It works. But it’s way too much work.

Operations consulting and custom tools for owner-led businesses.

Before we talk about AI or software, we look at how the work really gets done, and where it gets stuck. Tools come second. Sometimes a clearer handoff is enough, and I’ll say so.

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30 yearsIBM, startups, my own businesses
1,500+client projects in the last 15 years
Retail to constructionI’ve worked with retailers, manufacturers, distributors, service firms and builders, in English and French.
One real job We walk through it with you and your team.

Sound familiar?

Every question somehow
ends up back on your desk.

01The same information in three tools.
02Follow-ups that depend on one person.
03A team busy keeping the process running instead of moving the work forward.

What changed

One client project, two of my own.

Arbitration hearing dates
Client project · Mon Arbitre

Before: roughly 6–10 hours a week of assistant time coordinating dates by phone and email. After: a few minutes every other day to publish availability. A request now takes one or two exchanges.

How I measured this
Two different tasks: before is assistant time spent coordinating; after is time spent publishing availability. The office still confirms each date. My estimates, in this case.
Routine server work: copies, backups, staging
My own business · WP Hammer

Before: we planned a new role to keep over 40 servers running: monitoring, updates, security checks and backups. After: by my estimate, the platform covers 85–90% of that planned work, and the team handles routine requests itself.

How I measured this
Share of the planned work the platform now covers, across more than 40 servers. My estimate. Not hours or cost saved.
Daily trail update
My own product · GetTrail

Before: roughly 30–45 minutes preparing the daily update, plus handoffs to the webmaster and social media. After: roughly 10–30 seconds updating statuses in GetTrail, depending on network size.

How I measured this
Before: rebuilding the status grid by hand, then handing images to the webmaster and social media. After: statuses updated once; the website and one pinned public link stay current. Depends on network size. My estimates, in this case.

Next story Now being written up: a client project for a manufacturer and distributor, where billing follows how customers are set up and orders delivered. About this project

Calling geeks and consultants: let’s be straight

Where AI helps, and where it doesn’t.

Where AI earns its place

Reading a pile of documents to find what matters

Sorting requests so they reach the right person

Drafting a first version someone then checks

Extracting details from emails or forms

Where it isn’t needed

When a shared spreadsheet does the job

When the fix is a clearer handoff

When the real question, the real job, is deciding

When the software you already have can do it, or only needs connecting

Three questions owners ask

Price, time, language: more answers

Do I need to understand AI?

No. You know your business. We start with the work, not the technology, and I explain any technical choice in plain words.
Will this replace the software we already use?

Not by default. Sometimes the change is a clearer handoff or better use of a tool you already have. We build something new only where it helps.
Is it always a software project?

No. Some changes are about who does what, or what information arrives where. Predictable, repeatable steps may become a tool your team helps shape.

Just Asking: the useful change usually starts with a plain question. Why does this take three phone calls?

My own business · WP Hammer

We thought we needed another person.

So we took a closer look at the job: what, exactly, would this person do all day?

At CodeMountain, one of my own businesses, routine work on more than 40 servers (copies, backups, staging sites for testing) kept landing on senior staff. We built WP Hammer from what those requests showed, so the team now runs those tasks themselves.

Read the WP Hammer story

WP Hammer sites view: a table of websites with backup age and security status for each server. — WP Hammer, Sites view. Details edited for confidentiality.

How do we go about it? The Just Asking approach

What’s missing?

We follow one real job with you and your team. What’s missing? Who’s waiting? What would help it move forward?

The requestOne hearing dateThe hold-upWeeks of calls and emailsThe next stepA shared availability view

Sometimes, the missing piece is an answer.

Mon Arbitre weekly availability list: arbitrators in rows, days of the week in columns, with availability marks. — Mon Arbitre, public weekly availability view, September 22, 2026. In French.

One real job · Client project

Mon Arbitre: find a date without the back-and-forth.

Working with a group of grievance arbitrators and mediators, we built a shared availability view, searchable by arbitrator, date, week or region, with standardized requests. About three months from needs analysis to making the tool available.

A request now takes one or two exchanges. The office still confirms each date.

We save so much time and back-and-forth that our executive assistants can’t do without Mon Arbitre anymore.

Me Pierre-Marc Hamelin President, Conférence des arbitres du Québec Translated from French

Read the Mon Arbitre story

The right help.
At the right moment.

We agree on length and price before starting.

Not every business needs all three. We start where the work is.

Define

Find those stumbling blocks.

You leave with the barriers identified, priorities agreed, and practical next steps captured in a shared working journal.

What happens

We walk through real situations with you and your team: what takes too long, what needs constant chasing, and where things get stuck. Together, we work out what’s behind those frustrations and decide what to tackle first.

The journal is a short written record of what we found, what we decided and why, that you keep.

Build

Fewer things to chase. Tools that fit.

You leave with changes your team can use, tools built around the work, and a shared journal of what changed, why, and how it’s helping.

What happens

We put the changes into practice together. That might mean simplifying a handoff, making information easier to find, or taking a repetitive task off someone’s plate.

Where software helps, we build tools that get things done reliably, then get out of your way. You and your team shape them, try them in real situations, and help refine what needs adjusting.

Fractional CTO

A clear direction for the technology your business depends on.A part-time technology lead, for businesses where technology is central to what they deliver.

You get ongoing strategic guidance, clear technology priorities, and a roadmap that evolves with your business.

What happens

A part-time chief technology officer (CTO) for businesses where technology is central to what they deliver. There, the decisions reach beyond the next tool or feature. We work together to connect technology decisions to where you want the business to go: what to invest in, what needs to change, and what your team will need to get there.

You gain a senior technical perspective to weigh the trade-offs and set a direction.

In their words

The trails switch to red at closing time on the dot and back to green the next day, without anyone having to think about it. One less thing to watch.

Érick GagnonDirector of Field Operations, Sentiers du MoulinTranslated from French

A complete product, a clear interface and, above all, a real working relationship taking shape between us.

Guillaume GissingerDirector of Operations, Ville de Mont-TremblantTranslated from French

The person behind the work

Hi, I’m Marty.

Over the past 30 years, at IBM, in startups and in my own professional services businesses, I’ve designed and built websites, hardware, software, SaaS platforms and mobile apps, along with automation and AI projects.

Over the last 15 years, that includes more than 1,500 client projects. Consulting and project work are what I love doing: getting to know a business, working through a real problem with the people involved, and helping put a useful change into practice.

Some of my businesses now run with less of my day-to-day time, so I’m taking on new projects.

A little more about me

It works. But it’s way too much work.