AI Implementation Advisory

I don't sell AI futures.
I implement what actually works today.

Boutique advisory for Irish technology scale-ups navigating AI adoption. Strategy, positioning, and practical AI tooling — built on 30 years of enterprise technology experience and a deep intolerance for hype.

30+
Years in Enterprise Tech
18
Years at Microsoft
€1–20M
Client ARR Range
Working with Solgari Soft-ex Binarii Labs Finperiti
"I think we're in the 'this seems overblown' phase of something much, much bigger than Covid."
Matt Shumer, CEO of OthersideAI — from Something Big Is Happening, the essay read by 60 million people this week

He's right about one thing: most companies aren't ready. The question is what you do about it.

The Challenge

Your employees are already using AI.
Your company hasn't caught up.

Research consistently shows a striking gap: for every employee who has formal approval to use AI tools at work, seven are already using them anyway. They're drafting emails with ChatGPT, summarising documents with Claude, building spreadsheets with Copilot — and nobody in leadership knows.

Meanwhile, CEOs are being bombarded with AI noise from every direction. Vendors promising transformation. Consultants selling frameworks. Conference speakers painting futures that are five years away. What's missing is someone who can cut through the noise, look at your specific business, and tell you where AI creates genuine value — and where it doesn't.

7:1
For every employee with
AI approval, seven are
already using it.
01

The Adoption Gap

Your people are already using AI tools — just without governance, strategy, or any connection to business objectives. The question isn't whether to adopt AI. It's whether you'll lead the adoption or discover it after the fact.

02

The Noise Problem

Every vendor has an AI story. Most of them are aspirational at best. You need someone who's tested the tools, built with them, and can tell you what's real from what's marketing — without trying to sell you a platform.

03

The Starting Point

The biggest risk isn't choosing the wrong AI tool. It's starting in the wrong place. Most companies begin with the most complex, highest-risk use case. The smart ones start where value is fastest and risk is lowest.

04

The Build Question

Off-the-shelf AI won't differentiate you. But building custom tools feels daunting. The answer is usually simpler than you think — practical AI agents tailored to your specific workflows, built in weeks, not months.

Approach

Strategy that's built on evidence,
not slide decks.

I work with a small number of technology companies at any one time. This is deliberate. The work requires deep immersion — understanding your market, your competitors, your customers, and the specific points where AI creates leverage in your business. That doesn't happen in a two-hour workshop.

Selected Work

Real engagements. Specific outcomes.

I don't sanitise case studies or hide behind NDAs. Here's what the work actually looks like.

Conversational Intelligence

Full-spectrum advisory: from strategy to AI agents

Solgari is a customer engagement & conversational intelligence platform operating in the Microsoft ecosystem. I've served as anchor consultant across strategy, messaging, and AI implementation — the deepest engagement in my portfolio.

Developed the complete go-to-market strategy and competitive positioning. Wrote the majority of the website content and sales messaging.

Built two custom AI agents — Buzz and Amber — that are actively used across the business. These aren't demos. They're working tools embedded in daily operations, trained on Solgari's specific product knowledge, market context, and customer language.

Buzz and Amber - custom AI agents built for Solgari
Buzz (Sales Coach) and Amber (Product Specialist) — custom AI agents live on Solgari's partner page
StrategyMessagingWebsite ContentPipeline AnalysisCustom AI Agents
Binarii Labs
Cryptographic Security

Translating deep tech into commercial traction

Binarii Labs builds cryptographic security technology — technically sophisticated, commercially complex. The challenge: translating capabilities that require a PhD to understand into language that makes enterprise buyers act.

Conducted extensive market research into the quantum-readiness and compliance landscape.

Built a custom AI sales agent that has become a core part of the team's workflow. It understands Binarii's technology, market positioning, and competitive landscape, enabling faster and more consistent prospect engagement.

Market ResearchPositioningCustom AI Sales Agent
Soft-ex
Microsoft 365 Optimisation

Finding differentiation in a crowded ecosystem

Soft-ex operates in the Microsoft 365 partner ecosystem — a space where every competitor claims to "optimise" something. The challenge: carving out a distinctive position when the landscape is saturated with similar messaging.

Deep research into the competitive landscape, customer needs, and Microsoft's evolving partner dynamics. Developed positioning strategy and messaging that highlights Soft-ex's specific strengths rather than competing on generic claims. Built a custom GPT to support the team's ongoing needs.

Competitive AnalysisPositioningMicrosoft EcosystemCustom GPT
Finperiti
AML Compliance

Strategic research in a high-stakes regulatory domain

Finperiti operates in anti-money laundering compliance — a space where the cost of getting it wrong isn't lost revenue, it's regulatory action. Every claim has to be precise, every positioning choice defensible.

Conducted in-depth research into the AML compliance landscape, competitive positioning, and the specific regulatory pressures facing Finperiti's target market. Developed strategic recommendations grounded in the realities of a regulated industry where trust and credibility are non-negotiable.

Market ResearchStrategyRegulatory Domain

A note on the AI agents

I don't just advise on AI adoption — I build with it. The custom agents I create for clients aren't theoretical exercises. They're practical tools trained on specific business knowledge: product details, competitive intelligence, market research, customer language. They're designed to be used daily, not demonstrated once.

This is the approach I call AgentModal — mapping business processes to identify where custom AI agents and digital twins create genuine operational leverage. It starts with understanding the work, not the technology.

About

30 years of enterprise technology.
Zero tolerance for hype.

I've spent three decades in enterprise technology — 18 of those at Microsoft, where I led teams through the financial crisis and built practices that delivered double-digit growth when the market was contracting. I've worked at Digital Equipment Corporation, Compaq, and Cognizant. I've seen enough technology cycles to know the difference between a genuine shift and a well-marketed one.

AI is a genuine shift. But most of what's being sold as AI strategy is recycled consulting methodology with a new label. I'm not interested in that. I'm interested in what happens when you sit with a specific business, understand its specific problems, and build specific solutions that work.

I work with Irish technology scale-ups in the €1–20M ARR range — companies big enough to benefit from strategic AI adoption, small enough that every decision matters. I take on a small number of clients at any one time because the work demands depth, not breadth.

I only work with people I'd enjoy having dinner with. Life's too short for anything else.

Paul Mason

Background

Enterprise Ireland MentorScale-up advisory programme
Microsoft18 years · Sales leadership
EMCC Coaching CertificationExecutive coaching
Hoshin Strategic Planning30 years practice
Engineering BackgroundTransitioned to enterprise sales
Get in Touch

Let's have a conversation.

If you're leading an Irish technology company and trying to make sense of AI — where to start, what's real, what's worth your time — I'm happy to talk. No pitch, no proposal. Just an honest conversation about where you are and whether I can help.

Emailpaul@paulmasonconsult.com
LinkedInConnect on LinkedIn