Don't spend months solving the wrong problem with AI.
You do not need to know what to automate. Show us where work is slow, repeated, or hard to check. We'll compare the opportunities and recommend the best place to start before you commit time and money.
Based in Columbus · Led by an engineer · Built around the way your team works
Which project should come first?
We compare the value, available information, risk, and how your team will check the result before we recommend what to build.
A frustrating task is a clue. It isn't automatically the best place to start.
Bring one problem or several. We'll look at the work before recommending where AI can make a useful, measurable difference.
Listen
Bring us the list
Tell us what wastes time, causes rework, delays customers, or depends too much on one person.
Observe
Show us how the work happens
We sit with the people doing the job and include the workarounds, exceptions, and handoffs a process chart misses.
Compare
Find the best candidate
We compare business value, frequency, available information, risk, and how easily your team can check the result.
Recommend
Decide what to do
We recommend whether to build, buy existing software, wait until the work is better understood, or leave it alone.
A good first project has value, usable information, and a result people can check.
These stories show why each problem deserved to come first, what we built, and how the client knew the work was useful before adding anything else.
Industrial operations
Built for a client
The margin nobody trusted.
We started by rebuilding margin for each order. That led to better cost, pricing, and planning tools.
Why this came first
Pricing decisions could not wait, the accounting data already existed, and the finance team could check every answer against the books.
How we checked it
Each order total could be traced to its transactions, and the complete cost model could be checked against the general ledger.
Civil and environmental engineering
Being built now
The process estimate that took too long to explain.
We started by bringing plant data and lab results together. That led to a repeatable engineering process.
Why this came first
The team already had a lab calculation it trusted. That gave the new work a clear comparison point and kept engineering judgment in charge.
How we checked it
The estimate could be compared with lab results and past operating data. Differences between methods stayed visible for an engineer to review.
Advisors and insurance
Built for a client
The carrier PDF that slowed down every client meeting.
We started by pulling the important values from one illustration. That led to a complete planning and reporting process.
Why this came first
The same manual step appeared in every case, the source document was available, and the advisor could check every important value before using it.
How we checked it
The advisor could trace every number to the illustration and prepare the client report without repeatedly copying the same information.
Innovation and patents
Built for a client
The patent search that was hard to check.
We started by linking every finding to the patent record. That led to a research system the company could use again.
Why this came first
Official patent records were available, every conclusion could be checked, and the research would remain useful when the next product question appeared.
How we checked it
Every finding linked to an official source, incomplete records stayed marked as incomplete, and the team could reuse the research for the next question.
Three decades in engineering: R&D leadership, manufacturing, product development, and IP.
Products taken from concept to market in medical devices, industrial equipment, and materials.
Granted and pending patents, written from the drafting side of the table.
10X Engineered Materials
Abrasives manufacturer
Industrial operations
T&M Associates
Environmental and civil engineering consultancy
Civil and environmental engineering
McCanney Capital
Long-term-care and retirement planning practice
Advisor workflows
CarePlan
Care-planning software for licensed advisors
Care planning
We list clients here only when we have permission. The project stories do not identify which client the work came from, and some other clients cannot be named at all.
We focus on four kinds of work.
These are areas where we understand the business and technical details well enough to be useful. We build tools that people can check before they rely on the answer.
Industrial Operations
01Manufacturers that have the transaction data but still cannot see what each order actually earned.
Examples
Margin and cost numbers the finance team can check
See how we can helpCivil & Environmental Engineering
02Engineering firms that need to explain a result when the supporting data is spread across plant systems, lab workbooks, and email.
Examples
A process estimate engineers can explain · Field records and claims in one place
See how we can helpAdvisors & Insurance
03Independent advisors and planning firms that help clients prepare for long-term care and retirement.
Examples
A clearer way to prepare for care-planning meetings · Turning public questions into useful outreach
See how we can helpInnovation & Patents
04Research leaders, patent counsel, and companies that need to know whether an idea is new and who else is working on it.
Examples
A searchable record of patents and competitors
See how we can helpYou should be able to check every important number.
When our software calculates a number, you can open the inputs and math behind it. Those inputs can be checked against your accounting system, lab workbook, or another source your team already trusts.
A number can add up and still be wrong. Showing the original data and every step in the calculation lets your team find bad assumptions instead of accepting a polished answer.
You should know where your data goes.
Before work begins, we agree on what enters the system, who can access it, where it is processed, how long it is kept, and what a person must review.
Your information
Documents, systems, and records
Limited access
Only what the task needs
Business AI service
Not a consumer account
A person checks it
Before an important action
Commercial API services do not use client content to train public models. We do not train, fine-tune, or add one client's content to another client's search or knowledge tools.
The full page names the companies that process data, where information is stored, how long it is kept, how deletion works, and the security work we have not completed yet.
Read about data and privacyThe tool only helps if your team knows how to use it.
We train people while they work on a real task. They learn what to give the AI, how to check its answer, and when the work should stay with a person.
A one-time workshop can be useful, but people build confidence when they use AI on work that is already due. We sit with one person, use the real information, and help them finish the task.
See the training optionsQuestions business owners ask before starting.
Need more detail? Read the data and privacy page.
What does upStreamLLM actually build?+
We build tools for reports, calculations, research, customer service, and other repeated business tasks. We can connect them to the software your team already uses. We start with one problem, not a generic chatbot.
Will our data be used to train a public model?+
No. We use business AI services whose terms say customer inputs and outputs are not used to train public models. We also do not use one client's information to improve another client's system. Before work begins, we document the providers, storage, access, and deletion rules for your project.
Do we need to know what we want to automate?+
No. Bring one problem or several. The First Project Review compares the value, frequency, available information, risk, and how easily people can check the result before we recommend what to do.
Is training available without a software build?+
Yes. We offer sessions for business owners, teams, and the person who will lead AI use inside the company. Training works best when people bring a real task and deadline.
How do you keep AI output trustworthy?+
We limit the information the AI may use, show its sources and assumptions, and have a person review important work. Regular calculations are handled by tested code when possible. Important numbers open to the original data and math behind them.
Who is the best fit?+
We are a good fit for small and midsize businesses with important work that is still handled by hand, in spreadsheets, or by one busy expert. We know industrial, engineering, advisory, insurance, and patent work especially well. If software you can already buy solves the problem, we will tell you.
You do not need to know what to automate.
Tell us what is slow, repeated, expensive, or hard to check. We will compare the opportunities and explain which one deserves to come first. You do not need a presentation or a finished plan.