Production AI Isn't Proof-of-Concept AI
Whether you’re a technical leader trying to get your first production AI system to actually work, or an executive trying to figure out where AI fits before your competitors do — the challenge is the same: closing the gap between what’s possible and what’s real.
That gap is where I live.
I’ve built and led ML teams that shipped models serving 11 million students. I helped design AI workflows for one of the largest freight brokers in North America — automated pricing that processed over $1B in annual revenue, with half of that business generated by the tooling itself. I’ve advised technical founders on how to structure their AI capabilities as they scale.
Getting a model to work in a demo is the easy part. Keeping it working in production — real data, real load, and a team that has to own it — is a different job entirely. I’ve shipped that, and I’ve been brought in to clean up after teams that mistook the first for the second.
Sheppard LLC works with organizations on:
- AI strategy and roadmap — what to build, what to buy, what to wait on
- Production ML and AI system design
- Building the team and process around AI, not just the models
- Evaluating AI vendor claims against operational reality
If you’re making AI decisions that matter this year, let’s find some time: calendly.com/joshua-sheppard — or email me at josh@sheppard.tech to discuss how I can help.