1:1 Advisory · Private
Work with me, directly.
On the AI calls you can't afford to get wrong.
A private advisory engagement with Nick Harris — founder of Automatic — for executives and operators who need AI in their judgment, not just their tools. Two working sessions a month. Direct access between sessions. Built for the people whose decisions actually ship.
Who leads this
Nick Harris. No account manager, no junior, no handoff.
I've run ops inside a 90-person agency, led AI integration across a portfolio of service businesses, and spent the last two years inside boardrooms and founder kitchens helping people decide what to build, what to buy, what to kill, and how to tell the team.
Advisory is the quieter half of what we do at Automatic. Agency work ships the systems. Advisory sharpens the judgment behind them. Sometimes the same client buys both. Sometimes people hire me advisory-only because they already have a team; they just want someone honest in the room.
The relationship is 1:1. You get me, not a pod. Everything we discuss stays private.
What you get
The shape of a month.
Two working sessions. Async access between them. One tangible artifact we co-author. Unlimited second opinions. All of it private, all of it yours.
Two 60-minute working sessions
Scheduled around you, recorded if you want them, structured around whatever you need to decide this month — not a generic curriculum.
Direct async access
Slack or email, whichever you prefer. Send me the vendor pitch, the draft memo, the screenshot of the tool, the Slack thread you're about to write. I reply inside 24 hours.
One co-authored artifact / month
A 12-month AI roadmap. A vendor eval rubric. A board memo. A hiring brief. A team enablement plan. Something you walk out of the month with, not just notes.
Model-by-model fluency
Practical, up-to-date fluency in Claude, GPT, Gemini, and the open-source frontier. You stop guessing which tool to use for which job.
A roadmap you own
At the end of every quarter we review the plan together. Adjust to what actually happened in the business. Reset targets for the next one.
Board and investor back-channel
I've been in the rooms where CEOs get asked 'what's your AI strategy?' by boards and LPs. I help you answer it in a way that's honest and not theatrical.
Who this is built for
Operators with real P&L. Not hobbyists.
Agency founders
Principals running 30-to-200-person creative, marketing, or consulting shops who need AI in their delivery without breaking the margin or the brand.
SMB CEOs & COOs
Operators running a real company — field services, professional services, manufacturing, logistics — who are being asked for an AI strategy and want to build one that survives contact with reality.
Startup founders
Founders who don't need another pitch deck reviewer. You need someone who'll be honest about what your team can actually ship and what the competition is quietly doing.
Heads of ops & IT
The people who actually have to make AI work inside the business. You want a thinking partner who's sat in your seat, not a consultant who's read about it.
Go-to-market leaders
CROs, CMOs, and revenue operators who want to pressure-test what AI should and shouldn't do inside the funnel, and how to position around it.
Boards & investors
Directors and partners who need fluency in AI before they set it as a strategic priority for a portfolio company. Available by the quarter.
What to expect
What the last cohort of advisory clients actually got.
The rhythm
How a typical month runs.
Week 1
Working session
60 minutes on the biggest decision in front of you. We leave with an action list — things you're going to do, things I'm going to draft, things we're parking.
Week 2
Drafting + async
I draft the artifact we agreed on (roadmap, memo, rubric). You push me on the vendor pitches and team messages you're working through. 24-hour async SLA.
Week 3
Working session
Second session. Often this is where we stress-test the artifact before you put it in front of your team, board, or investor.
Week 4
Land + reset
You ship the artifact. We review what worked. I send the agenda for the next month based on what's now live, what's changed, and what's next.
Questions
Before you book the first call.
Who is this for?+
Founders, CEOs, COOs, agency principals, and senior operators who need to make real AI decisions — what to build, what to buy, what to ignore, how to train the team — and don't want to learn it by lurking in Twitter threads. If you're the person whose judgment the company relies on, this is built for you.
How is this different from hiring Automatic for a full engagement?+
Full engagements ship systems. Advisory sharpens your thinking. Most clients do both: we run the integration project in the background while you and I work through the judgment calls, the roadmap, the team ramp, and the positioning. Some clients only want advisory, which is fine — you'll leave with a plan you can run with any vendor.
What's the format?+
Two 60-minute video sessions a month, scheduled around you. Between sessions you have my direct line over Slack or email — specific questions, draft decks, vendor calls you want a second opinion on, team messages you want sharpened. Everything is private. Nothing gets published or referenced elsewhere.
What's the commitment?+
Three-month minimum to start — long enough to actually move something. After that, month-to-month. Most clients stay for a year because the conversations keep evolving as the business does.
What does it cost?+
$6,500/month, billed monthly. That includes the two working sessions, async access between sessions, one co-authored artifact a month (a roadmap, a vendor eval, a board memo, a hiring brief — whatever matters most that month), and unlimited 'is this the right call?' pings.
Can I bring my team into the calls?+
Yes, selectively. Bring your COO when you're working on ops. Bring your head of sales when you're working on revenue. The relationship is 1:1 with you, but the sessions are yours to staff.
How do I know if this will actually help?+
First call is free, 30 minutes, no pitch. We'll talk through what you're trying to decide and I'll tell you honestly whether an advisory relationship is the right shape — or whether you're better off hiring, contracting, or just reading for a quarter. I'd rather lose the engagement than sell the wrong one.
Adjacent offerings
When advisory isn't the right shape.
The first call is on me
Book 30 minutes. Bring the decision you're stuck on.
No pitch deck, no proposal. We talk through what you're trying to decide. If advisory is the right shape, we scope it. If it isn't, I'll tell you what is. Either way, you walk out with a clearer next move.