Strategy · Technology · Transformation · Results

Seasoned judgment for the decisions that move a business forward.

Alexis Coates advises executives, founders, and public-sector leaders on business strategy, AI adoption, and agile delivery — drawing on more than 15 years of consulting and 12 years of building and running companies of his own.

15+
Years of consulting & advisory work
12
Years owning & operating an IT company
10
Published books, business & beyond
Alexis Coates, business and AI advisor, in a navy suit and glasses
Alexis CoatesBusiness & AI Advisor
Certified ITIL® V3 Certified ISO/IEC 20000 Foundation Certified Scrum Master Certified Product Owner Sectors Federal · Government Contracting · Enterprise · Small Business

Six ways we can work together

Every engagement starts with the business outcome, not the tool. These are the practice areas where fifteen years of delivery experience meets an operator’s understanding of what change actually costs.

01

AI Adoption & Enablement

For leadership teams

Practical AI, not hype. We identify the use cases worth funding, sequence them by return and readiness, and build the new ways of working — training, guardrails, and habits — that make adoption stick across your teams.

02

Business Strategy & Growth

For founders & executives

Clear-eyed strategy for owners who carry the whole business in their head. Market positioning, revenue model design, and growth planning grounded in real numbers and real capacity — including vertical integration plays that keep more margin in-house.

03

Agile Delivery & Scrum Leadership

For delivery organizations

Senior Scrum Master and agile coaching for teams that ship late or ship the wrong thing. We rebuild cadence, backlog discipline, and stakeholder trust so delivery becomes predictable instead of heroic.Try my CoreLex Intake app →

04

Product Management & Ownership

For product teams

Certified Product Owner support from discovery through release: roadmaps tied to outcomes, prioritization frameworks your stakeholders can defend, and the hard trade-off conversations made early instead of expensively.

05

Business Analysis & Process Improvement

For operations leaders

Principal-level business analysis: requirements that survive contact with reality, process mapping that exposes where work actually stalls, and improvement plans sequenced so each fix pays for the next one.

06

IT Service Management

For IT organizations

ITIL® and ISO/IEC 20000–grounded service management: incident, problem, and change practices that lower fire-drill volume and raise service quality — designed for how your team actually works, not how the framework wishes it did.

A three-step method, built for follow-through

Consulting fails when it ends at the slide deck. This method is built so the work keeps moving after the engagement does.

Step One

Assess

We start with the facts: how work flows today, where value leaks, and what your people and systems can genuinely absorb.

  • Stakeholder & process discovery
  • AI opportunity & readiness scan
  • Findings in plain language, ranked

Step Two

Align

We turn findings into a plan your leadership can commit to — sequenced, costed, and owned by named people.

  • Prioritized roadmap & business case
  • Governance & success measures
  • Quick wins scheduled first

Step Three

Advance

We work alongside your teams through delivery — coaching, adjusting, and transferring the capability so it stays.

  • Hands-on delivery support
  • Team enablement & training
  • Measured results, reviewed together

Engagements flex to the need: a focused advisory sprint, a fractional leadership role, or a full transformation program. Federal agencies, government contractors, large enterprises, and growth-stage companies all work differently — the method adapts; the standard doesn’t.

An operator’s perspective, not just an advisor’s

Alexis Coates has spent more than 15 years in consulting — agile delivery, business analysis, product ownership, and service management — and 12 years running an IT company of his own. That combination matters: he has sat in the consultant’s chair and the owner’s chair, signed the proposals and the payroll.

His current focus is AI adoption and enablement: helping organizations find the practical uses of AI that survive budgets, compliance, and human nature — then building the new ways of working that turn pilots into performance. He advises federal agencies, government contractors, large companies, and state and local government, as well as the growth-stage businesses he knows from the inside.

Beyond client work, Alexis is the founder and publisher of Black Business Review, a media platform he has owned for 12 years, founder and managing partner of Laundrifi Capital LLC, and the author of ten books on business, leadership, and personal finance through Coates Publishing.

“Strategy is only worth what it changes on Monday morning. The work is making change practical enough to keep.”
Portrait of Alexis Coates in a navy suit and glasses
Alexis CoatesBusiness & AI Advisor · Author · Publisher

Books by Alexis Coates

The principles behind the practice, in print. Ten titles spanning business fundamentals, agile delivery, personal finance, and the next generation of founders.

Business · Principles

12 Great Business Principles

The flagship title — twelve durable principles drawn from a career of building, advising, and rebuilding businesses.

Print & KindleBuy on Amazon
Business · Essentials

51 Business Essentials

Fifty-one concise, field-tested essentials for owners and managers — the reference to keep within reach of the desk.

Agile · Delivery

51 Proven Tips for Agile Success

What actually works in agile delivery, from a certified Scrum Master and Product Owner who has run the ceremonies and the recoveries.

Mindset · Finance

The Magnet Effect

On attracting opportunity, capital, and the right people — the mindset discipline behind sustainable business growth.

$6.99 KindleBuy on Amazon
Young Founders · Ages 7–12

12 Great Business Principles for Kids

The twelve principles, retold for young bosses — with activities and a Young Boss certificate. The companion to the Young Bosses Entrepreneurship Academy.

Workbook · Companion

12 Great Business Principles — Workbook

The working companion to the flagship book: exercises, planning pages, and decision frameworks to apply each principle to your own business.

Also in the catalog: 51 Golf Tips, Circle of Friends, My First Animal Coloring Book, and Notebook: Unleash Your Imagination — browse the full collection on the Amazon author page. For signed or bulk orders, ask in your consultation request.

Alexis Coates Consulting · Flagship Online Course

AI for Small Business: The Practical Playbook

Go from AI-curious to AI-capable in 90 days — the practical playbook for small business owners. No tech background needed.

8
Modules
40
Lessons & assessments
8
Quizzes + final assessment
Included
Certificate of completion

Early-bird launch price $297 $497 · Self-paced · Worksheets, quizzes & certificate included

What you’ll be able to do

Not theory — capability. By the end of the course you will have done each of these in your own business, not just heard about them.

01

Find the money

Identify the high-ROI AI opportunities hiding in your week — and confidently skip the ones that are just hype.

02

A month of marketing in a day

Build a content system that produces a month of on-brand marketing in a single focused work session.

03

Automate the admin

Put your inbox, scheduling, and customer follow-ups on a rhythm where AI drafts and you approve.

04

Write a policy your team trusts

Produce a clear, one-page AI use policy that protects your customers’ data and your team’s confidence.

05

Build a real workflow

Design and launch one end-to-end automation — from new lead to follow-up to task — that runs without you.

06

Execute a 90-day plan

Leave with a written, sequenced 90-day AI action plan for your business — and the first wins already shipped.

The curriculum

Eight modules, forty lessons and assessments in all — 32 teaching lessons, a quiz closing every module, and a final assessment that unlocks your certificate.

Enroll

One honest price, three ways to go deeper. Every tier includes the full course, all worksheets, and the certificate.

Course Only

$297$497

Early-bird launch price · one-time

  • All 8 modules — 32 lessons, 8 assessments
  • 8 quizzes + final assessment
  • 3 interactive worksheets
  • Certificate of completion
  • Learn at your own pace

Course + 1:1 Roadmap Session

$1,497

The course, plus Alexis on your business

  • Everything in Course Only
  • Private 1:1 AI roadmap session
  • Your 90-day plan reviewed line by line
  • A direct path into Assess–Align–Advance consulting

Meet your instructor

Alexis Coates, instructor of AI for Small Business: The Practical Playbook

Alexis Coates

Business & AI Advisor · Alexis Coates Consulting

Alexis has spent more than 15 years in consulting — agile delivery, business analysis, product ownership, and service management — and 12 years running an IT company of his own. He has sat in the consultant’s chair and the owner’s chair, which is exactly the perspective this course is taught from.

His current practice focuses on practical AI adoption: helping organizations find the uses of AI that pay, sequence them sensibly, and build the habits and guardrails that make them stick. No hype, no ML theory — the same plain-English, Monday-morning approach he brings to client work.

Questions, answered

Do I need technical skills?+

No. The course is written in plain English for owners, not engineers. If you can use email and a web browser, you have every technical skill this course requires. Every prompt and workflow is copy-paste ready, and each lesson ends with a small “try it now” step so you’re never left wondering what to do next.

How much time does it take?+

Plan on roughly an hour a week and you’ll finish in about 90 days — most owners do. Lessons are short and focused, and because you apply each one to your own business as you go, the course time doubles as working time. It’s fully self-paced: binge it in two weekends or stretch it across the quarter.

How is this different from free YouTube videos?+

YouTube gives you tips; this gives you a sequence and a result. The lessons build on each other — assess your business, align your team and policy, then advance to real workflows — and you leave with finished assets: an opportunity shortlist, an AI use policy, a working automation, and a written 90-day plan. Quizzes check you actually absorbed it, and the certificate marks the finish line.

What if AI isn’t right for my business?+

Then the course will tell you so — honestly and early. Module 2 is a filter, not a sales pitch: you’ll score your own tasks for impact and effort, and “not yet” is a legitimate, money-saving answer for the wrong use cases. Most owners find at least a few clear wins; if you don’t, you’ll know exactly why, and you’ll still have the framework for when the timing is right.

Is there a guarantee?+

Yes. Complete Modules 1 and 2, and if you haven’t identified at least three viable AI opportunities in your own business, email us within 14 days of enrolling for a full refund. The course has to earn its place in your business — that’s the standard.

Request a consultation

Tell us where it hurts — or where the opportunity is. Every inquiry is read by Alexis personally, and serious inquiries get a serious answer.

  • A reply within two business days with honest first impressions, not a sales script.
  • A 30-minute working call to scope the problem and whether there’s a fit.
  • A written proposal with scope, sequence, and fees in plain language — no hourly fog.

Submitting opens your email app with the inquiry addressed to Alexis Coates Consulting, ready to send. Prefer to write directly? Email alexisjcoates@gmail.com.

Book your free AI efficiency audit

15 min · Phone call · No cost

Skip the back-and-forth: pick a time below and it goes straight on the calendar. In fifteen minutes we’ll pinpoint where AI can save your business time first — and where it isn’t worth your money.

Widget not loading? Open the booking page on Calendly →