The short version
James Perkins is a Philadelphia-based AI and automation strategist. He is the founder of What About AI? and Automation Transformation Consulting. Before founding either company, he spent his career at JPMorgan Chase. He goes by The Philly AI Guy because, after a year of being asked "wait, who's that Philly AI guy again?" — the name decided to stick.
The slightly longer version
James's career started inside a building everyone in financial services has either worked at or sold to: JPMorgan Chase. He saw, from the inside, how the largest organizations in America actually make technology decisions — which is to say, slowly, expensively, and almost always with a deep bench of people whose job is to make sure nothing breaks. That experience left him with two convictions that now drive everything he builds.
First: most of the gap between "AI on a roadmap" and "AI in production" has nothing to do with the AI. It is about change management, risk frameworks, vendor selection, integration, and the operational discipline to ship something small that works before promising something large that does not. Second: small and mid-sized businesses can move faster on this than the Fortune 500 — but only if someone in the room has actually built things.
So James left and built two companies designed to close that gap from opposite ends.
What About AI?
What About AI? is the audience-facing side. A newsletter, a podcast, and a coaching program designed for the individual professional who keeps reading AI headlines and quietly wondering whether to retrain, whether to switch industries, or whether to ignore the entire conversation and hope it passes. (The third option is, increasingly, not a great plan.) The work there is about clarity — turning the firehose of AI news into a handful of decisions a person can make this month.
Automation Transformation Consulting
Automation Transformation Consulting is the B2B side. A small consultancy that helps small and mid-sized businesses identify the two or three automations that pay for themselves in a quarter — and then builds them. Workflow automation, AI-assisted automation, agentic systems, integration work. The output is running production systems, not slide decks.
The throughline
Two audiences, one practice. The individual professional and the SMB leader are asking the same question in different language: how do I make a real, defensible decision about AI before this window closes? James's answer is always shaped the same way — find the leverage, define the smallest thing that has to ship, ship it, then expand. Strategy is downstream of demonstrated work.
Why Philadelphia
Because Philly is where he lives, and because the city is quietly one of the most interesting markets for this work in the country. A dense concentration of financial services, healthcare, professional services, and mid-market businesses — and a noticeably small population of consultants who do the actual implementation versus just the strategy work. Most engagements are remote-first, but if you are in the Greater Philadelphia region, in-person is on the table.
Quick facts
- Based inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
- Founder ofWhat About AI? · ATC
- PreviouslyJPMorgan Chase
- PracticesStrategy · Implementation · Speaking
- ServesSMB & mid-market across the U.S.
- Reach me atphillyaiguy.com/contact
How to work together
Three doors, depending on what you need:
If you are an executive or founder trying to figure out the AI strategy for your business, start with consulting or strategy advisory.
If you have a specific workflow that should not exist by hand, start with automation or come directly through ATC.
If you need a speaker for a conference, offsite, or executive briefing, start with the speaking page.
The first conversation is always free, takes about twenty minutes, and is a working discussion — not a sales pitch.