Courtney StephensonLet’s talk

Courtney Stephenson, AI strategy and implementation leader. Make AI useful.
Then make
it work.

I’m Courtney Stephenson. I connect business problems, AI systems, and the people who use them.

AI strategy and implementation, with the technical depth to build what comes next.

Explore my work Try the free AI tools
Portrait of Courtney Stephenson, AI strategy and implementation leader
Courtney StephensonAI strategy & implementation

Not sure
where to start?

Pick the situation that sounds like yours. Each one has a short guide to read and a free tool to try.

Deciding whether to build or buy

Pick a path before you spend money on one.

Setting the rules for AI at work

Say what people can and can’t do before they start.

Getting ready to run a pilot

Agree what success looks like before it begins.

From AI possibility
to everyday practice.

The useful work happens between a business problem and a system people can actually use. Here’s where I’ve been doing it.

Building AI capability
at Illumia.

Across marketing, sales, and the systems that connect them.

View my experience (opens in a new tab)

Bring people into the work.

I helped found the sales and marketing team’s AI Council. The monthly meeting now brings together nearly 200 attendees to discuss AI developments and best practices. Adoption needs a place for people to ask questions, compare notes, and learn.

Organizational enablement · Founding council member

Build tools around real friction.

I develop custom Claude skills and reusable workflows used across the organization, including tools for executive communications. I also audit marketing software for opportunities to replace repetitive work with practical AI integration.

Internal example
Rebrand skill

When the company adopted a new name in March 2026, I built a skill that transforms existing content to match the new brand’s color system, visual theme, content style, and writing voice.

Internal example
AI-powered SOP builder

Users provide a high-level list of steps. The tool expands the process into detailed instructions and produces a practical, step-by-step checklist.

Internal example
Executive presence coach

The tool analyzes call transcripts and turns conversational patterns into focused coaching for stronger confidence and executive presence.

Measured impact
Quote builder

Built a guided writing tool that reduced the time required to produce quotes from approximately 20 hours to 20 minutes.

Connect the system to the strategy.

I built a six-agent consensus system and brought the resulting AI strategy and roadmap to executive leadership. This is separate from the human AI Council: one is a technical system; the other helps people build shared understanding.

Architecture · Multi-agent design and executive roadmap

The engineering foundation matters. I also led the development and launch of Illumia’s corporate website on Sitefinity Cloud with HubSpot integration. Strategy stays grounded when you’re responsible for getting the system live.

Visit Illumia (opens in a new tab)

Answer the AI questions
before you build.

Eighteen free tools for the decisions that come up before an AI project starts: what to build, which model to use, what it will cost, what rules to set, and how to roll it out. They run in your browser.

Decide what to build

Choose and budget

Set the rules

Roll it out

See all the free tools Read the free guides

Start with the friction.
Keep your judgment.

A convincing demo is a starting point. The real questions are what it fixes, how it fits, and who is responsible when it gets something wrong.

  1. Find the problem worth solving.

    Talk to the people doing the work. Map the handoffs, the workarounds, and the tools they’re already paying for. Start where a change would actually matter.

  2. Design the whole workflow.

    Give the model the right context. Connect it to the systems around it. Decide what can be automated and where a person needs to make the call.

  3. Build it. Check it. Make it usable.

    Test against real work, not just a good-looking answer. Keep the people using it involved, and judge it by whether their work gets better.

Leadership, with
a builder’s background.

I’ve led teams, owned infrastructure, and shipped products. That range shapes how I approach AI: as part of an organization, with real constraints and people on the other side.

  1. 2025–present

    Senior Full Stack Developer & AI Systems Architect

    Illumia

    Building practical AI workflows alongside enterprise web systems. Custom Claude skills, marketing technology, cross-team enablement, and AI strategy presented to executive leadership.

  2. 2022–2025

    Senior Web Developer

    Transact Campus

    Delivered a new corporate website in three months, including Azure infrastructure and the full CI/CD pipeline. Worked across product, marketing, and engineering to take it from plan to launch.

  3. 2019–2022

    Senior Web & Innovation Developer

    Calvary Chapel Melbourne

    Built web applications, internal tools, and a custom design system. Worked directly with staff to turn everyday operational problems into useful software.

  4. 2016–2019

    Director of Information Technology

    Calvary Chapel Melbourne

    Owned organization-wide technology, security, disaster recovery, and delivery across multiple technical disciplines.

Full career history on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)

I build things
I think should exist.

My own products keep me close to the whole job: find the problem, make the decisions, build the experience, and put it in people’s hands.

EventLantern

Event management

Event organizers shouldn’t have to run everything through spreadsheets, email threads, and disconnected tools. I mapped the workflow and built a platform around how events actually get run.

Explore EventLantern (opens in a new tab)

My Toddler Talk

Learning & connection

Communication is connection. I built My Toddler Talk to support early language development through playful interaction, with an experience designed for children and the adults helping them learn.

Explore My Toddler Talk (opens in a new tab)

Little People Song List

Parent utility

Parents of Fisher-Price Little People fans know the songs by heart, but not which toy plays which. I built an unofficial, fan-made directory that lets families browse by toy and see what each one sings.

Explore the song list (opens in a new tab)

Fantasy Trade AI

AI-assisted analysis

Fantasy trades are usually decided by gut feel and a group chat. I built a fantasy football trade analyzer that brings AI to the question every manager asks: is this deal actually fair?

Explore Fantasy Trade AI (opens in a new tab)

WCAG 2.2 Checker

Open-source Claude skill

I built and published a skill that audits HTML, Markdown, UI descriptions, and documents against WCAG 2.2, then produces a structured report and prioritized remediation plan.

View the skill on GitHub (opens in a new tab)

How I think
about this work.

“A model is only as useful as the context you hand it.”

From my writing on LinkedIn

Let’s put AI
to useful work.

I’m interested in AI strategy and implementation leadership roles where I can connect business priorities, technical delivery, and the people doing the work.

If that’s the role you’re building, I’d like to talk. I also advise teams on where AI belongs in their work, so if you want a second opinion, book a quick call.

Email mestephensonck@gmail.comBook a 15-minute call (opens in a new tab)Connect on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)