AI enablement coaching For small teams and software shops Springfield, MO and remote
Your team learns to work with AI.
I'm an engineer who teaches teams to use AI on their real work. That includes software teams and shops doing client work. I sit with your people, coach them while they change one workflow at a time, and stay until they own it. I take one embedded engagement at a time.
We look at how your team works today. No slide deck. Or email kevin@truefrontierapps.com.
Building AI-Confident Humans.
Monday morning. The licenses are paid for.
Your team has AI. The work still gets done the old way.
A few people use it every day. The rest tried it, got a strange answer, and went back to what they know. There's no shared way of working, so the gains stay with the power users. Nobody had time to figure out where it fits in the actual work. So it sits there, and the same jobs take the same hours.
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Nobody mapped the work first. AI got bolted onto steps that should have been deleted, or handed jobs that need a person. It looked good in the demo and never made it into the real week.
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The training happened once. The tools change every week. New features ship all the time, and what worked last month may not be the best way now. A one-time class goes stale fast.
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Rules came before results. There's a policy doc and a list of don'ts, but no safe place to try things. So people avoid it, or they use it on the side and never share what works.
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Client work makes it harder. Contracts differ on what AI use they allow. Some work can't go into tools at all. Without clear per-project rules, people either freeze or take risks they shouldn't.
- Status update nobody reads Delete
- Copy ticket fields into the PR Plain code
- First pass on the change AI-assisted
- Architecture and security review Keep human
- Final ship decision Keep human
Start with one small step. Say it takes someone on your team minutes and they do it times a week.
That's , every week. That's about a year, from one step. That's the size of the first win I aim for: one small workflow, about two hours a week back, measured on your real work.
Small wins build trust. Trust builds the next win.
I fix this by working beside your team, on your real work.
I'm not an agency and I don't hand you a black box. I map one real workflow with the people who do it, coach them while they change it (sandbox first, then production), measure what changed, and stay until your team owns it. Quality stays with your people (review, testing, security). We also write down when not to use AI. I take one embedded engagement at a time, so your team gets my full attention.
How I work
Map it. Try it safely. People stay in charge.
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Map the real work
We walk one workflow, step by step, with the people who do it. Before any AI, we write down what really happens.
- Sort every step: delete it, plain code, AI-assisted, or keep human.
- Baseline first: how long it takes today, on real work.
- Shared standards: what the team will and won't do with AI (including when not to use it).
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Coach on real work
Your people at the keyboard, me beside them. We start with one small workflow, about two hours a week back.
- Sandbox first, production later. Try things where mistakes are cheap.
- Client permissions first: NDAs and per-project AI rules stay in force. Some work never goes into tools.
- Experiments over policy decks: try it, check it, keep what works.
- Teach to the person, not to a slide. Everyone learns a little differently.
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Measure and hand off
We time the same work again and look at it honestly. Then your team takes it from there.
- Honest before and after on real work. No canned ROI.
- A one-page runbook: what it does, what to check, what to try next.
- I stay until your team owns it, then I step back.
Say your team ships features for clients. Before: a few people use AI their own way. Everyone else pastes and hopes. Reviews catch surprises late. After: the team shares one setup. First pass can use AI where the project allows it. People still own architecture, review, and the ship call.
Ways to work together
Three ways to start
Start small or go deep. Each one starts with a free call and an honest read on whether it's worth your money. I take one embedded engagement at a time.
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Step 1
A talk or lunch-and-learn
price on request
For: a team that wants to see AI on real work before it commits to anything.
- on-site or remote, over lunch or in a team meeting
- live examples on the kind of work your team does
- time for questions (including the skeptical ones)
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Step 2
Half-day team workshop
$2,000
For: a team of ten or fewer that bought AI and isn't using it.
- half a day, on-site or remote
- hands on their own work (not slides)
- each person leaves with one job handed off to AI, set up by them and checked by them
- a short list of what to try next
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The main work
Step 3
12 weeks embedded coaching
one team at a time scoped and priced on a call
For: a team ready to change how real work gets done, with someone beside them while they do it.
- Assess: map your real workflows and time them today
- Plan: sort the steps and pick one small workflow to start (about two hours a week back)
- Coach: sit with your people on real work, sandbox first, then production
- Measure: an honest before and after on the same work
- Hand off: a runbook and habits your team owns, so they don't need me
What changes
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Your team stops waiting on the AI person.
They learn to set it up, hand it a job, and check its work themselves. The know-how lives on your team, not in one person's head (and not in mine).
Before:“ask the one person who gets it.”After:they try it, check it, and share what worked.
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Your experts get better results, not replaced.
Anyone using AI gets decent output. Someone who knows the work gets better output, because they bring what they've learned. Those are the people I coach.
Before:generic answers nobody trusts.After:answers shaped by the person who knows the job.
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Trust grows one small win at a time.
Try one small thing. “Oh, that was easier.” Then the next one. People warm up when they know where the guardrails are and how to check the work.
Before:all in, or not at all.After:one step at a time, checked.
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The habit outlasts the tools.
AI tools change every week. Your team leaves with a way to keep up (try it, check it, update how you work), not a one-time class that goes stale.
Before:a training that's stale in a month.After:a team that keeps its own playbook current.
What people said after learning with me
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“Now I feel confident about where to go.”
One of the biggest takeaways has been taking away the paralyzing overwhelm from knowing where to start with AI. Now I feel confident about where to go when I need to work on something with AI.
Brian Ashbusiness owner -
“Made me smoother with all the AI tools at work.”
Thank you so much for the class. Have learnt a lot… how to use skills, plugins, and context files to improve the model, how the context window affects the output. Has made me smoother with all the AI tools at work.
Amritpreet (Preet) Singhsoftware developer -
“Helping me run more efficiently.”
Using plan mode with AI models is helping me… managing the context window, providing context in docs about my work, and for new projects, thinking about the deployment goal first.
Jali Purcelldeveloper
Stories from the work
- A designer wanted to try building with AI but didn't know where to start. I sat with him and got him going. He used it to build a design system that leveled up his everyday tools.
- A team moved to shared Claude projects, so one person set up the format and everyone used the same flow. It was slow to click. Once it did, it streamlined the work and improved their sales proposals.
- In a cohort with three business owners, we wrote down how the work really happens so agents could take on parts of it. One owner realized he had no clear ideal customer. The next week his team narrowed from about five audiences to one.
- At a Vibeathon, a man with about 30 years in manufacturing (and no AI background) nearly walked out after the intro. A developer offered to drive the AI if he'd bring the industry know-how. They stayed and finished second.
Taught
- A six-week live AI Masterclass for working developers at Codefi
- An agent cohort with three business owners
- 1:1 AI coaching for business owners
- Tech lead for Vibeathon, four AI build events across Missouri, 141 builders checked in
Hi, I'm Kevin.
I'm an engineer who teaches teams to work with AI. I spent about 20 years building for the web, close to design, and since 2018 I've built software for small business owners in Springfield, MO.
Around 2024 I went AI-first. Since then I've taught a six-week AI Masterclass for working developers, run an agent cohort with business owners, coached owners 1:1, and helped a Springfield software team get everyone onto Claude Code.
Here's what I learned: the tool was never the problem. Confidence was. Someone who knows the work, using AI, gets better results than AI on its own. So my line is Building AI-Confident Humans.
My favorite moment is sitting next to someone when they say “oh, I could do that.” That's why True Frontier is small on purpose. I take one embedded engagement at a time.
Dad of four boys. Each one learns differently, which keeps me honest as a teacher.
Before coaching, I built apps
Software for small business owners since 2018. It's why I coach on real work, not slides.
Questions teams ask
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Is this a build shop?
No. I'm an engineer and I can build, but the job is teaching your team to do it. You end up with people who can use AI on their own work, not a system only I understand.
No. I'm an engineer and I can build, but the job is teaching your team to do it. You end up with people who can use AI on their own work, not a system only I understand.
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Do you work with software teams?
Yes. I sit with engineers on their real tickets and workflows. Not management, and not outsourced leadership. The same method works for small non-engineering teams too.
Yes. I sit with engineers on their real tickets and workflows. Not management, and not outsourced leadership. The same method works for small non-engineering teams too.
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Our team isn't technical. Does this work?
Yes. You know your work; I know the tools. The people who know the job best usually get the best results once they're set up.
Yes. You know your work; I know the tools. The people who know the job best usually get the best results once they're set up.
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Which AI tools do you use?
The ones you already pay for, when we can (Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, and the AI inside tools you already use). I know Claude best. I'll tell you when a tool isn't worth it.
The ones you already pay for, when we can (Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, and the AI inside tools you already use). I know Claude best. I'll tell you when a tool isn't worth it.
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What happens with our data?
We start in a sandbox, with test or low-risk data. Real work moves over only when your team trusts the setup. Client work often has NDAs and different AI rules per project; we follow what's allowed on that work. It stays in your accounts, under your logins, with the least access I need.
We start in a sandbox, with test or low-risk data. Real work moves over only when your team trusts the setup. Client work often has NDAs and different AI rules per project; we follow what's allowed on that work. It stays in your accounts, under your logins, with the least access I need.
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How do you know it worked?
We time the real work before we change anything, then time the same work after. No canned ROI numbers. If something didn't help, you'll see that too.
We time the real work before we change anything, then time the same work after. No canned ROI numbers. If something didn't help, you'll see that too.
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Why one engagement at a time?
Embedded coaching means being with your team, on their work, week after week. I can't do that well for several teams at once, so I don't try.
Embedded coaching means being with your team, on their work, week after week. I can't do that well for several teams at once, so I don't try.
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Will we depend on you afterward?
No. The goal is that your team owns it. I stay until they do, leave a one-page runbook, and step back.
No. The goal is that your team owns it. I stay until they do, leave a one-page runbook, and step back.
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Remote or on-site?
Both. True Frontier is in Springfield, MO. I work remote anywhere in the US and am happy to come on-site about a day a week.
Both. True Frontier is in Springfield, MO. I work remote anywhere in the US and am happy to come on-site about a day a week.
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What if it's not a fit?
I'll say so on the first call, before you pay anything.
I'll say so on the first call, before you pay anything.
People stay in charge. Let AI help with the rest.
Start with a free call. Tell me how your team works today, and I'll tell you honestly where AI fits and where it doesn't.
No slide deck. No pressure. Or email kevin@truefrontierapps.com.