is gone.
02
Your competitors are moving
Larger CPG manufacturers are already deploying AI in quality control, demand forecasting, and production scheduling. Mid-market operators have a shrinking window to build a comparable advantage.
03
The cost of waiting compounds
Every month without a data strategy makes future AI deployment harder and more expensive. The manufacturers who invest in clean data and integrated systems today will have a structural cost advantage tomorrow.
How to work with us

Start with a fixed-scope diagnostic.
Grow into a roadmap.

No open-ended retainers to sign blind. You start with one clear, fixed-price engagement, then add only what earns its place.

Ad hoc support
On-Demand Support
$500/mo
10 hour plan, usage tracked - or $85/hr with no plan
Paid help desk for one-off work: quick automations, small builds, task-level AI assistance, fast troubleshooting. The low-commitment way to start, available any time.
Get help with a task
Ongoing partnership
Fractional Chief AI Officer and CTO
Custom quote
Monthly retainer · scoped to your roadmap
A Chief AI Officer and CTO without the full-time hire. We own your AI and systems roadmap, prioritize by ROI, select vendors, and drive implementation with your team.
Talk about a retainer
The Diagnostic

What happens
during an engagement.

1
Kick-off & intake
Remote session with your leadership team to establish scope and gather pre-visit documentation on current systems, workflows, and vendors.
2
On-site assessment
1-2 days on your floor and in your offices. We walk every major process: procurement, production, quality, inventory, fulfillment, and finance.
3
Data & integration analysis
Remote deep-dive into your data environment (cleanliness, structure, accessibility) and MCP integration readiness for cloud or on-premise AI deployment.
4
Report & readout
Written AI & Systems Readiness Report plus a live remote presentation walking your team through findings, priorities, and next steps.
Fixed fee, all inclusive
$8,500
Travel expenses billed at cost
Business process map - every major workflow, the systems it touches, and where data is created or lost.
Data readiness scorecard - honest assessment of data quality by process area.
Integration landscape review - MCP connectivity assessment for your existing systems.
AI opportunity teaser - your 2-3 highest-ROI AI deployment opportunities, specific to your operation.
About

A practitioner,
not a theorist.

CPG Automate is built on more than thirty years of hands-on experience building real systems in real manufacturing environments, not slide decks about what AI could do someday.

Built and scaled a CPG contract manufacturer from raw material sourcing through finished goods formulation, including a fully custom MES/ERP platform, built from scratch on Zoho Creator.
Developed three MIL-STD-105 quality management systems that received approval from every major aerospace and defense contractor.
Grew a broadcast technology company market cap from $15M to $250M as CTO and SVP, managing 100+ technical personnel across 90 websites, 2,000 domains, and 6 television networks.
Built one of the earliest in-house MRP systems (FoxBASE) for contract aerospace manufacturers, in the 1980s.
Developed some of the first online commercial streaming services, and co-led the specification of early credit card processing and referral payout systems on the web.
"The manufacturers who win the next decade won't be the ones who bought the most AI tools. They'll be the ones who built the data foundation to use them."
CPG Automate · Founder
Industry experience across
Personal Care
Nutraceuticals
Supplements
Home & Wellness
Food & Beverage
Broadcast Tech
Aerospace QMS
How we work
We use AI throughout our own work. A person reviews everything before it reaches you, and a person is accountable for it. That is the standard we will help you build, and we hold ourselves to it first.
Contact

The fastest way to start
is a conversation.

No obligation. Tell us where you are and what you're trying to solve, and we'll tell you honestly if and how we can help.

We respond within one business day.