Custom AI means software built around your specific workflow instead of a generic tool you bend to fit. In practice that is a custom CRM, a custom email platform, dashboards that pull all your numbers into one screen, and AI that reads your advertising, sales, and product data and tells you what to do next. It is infrastructure, not a chatbot bolted onto your website.
AI infrastructure for small business
Custom AI systems for small businesses.
I'm Jay-J. I build the systems that small businesses usually have to rent, duct-tape, or wrestle into shape: email platforms, booking flows, automations, dashboards, payment workflows, content systems, and internal tools. I built them because I needed them, refined them because messy systems bother me, and now I help other teams get the same kind of control without the chaos. The method is part agentic coding, part founder impatience, part ADHD pattern-recognition, and part unreasonable attention to detail.
You do not need a big software company. If a customer asks for a quote, it lives in a text thread, nobody follows up, and the job disappears, I sit with you, see where that happens, and put a simple system in place so tomorrow runs better. That can mean follow-up, bookings, estimates, invoices, or seeing the numbers without a dozen tabs.
9Products shipped
7Categories
150+Releases
Built from scratch
CRM & marketing automation
email & broadcast systems
QuickSinq payment & bookkeeping automation
Take Dictation · live Mac app (public beta)
automated off-site backups
multi-source ad dashboards
What I build
Custom software and AI integration, shaped to how your business actually runs, not a generic platform you pay monthly to bend into shape.
Websites & landing pages
Every site in this index, including the one you're on right now, was designed and built in-house — no template, no page builder, no agency. I can do the same for yours.
Custom CRM & marketing automation
Pipelines, follow-ups, and workflows built around your sales motion, without forcing your business into a rented template.
Custom email & broadcast platforms
Segmented campaigns, real deliverability, and AI-drafted copy on infrastructure you control, not another monthly platform you have to wrestle.
Unified dashboards & reporting
Every system on one screen: live operations, ad spend, revenue, and the KPIs that actually move the business.
AI data pipelines & analysis
Advertising, sales, and product data pulled in and read by AI that tells you what to do next, not just another chart.
AI productivity tools
Voice-to-text workflows and internal copilots tuned to how your team actually works, including Take Dictation, a live Mac dictation app in public beta.
Automation & resilience
Scheduled jobs, integrations, and automated off-site backups so the systems run themselves and your data stays safe.
AI infrastructure without the lock-in
Your AI memory, workflows, and knowledge live in systems you own, portable across Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or whatever comes next. Switch tools without starting over. I run my whole studio this way.
A live product from the studio
Not a mockup. Take Dictation is a real Mac app with a live site, already in public beta. This is the kind of end-to-end product work the studio ships for itself, then can point at your workflow.
Take Dictation · public beta
Just talk. It types.
A fast, private Mac dictation app that turns speech into clean writing right where you are typing. Built for Apple silicon Macs. Site live at takedictation.com while beta testing continues.
When a small business needs a focused tool, not another rented platform, this is the pattern: ship the real thing, keep improving it, keep the owner in control.
Built inside real ventures first.
This isn't a deck of client logos. Shifted Media Group is a studio of nine products I designed, built, and run myself, across marketing, finance, health, education, music, entertainment, and software development. The same systems brain builds your workflow. See all nine ventures →
How it works
No agency overhead, no pile of subcontractors. You talk to the person who learns the problem, builds the useful thing, connects it to the way you already work, and stays with it until it helps.
01
Studio chat
A free call to understand your business, your data, and the workflow that off-the-shelf tools can't handle.
02
Scope & design
I map the system, give you a clear estimate and timeline, and we agree on exactly what gets built before any work starts.
03
Build, ship, iterate
I build it, wire in your data and AI, and hand you software you own, then keep improving it as you grow.
Questions
What does custom AI actually mean for a small business?
Do I need to understand AI before we talk?
No. You do not need a big software company. If a customer asks for a quote, it lives in a text thread, nobody follows up, and the job disappears, I sit with you, see where that happens, and put a simple system in place so tomorrow runs better. That can mean follow-up, bookings, estimates, invoices, or seeing the numbers without a dozen tabs.
Can you build custom systems like CRM, email, and voice-to-text tools?
Yes. I have built CRM and marketing automation, email and broadcast infrastructure, dashboards, data pipelines, backups, and Take Dictation, a live Mac dictation app in public beta at takedictation.com. The client version is not a generic clone of a SaaS product. It is a tailored system built around how your business actually operates, so you own the software, the data, and the workflow.
How much does a custom AI system cost?
Simple: $100 an hour, and you always know where it stands. The free studio chat scopes what you need; you get a clear estimate before any work starts. Focused tools usually land in the low thousands; a full system — the kind that runs a business — is typically in the $8,000–$12,000 range and takes a couple of weeks.
Do I own the software you build?
Yes. The whole point is that you own your infrastructure: your CRM, your email platform, your dashboards, and your data, on accounts and code that are yours, not locked inside someone else's SaaS.
What size businesses do you work with?
Small businesses, founders, and small teams who have outgrown spreadsheets and disconnected SaaS tools. That can be a car wash, garden service, contractor, studio, or another small operation that needs a practical system without hiring a big software company.
What is a Forward Deployed Engineer?
At a larger company, a Forward Deployed Engineer works directly with a team to understand a real problem, build the right system, and keep improving it until it helps. SMG brings that hands-on model to small businesses without requiring an enterprise budget or a big consulting firm.