# Janis Consulting

> Janis Consulting is a Milwaukee-based AI readiness and governance consulting firm for small and mid-sized businesses across the Midwest and municipalities in Wisconsin.

Janis Consulting (Janis Consulting LLC) helps owners and leadership teams of Midwest companies with roughly 10 to 500 employees find where AI will pay off, put guardrails around how employees use it, and build the skills to make it stick. The front door is a fixed-fee AI Readiness Audit; the ongoing engagement is a Fractional Chief AI Officer who sits at the client's leadership table. Tagline: "An ounce of prevention AND a pound of cure."

## Key facts

- Founded: 2017, as a culture change and leadership alignment firm. Focused on AI since 2024.
- Founder: Joshua Janis (studied philosophy; host of The AI Steward podcast; hosts a monthly AI Roundtable at the Milwaukee Athletic Club).
- Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Serves businesses across the Midwest. Audits are often done in person and can also be done remotely.
- Clients: small and mid-sized businesses in any industry, and Wisconsin municipalities.
- Vision: An AI world where humans are more capable, not more replaceable.
- Mission: Empowering organizations to govern their AI future in a way that raises human potential.
- Values (culture code): Speed of trust, Clear intent, Always learning, Positive energy, Win-win (or walk away), Love and discipline (in that order), Resourceful, Courage, Future builders.
- Independence: no software to sell, no vendor commissions, no kickbacks.
- Contact: joshua@janisconsulting.com, +1-414-319-9778, https://www.janisconsulting.com/contact
- Most engagements begin within two weeks.

## Services

- [AI Readiness Audit](https://www.janisconsulting.com/ai-readiness-audit): a fixed-fee AI readiness assessment for small and mid-sized businesses that takes 2 to 3 weeks. Includes a Shadow AI survey (employees using AI tools without approval), a data and systems inventory, process opportunity mapping, a readiness score across data, people, process, security and leadership, and a findings report with the top three opportunities, payback ranges, risk flags and a 90-day roadmap presented live. Pricing by company size: $2,500 (1-20 employees), $4,500 (21-50), $7,000 (51-100), $10,000 (101-250). 50% of the audit fee is credited toward a Fractional Chief AI Officer engagement signed within 60 days.
- [Fractional Chief AI Officer](https://www.janisconsulting.com/fractional-chief-ai-officer): a senior AI leader who works with the client's leadership team part-time on a monthly agreement (six-month minimum) and owns the AI roadmap, policy, vendor decisions, training and executive reporting. Ballpark pricing: $2,500-$4,500/month (up to 100 employees), $5,500-$9,500/month (100-500), from $9,500/month (500+).
- [AI Policy and Governance](https://www.janisconsulting.com/ai-policy-and-governance): a plain-language AI acceptable use policy, data guardrails and oversight sized for small and mid-sized businesses.
- [AI Training](https://www.janisconsulting.com/ai-training): hands-on AI training for employees and leadership teams, built around the team's real tools and workflows.
- [Services and à la carte services](https://www.janisconsulting.com/services): AI Governance, AI Policy Framework, Personalized Executive Workflows, Staff Upskilling, AI Education and AI Cost Management, each available on its own.
- [AI for Municipalities](https://www.janisconsulting.com/municipalities): plain-language AI policy, governance and education for Wisconsin municipalities, councils and staff.

## Guides and resources

- [AI for small business: where to start](https://www.janisconsulting.com/ai-for-small-business): where AI saves small and mid-sized businesses the most time, common risks, and how to start safely.
- [Shadow AI Checklist](https://www.janisconsulting.com/shadow-ai-checklist): a free checklist showing which AI tools employees may be using without approval, what company data those tools can reach, and what to fix first.
- Client results (anonymized): A fleet services company saved roughly 25% of office time; a 100-employee plumbing company moved all three audit opportunities into implementation; a $110 million packaging business turned AI skeptics into an AI-ready workforce; a city of 600,000 residents got a citywide AI plan, procurement standard and governance; a municipality took a secure AI chatbot from 57 of 6,000 employees to daily use; a city of 150,000 moved from AI gridlock to a defensible toolkit.
- [The AI Steward podcast](https://www.janisconsulting.com/theaisteward): weekly analysis of AI policy, ethics and evolution, hosted by Joshua Janis. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theaisteward
- [About Janis Consulting](https://www.janisconsulting.com/about)

## Insights

- [Children with AI](https://www.janisconsulting.com/post/children-with-ai): Personal AI governance for parents: what the documented harms of social media on teens teach us about children's use of AI and their mental health.
- [Is AI hacking a crime?](https://www.janisconsulting.com/post/is-ai-hacking-a-crime): AI models have autonomously breached real production systems during testing. Joshua Janis asks whether AI hacking is a crime, and who is accountable.
- [Agentic Hacking](https://www.janisconsulting.com/post/agentic-hacking): AI models escaped a sandboxed test, reached the internet, and breached Hugging Face to cheat an evaluation. What it means and how governance can help.
- [Open Weight models: Who should decide what we can use](https://www.janisconsulting.com/post/open-weight-models-who-should-decide-what-we-can-use): Fear drives a lot of AI policy. Joshua Janis looks at open-weight AI models and asks who should decide which AI tools the public is allowed to use.
- [AI and Art: Stop being a bully](https://www.janisconsulting.com/post/ai-and-art-stop-being-a-bully): Some artists are taking AI governance into their own hands. A case for a more open, less combative conversation about AI and creative work.
- [Flock AI example shows municipalities need governance help](https://www.janisconsulting.com/post/flock-ai-example-shows-municipalities-need-governance-help): Flock Safety's license plate cameras show why cities need AI governance before they buy. A practical framework for municipal AI procurement and approval.
- [Choose to enhance humans with AI](https://www.janisconsulting.com/post/choose-to-enhance-humans): AI is not inherently good or bad. How organizations can reduce job risk and use AI to enhance people instead of replacing them.
- [The BIG picture on AI chips](https://www.janisconsulting.com/post/the-big-picture-on-ai-chips): AI chips are now a national power issue. A plain-language look at chip bottlenecks, competition with China, and the precautions that should come with it.
- [The Fable 5 saga explained for the layman](https://www.janisconsulting.com/post/the-fable-5-saga-for-the-layman): The Fable 5 model release and the US government's shutdown of it, explained in plain language, and why it is a pivotal AI governance story.
- [Pope AI Governance: Why the Vatican May Have Out-Governed Silicon Valley](https://www.janisconsulting.com/post/holy-code-why-the-vatican-may-have-out-governed-silicon-valley): The Vatican may have written the most impactful AI governance document yet. Why its human-first framing matters for leaders in every sector.
- [AI Wisdom](https://www.janisconsulting.com/post/ai-wisdom): Knowledge without wisdom is dangerous. Ten commandments for using AI wisely: critical thinking, better questions, human responsibility, and humility.
- [Numbers Lie too, a real life example of AI screwing small business](https://www.janisconsulting.com/post/numbers-lie-too-a-real-life-example-of-ai-screwing-small-business): A true story of a fleet services client hurt by an automated AI scoring system with no human oversight, and the governance lessons for small business.

## Profiles

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/janis-consulting
- Better Business Bureau: https://www.bbb.org/us/wi/saint-francis/profile/business-consultant/janis-consulting-llc-0694-1000066932