I'm Micah Berkley. I'm the Fractional Chief of AI for businesses that know they're behind. I take you from watching AI happen to running on it in 90 days. I sit on your side of the table, build the roadmap, ship the systems, and train your team. Ex-Google Cloud Architect. Builder of Claresto.com. Front page of the Miami Herald.
As your Fractional Chief of AI, I embed with your team part-time to own both the strategy and the execution — senior AI leadership without the full-time hire. We pick the use-cases that move the business, build them, and leave your team able to run them.
I spent two decades keeping critical systems running for some of the biggest companies in the world. Site Reliability Engineering at Google. Cloud architecture and machine learning at BMW of North America. Big-data marketing science at Fashion Nova, where AI-driven strategy cut ad spend and drove millions in revenue. My job was always the same: walk into rooms where leadership didn't speak the technology, and build the bridge.
Today I do that for business owners. I'm the Fractional Chief of AI for companies that know they're behind. I sit in your leadership meetings, map where AI cuts cost and unlocks revenue, build the roadmap, and ship the systems myself. I don't talk about AI. I build with it. Claresto.com is my receipt: a live Ad Operations Command Center I architected and shipped.
And every week, I teach AI free to youth and entrepreneurs across Miami. Because this technology should be a tool for the many, not a privilege for the few. That's not marketing. That's the mission.
No vague "AI transformation" decks. No menu of services. One way to work with me: I become your Fractional Chief of AI, and we move one real number in 90 days.
I sit in your leadership meetings. I map where AI cuts cost and unlocks revenue in your business — not in theory, in your P&L. You get a 90-day roadmap tied to one KPI your board actually cares about.
Then I build it. Agent workflows, automations, integrations. I shipped systems at Google scale and I ship product today. You're not getting a deck — you're getting working software in your business.
Your team learns to run what I build. Plain language, hands-on, no jargon. When the engagement ends, the capability stays. That's the difference between renting AI and owning it.
Every month you get a one-page outcome report: what moved, what's next, what it's worth — written so you can forward it straight to your board.
My personal opinions, essays, and editorials on AI and where it's headed — in plain language, straight from the work.
Most companies are one good operator away from real AI leverage — not one expensive executive. Here's the model I use to embed, ship, and hand off, and why it beats both consultants and full-time hires for the next two years.
Read the essay ↗
Field data from a mass-tort reply engine — what makes an AI phone call get answered, trusted, and filed.
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The exact free and near-free tools I used to lift a Wynwood restaurant's profit 25% with AI imagery.
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What happens when you hand frontier tools to kids the industry forgot — and why it's the most important work I do.
Read ↗New essays and research, regularly. Get them in your inbox — no spam, just the work.
A dozen-plus community and technical honors over the years. A few that matter most.
"A dynamic, compelling voice, pairing a practical, urban-centered approach with untethered, brashly honest insight on AI."On Micah Berkley as a speaker
Straight answers, no hedging. If yours isn't here, ask me directly.
A Fractional Chief of AI is a senior AI executive who works with a company part-time instead of as a full-time hire. Micah Berkley fills that seat for owner-led businesses: he sits in leadership meetings, owns the AI strategy, builds and ships the systems himself, and trains the internal team to run them after the engagement ends. It gives a mid-market company executive-level AI leadership without carrying a full-time Chief AI Officer salary.
Micah Berkley works with owner-led businesses of roughly $5 million to $50 million in revenue that know AI is happening and quietly know they are behind. He works with clients globally from his base in Miami, Florida.
Engagements are built to move one real KPI in 90 days. The work runs in three movements: Strategy, where Micah Berkley maps where AI cuts cost and unlocks revenue in the actual P&L; Transformation, where he builds the agent workflows, automations and integrations; and Education, where the client team is trained to operate what was built. Every month the client receives a one-page outcome report covering what moved, what is next, and what it is worth, written to be forwarded straight to a board.
Micah Berkley is not an agency and does not bill hourly. A consultant typically delivers a recommendation deck and leaves; a Fractional Chief of AI owns the outcome, ships working software into the business, and hands off the capability. There is one engagement model rather than a menu of services, and the stated goal is that the client team can run the systems without him when the engagement ends.
Micah Berkley spent two decades in enterprise technology before becoming a Fractional Chief of AI. He worked in site reliability engineering and cloud architecture at Google, machine learning and cloud architecture at BMW of North America, and big-data marketing science at Fashion Nova. He studied computer science at Brown University, is based in Miami, and was featured on the front page of the Miami Herald in 2023.
Micah Berkley architected and shipped Claresto, a live Ad Operations Command Center for paid media, and builds production AI agent systems for clients. He also runs free weekly AI training for youth and underserved entrepreneurs across Miami.
Engagements start with a free 30-minute diagnostic call to find where AI creates real value in the business. You can book a strategy call or email [email protected] directly.
Book a strategy call and we'll find where AI creates real value for you — honestly, quickly, and built to ship.