AI Consultant · Toledo, OH
An AI consultant in Toledo who builds the automation he recommends
Toledo has made glass and car parts and moved freight for more than a hundred years. Owners here judge any new machine by one plain test, and artificial intelligence gets the same one: does it save time and money?
I'm Richie Kastl, a tech partner based in Northeast Ohio, about two hours from Toledo. I find the AI solutions that will pay for themselves in your shop, then I build them, test them, and teach your team to run them. I use AI models from OpenAI and Claude every day in my own business, so I know which ones hold up and which ones fall over.
You get working tools and a plan built around your numbers, from one person who learns how your whole business runs.
Where AI helps Toledo businesses first
Auto parts and glass suppliers
AI can pull specs out of customer emails and draft the quote, so your team spends less time retyping and tracks every open bid in one place.
Shipping and warehousing
AI drafts customer updates, sorts email, and builds daily reports, so no one on your team types them by hand.
Healthcare and service offices
AI can handle reminders, intake forms, and common questions, with a person checking the work before anything reaches a patient.
Contractors and local shops
AI answers web leads after hours and follows up until they book, so you win the job before a competitor calls back.
AI consulting built around how Toledo actually works
Toledo runs on things you can touch: glass, sheet metal, truck freight, patient charts. Owens Corning and Libbey still keep their headquarters in downtown Toledo, and O-I Glass, the company that grew out of Owens-Illinois, is based just south in Perrysburg. Stellantis builds the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator at the Toledo Assembly Complex. Add the port on Lake Erie and the spot where I-75 crosses I-80 and I-90, and you can see why so many jobs in Toledo sit in shipping and warehousing.
So what AI should do depends on the building you're standing in. A plant floor wants machine learning that spots a bad part before it ships. A freight broker wants an AI system that tracks a truck and drafts the check call. A clinic wants intake forms that fill themselves out right. Working out how to integrate AI on a shop floor takes different judgment than doing it in a front office, and that judgment is most of the job.
Most AI advice online is written for software companies. It talks about generative AI and workflow automation in big, vague terms and has never seen a quote sheet at an auto parts supplier. I sit in on your real work before I suggest anything. A Toledo manufacturer and a professional services company near Toledo, like a law firm or an accounting office, almost never need the same two tools, so the plan fits your specific business. Once in a while the fix calls for some data science. Usually it's plain engineering on the complex problems your team already complains about, and you can test the first build within a week.
What the Tech Audit finds inside a Toledo business
The Tech Audit is a short engagement: two weeks, one flat price. I follow a normal day of your work from end to end. A quote request lands in an inbox. Someone retypes it into a spreadsheet. Somebody else chases the customer for missing details, and a report gets built by hand on Friday. Each business process like that could be handed to AI, and I use a simple framework to rank them by hours saved and dollars kept.
I also look at the tools you already pay for: your email, your customer list, your spreadsheets, and whatever Google Analytics or other analytics you track. Most companies in Toledo run on QuickBooks, a CRM, a few spreadsheets, and a phone system. The AI technology out in 2026 can plug into that setup through simple integration work, so you don't have to rip anything out.
You leave with a ranked list of AI wins and a one-year AI strategy, written so your whole team can read it. It doubles as an AI readiness assessment, so people know what's coming before anything changes. If we keep working together after that, the full audit price comes off your first month.
Keeping a person over every AI system
Supplier contracts, patient records, and customer lists need rules before any AI tool touches them. Before anything goes live, I write down what data can go where, and I read the fine print on each of the AI platforms involved. Generative AI can draft a quote reply, a follow-up email, or a weekly report. A person on your team reads that draft and sends it.
That rule matters more as the tools get smarter. An AI agent that reads engineering drawings or pulls numbers out of a spreadsheet can still get one wrong, so someone checks its work for the first few months it runs. I also track how often each tool gets used and send you a short analytics report, so you see the payoff in plain numbers.
Why the person who plans also builds
Plenty of consultants in Toledo, or anywhere else, hand you a report and move on to the next client. I've spent 14 years in software engineering for clients, building websites, automations, and custom AI tools. I also run AI in my own business every day for reports and outreach. So when an idea lands at the top of your list, I'm the one who builds it, and you get a working tool along with the plan.
I work with businesses across Northwest Ohio: Toledo, Perrysburg, Maumee, Sylvania, Bowling Green, and Oregon.
What an AI consultant does for you
Find what's worth fixing
We look at your numbers and where your team's hours go each day. Then we rank the AI ideas by how fast they pay you back.
Build it into your tools
I build the AI into what you already use: email, your customer list, spreadsheets, phone, and website.
Keep a human in charge
Every AI system and AI agent we build works inside rules your team set and approved, and a person checks the work before it goes out.
Train your people
Your team gets a simple onboarding session and short guides for the new setup, so it keeps working after I step back.
Most of the work happens over video, so the two-hour drive doesn't slow us down. If a visit to your office would help, we can plan one.
Proof, not promises
My client sites have brought one American manufacturer $23 million in sales leads. For another, my site helped close a $10 million deal with a Fortune 100 company. I use AI every day in my own business to write reports and draft outreach.
Frequently asked questions
What does an AI consultant actually do? +
Three things. Find where AI will save real hours or real money, build the tool, and train your team to run it. I do all three.
What does it cost? +
We start with the Tech Audit, a two-week engagement at one flat price. You get a ranked list of AI wins and a one-year plan. If we keep working together, the full audit price comes off your first month.
Do you work with businesses outside Toledo? +
Yes. Toledo is one of my service areas, and I work with owners near Toledo too, from Perrysburg and Maumee out to the rest of Northwest Ohio.
Which AI use pays off first for a supplier? +
Usually quoting. Slow quotes lose deals. AI can pull the details out of a request and draft the reply, and your team checks it before it goes out.
Is it safe to put customer or supplier data into AI tools? +
It can be, once the rules are set. We decide which data can go to which tool and who sees the output, and I check each platform's terms before your data touches it.
Other areas I serve
Related services
One person for the plan and the work.
One spot is open. Apply, and if it's a good fit, we start with a Tech Audit. Two weeks, one flat price. It comes off your first month if we work together. Either way, you keep a one-year plan.