Chris Lockhart · Author of The People Problem

AI transformation that sticks.

Most AI programs don't stall on the technology. They stall on people, process and decisions nobody made. I help leadership teams get AI into real workflows quickly, at a fixed price, with no open-ended retainers.

See the offersBook a call

Who this is for

Executive and operating teams who have bought (or are about to buy) AI tools and need them to produce results, not pilots that quietly die.

Too many ideas, no priorities.
Everyone has a use case. Nobody has ranked them by value and risk.
Pilots that nobody uses.
The tool works in the demo. Adoption stalls because the people side was never planned.
No one owns it yet.
You're hiring an AI transformation lead, and that search can take months. The work can't wait.

Three ways to start

Fixed scope, fixed price. Scope is confirmed in writing before work begins.

Start here

AI Readiness Sprint

$7,500 · 2 weeks
  • Interviews with your leadership team
  • Review of real workflows and data
  • Ranked list of AI use cases with value and risk
  • 90-day roadmap
  • A clear go / no-go on your first pilot
Book the Sprint
Build it

AI Pilot Build

$15,000 · 4 weeks
  • One scoped use case, idea to working pilot
  • Built in the tools your team already uses
  • Success metrics agreed on day one
  • Adoption plan so people actually use it
  • Clean handoff to your team
Start a Pilot
Lead it

Fractional AI Lead

$9,500 / month
  • A senior AI transformation lead, about one day a week
  • Steering and executive reporting
  • Vendor and build oversight
  • Adoption and change management
  • Month to month, no lock-in
Start Month One
Smaller first step

AI Readiness Assessment

$2,500 · 1 week

Not ready for a two-week Sprint? Get a fast, fixed-fee read on where AI will pay off for your team.

  • Short working session with your leadership team
  • Review of your current tools and workflows
  • Ranked list of top AI use cases with value and risk
  • A written 90-day plan
Book the AssessmentTalk AI with Chris (30 min, free)
For leadership teams

AI Briefing for Leadership Teams

$3,500 · 90 minutes

90 minutes with your exec team or board, in person or on Zoom. I walk you through what AI can and can't do for a company like yours right now: where it could save your team time, where the risk is, and the 3 questions your team should be able to answer. You get a short written summary afterward. No software to buy. Nothing to sign up for.

Book the briefing ($3,500) Talk first

Competitive Evidence Pack

Competitive analysis built on competitor evidence. Your sellers make claims against competitors every day. We find the sourced proof behind them, from public filings, reviews, pricing pages and product docs, so those claims hold up when a buyer pushes back. You get a battlecard per competitor with every claim linked to its source, plus the claims you should stop making.

Full pack: $2,500.

Up to 4 competitors, delivered in 5 business days.

Buy the pack ($2,500) Request a pack
Lite: $750.

One competitor, delivered in 3 business days.

Buy Lite ($750) Request a pack

Smaller, fast-turnaround services

Fixed-price help with the documents leadership teams rely on.

Presentations

Executive Deck Polish

From $150 · 2–5 business days
  • Consistent layout, fonts and spacing
  • Headlines that state each slide's point
  • Cleaner charts and tables
  • Packages from 10 to 35 slides
See packages
Spreadsheets

Excel Model Audit & Repair

From $250 · 2–5 business days
  • Starter: 2-day Model Health Check
  • Formula errors, broken links and hard-codes flagged
  • Fixes in a copy, with a change log
  • Optional restructure and update guide
See packages
Writing

Business Case from Rough Notes

From $200 · 2–5 business days
  • Your notes turned into a decision-ready case
  • Problem, options, costs, benefits and risks
  • Gaps flagged, no invented numbers
  • Packages from a 1-page summary to a full case
See packages
Sample

What a page of the Evidence Pack looks like

What a competitive evidence pack is, and how claims are graded · About the AI briefing for leadership teams

This is a mock. The companies and sources are invented. A real pack covers your competitors, with a working link on every source.

SAMPLE · Battlecard: Northwind Ledger (invented) vs. your product
Claim your sellers makeSourceGradeSo what
"Northwind charges extra for API access."Northwind pricing page, footnote on the Pro plan (invented)A Stated by themSafe to say. Quote the footnote and link it.
"Their support is slow."14 of 40 recent public reviews mention slow replies (invented)B Third-party patternSay "reviewers report slow replies." Don't state it as fact.
"Northwind can't do single sign-on."Northwind product docs list SSO on the Business plan (invented)X ContradictedStop making this claim. A buyer can disprove it in a minute.
"They're losing customers."No public evidence found? UnsupportedDrop it until there's a source.

Grades in this sample: A = stated by the competitor. B = consistent third-party evidence. X = contradicted by a public source. ? = no public source found.

How the Evidence Pack and Briefing work

  1. Buy or ask first. Use the buy button, or email me with "Request a pack" or "Talk first" if you have questions.
  2. Send your list. For a pack: the competitors (up to 4 for Full, 1 for Lite) and the claims your sellers make about them. For the Briefing: a date, in person or on Zoom.
  3. The work. Each claim gets checked against public filings, reviews, pricing pages and product docs, then linked and graded.
  4. Delivery. Full pack: 5 business days. Lite: 3 business days. Briefing: a 90-minute session, with a short written summary afterward.

The business days start once I have your competitor list.

Who it's for, and who it isn't

A good fit

  • Sales and marketing leaders whose sellers make claims against competitors every day.
  • Teams that want proof a buyer can check, with the source one click away.
  • Exec teams and boards who want a plain read on AI before they spend on it.

Not a fit

  • Anyone who wants private or insider information about a competitor. This uses public sources only.
  • Anyone who wants weak claims dressed up. If the evidence says stop, the pack says stop.
  • Teams shopping for software. There's no software to buy and nothing to sign up for.

How it works

  1. Short call or email. Tell me what you're trying to do. I'll recommend the right starting point, even if it's "don't hire me yet".
  2. Scope in writing. We confirm goals, deliverables and timeline before any work starts.
  3. Do the work. Weekly check-ins, decisions made in the room, no surprise invoices.
  4. Hand off. You keep the roadmap, the pilot and the playbook, and your team can run it.
Chris Lockhart

About Chris

Chris Lockhart has worked as an enterprise architect, a strategy consultant and a senior director at advisory firms, for organizations like UnitedHealth Group, Pfizer, State Street and Signet Jewelers. Most of that work is now data and AI: figuring out where AI actually helps, and where it doesn't.

He wrote The People Problem (2017), about why most transformations stall on people. He also hosts Consultants Saying Things, a video podcast with more than 80 episodes since 2018. He works through Just Signal, based in Greenville, South Carolina.

Questions

Which offer should I start with?

If you don't yet have a ranked list of use cases, start with the Readiness Sprint. If you already know the use case, go straight to a Pilot Build. If you need ongoing ownership while you hire, choose the Fractional AI Lead.

Is the price really fixed?

Yes. Scope is confirmed in writing before work begins, and the price doesn't change unless you ask to change the scope.

Do we need specific tools or data in place?

No. The Sprint looks at what you actually have. Pilots are built inside the tools your team already uses.

Can I cancel the Fractional AI Lead?

Yes. It's month to month with no lock-in.

How does payment work?

Payments are processed securely by Stripe.

What does AI competitive analysis for leadership teams include?

A Competitive Evidence Pack: a battlecard per competitor, with every claim your sellers make checked against public filings, reviews, pricing pages and product docs, graded and linked to its source, plus the claims you should stop making. Full ($2,500) covers up to 4 competitors in 5 business days. Lite ($750) covers one competitor in 3 business days.

Where does the evidence in a pack come from?

Public sources only: filings, reviews, pricing pages and product docs. Every claim links to its source and carries a grade, so you can see how solid it is.

Should I start with Lite or Full?

Lite ($750) covers one competitor in 3 business days. Full ($2,500) covers up to 4 competitors in 5 business days. If you want to see the format first, start with Lite on the competitor you meet most often.

What happens after I pay?

I email you within one business day to get your competitor list (or, for the Briefing, to set a date). The business days start once I have the list.

Is our information kept confidential?

Yes. Your competitor list, your claims and the finished pack are shared only with you. If you need an NDA, ask before you buy.

What if something in the pack is wrong?

Reply to the delivery email and I'll fix factual errors.

Do you contact competitors or use insider sources?

No. The research uses public sources only, and the pack says where each piece of evidence came from.

What do we get from the AI Briefing?

90 minutes with your exec team or board, in person or on Zoom, and a short written summary afterward.

Can I get a refund?

Email me before work starts and we'll sort it out. Once work has started, refunds are handled case by case.

Book a call

Send a line on what you're trying to do. I reply within one business day with a recommendation.

Email chris@justsignal.company Talk AI with Chris (30 min, free)