Fractional Chief AI Officer · CPG Manufacturing

Your operation is ready for AI.
Are you?

We help CPG contract 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.

Book a discovery call Start with the Diagnostic — $8,500

30+

Years of systems experience

$250M

Market cap grown as CTO · $15M to $250M

ERP/MES systems built from scratch

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.

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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.

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.

Your competitors are moving

Larger CPG contract 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.

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.

Services

Three engagements.
One clear path forward.

Every engagement starts with a clear deliverable and a defined scope. No open-ended retainers, no surprise invoices.

Tier 1

The CPG Automate Diagnostic

$8,500

Fixed fee · 2–3 weeks · on-site + remote

On-site process mapping, data readiness assessment, MCP integration review, and an AI opportunity teaser identifying your 2–3 highest-ROI starting points. The entry point for every client relationship.

Tier 2 · Most popular

Fractional CAIO Retainer

$2k–$18k / mo

3–6 month engagement

Embedded advisory to drive AI and systems implementation — vendor selection, project oversight, team enablement, and AI tool deployment. Your outsourced Chief AI Officer without the full-time cost.

Tier 3

Strategic Advisory Board Seat

$3k–$5k / mo

Ongoing · light touch

Monthly strategic counsel and async access to keep your AI and systems investments on track after implementation. Lock in continued access to the expertise without the full retainer commitment.

The Diagnostic — Tier 1

What actually happens
during an engagement.

Kick-off & intake

Remote session with your leadership team to establish scope and gather pre-visit documentation on current systems, workflows, and vendors.

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.

Data & integration analysis

Remote deep-dive into your data environment — cleanliness, structure, accessibility — and MCP integration readiness for cloud or on-premise AI deployment.

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 30+ 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.

Designed one of the first MES systems in American manufacturing — in the 1980s — before most of the industry understood what a data system could do for a production floor.

Developed some of the first online video applications before streaming existed, 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

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