JROD.AI
J-Rod speaking on a keynote stage, wearing a headset microphone, with a glowing data wall behind him
On stage AI keynotes + advisory

AI Strategy
That Closes.

Too many AI projects stall before they ever pay off. I'm Jim Rodriguez, better known as J-Rod, and I've spent 30 years building the systems global companies run on. I help leaders pick the right AI bets, put guardrails in place and turn them into revenue.

Book a Strategy Call Book J-Rod to Speak
$600M+ annual revenue ledNVIDIA Certified AI AdvisorBilingual EN / ES

Three decades inside the companies that built modern infrastructure

Proof

Results you can take to the board.

Lenovo · Global SIs
$600M+

Annual revenue owned across Lenovo's global systems integrator ecosystem.

Co-sell · GenAI
40%

Growth in SI-influenced pipeline from joint go-to-market programs for generative AI.

VCE / Dell EMC · 8 months
$120M

New revenue from 8 inherited, underperforming global accounts, reaching 120% of goal.

VMware · Southeast
#1

Regional ranking after rebuilding a five-state territory from the ground up.

Applied AI Association
140

Members in the Atlanta chapter J-Rod founded in 2024, plus 4 institutional members.

Founder · Exits
2

Technology companies built and sold: XHRIS Technologies and MTO Tech.

Portrait of Jim (J-Rod) Rodriguez in a navy blazer
Kennesaw, GA · Since 1996
The story

From the data center floor to the AI boardroom.

I'm an entrepreneur at heart. I built and sold two technology companies before spending two decades as an architect and sales leader at VCE, EMC, Dell EMC, VMware and Lenovo, sitting in the room as Fortune 500 and public sector leaders made their biggest infrastructure decisions.

At Lenovo I led global AI, HPC and hybrid cloud go-to-market with the world's largest systems integrators, and served as executive sponsor for the NVIDIA, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure alliances. Most recently I was Field CTO at OnStak, an enterprise AI consulting firm.

Today, through JROD.AI, I give leaders the same playbook: pick the use cases worth funding, put governance and security guardrails in place, size the infrastructure, and line up the right partners to ship it.

AI StrategyAI GovernanceAgentic AIComputer VisionGPU · HPC · Hybrid CloudData Center FeasibilityGSI & ChannelEnglish / Español
2026

OnStak → JROD.AI

Field CTO, then founder of JROD.AI.

2024

Applied AI Association

Founded the Atlanta chapter. Now Board Advisor.

2020

Lenovo

Three roles, rising to Global Technology Sales Leader. $600M+.

2018

VMware

Lead SDDC Specialist. #1 in the Southeast.

2016

Dell EMC

Sr. Architect after Dell acquired EMC. $120M in new revenue in 8 months.

2015

VCE

Sr. vArchitect, Southeast. VCE was acquired by EMC.

2011

EMC

Sr. Technology Consultant on top Healthcare and public sector accounts.

2008

Sirius Computer Solutions

Lead virtualization architect for the East region.

2006

VSS

Director and Practice Leader. Grew the practice from 2 to 14 people.

2004

MTO Tech

Founded a virtualization consultancy. Acquired.

2001

Paaridian Technologies

Practice Leader. Acquired.

1998

XHRIS Technologies

CEO / President. Acquired by a local IT security firm.

Consulting

Governed AI that ships and pays for itself.

Six ways I work with leadership teams, from a first readiness check to a production rollout.

Concept · Feasibility · Readiness

Data Center Conceptual, Feasibility & Facility Readiness Assessments

Before you spend capital prepping a building for an edge data center, make sure the facility can actually be one. From first concept through feasibility and facility readiness, I assess your sites, power, cooling and capacity against the workloads you plan to run, and give you a straight answer before the first purchase order.

GoFix firstBuild or host elsewhere
  • Conceptual design and site options
  • Facility readiness scorecard
  • Power and cooling capacity for GPU and HPC density
  • Space, rack and network readiness
  • On-prem, colocation or hybrid cloud fit, with cost comparison
  • Resiliency, risk and compliance review
  • Current-state inventory and workload placement
  • Phased modernization roadmap with budget ranges
The foundation

AI Infrastructure

GPU, HPC and hybrid cloud sized to the workload, so you pay for what the AI actually needs.

  • GPU and HPC cluster sizing
  • On-prem, colocation and hybrid cloud placement
  • Compliance-ready designs, including data sovereignty
  • Vendor-neutral partner and platform selection
Flagship · The Readiness-to-Results Method

AI Assessment & Governance

My structured path from "we should do something with AI" to a funded, governed roadmap. Tap a phase.

Maturity scaleExploringPilotingOperatingScaling
Built, not just advised

AI Agents for Business

I've designed and built many AI agents that take everyday tasks and customer workflows off your team's plate.

  • Customer workflows that run around the clock
  • Built on tools like GoHighLevel and n8n
  • Guardrails, so every agent stays on task
Physical AI

Computer Vision

Cameras that understand what they see: detection, tracking and alerts for real operations like food service.

  • Rodent and insect detection for food service
  • Direction-of-travel tracking with time stamps
  • Alerts that trigger the right workflow
Revenue

Go-to-Market & Partners

Co-sell motions with global systems integrators, channel strategy, SOWs and pricing that close.

  • Joint go-to-market with global SIs
  • Channel and partner enablement
  • RFP responses and pricing strategy
Speaking

Keynotes that leave the room with a plan.

Practical, high-energy talks for executives, partners and business owners. Delivered in English or Spanish.

Keynote · Executives

AI Strategy That Closes

How to pick the AI bets worth funding, prove value fast and get the board to say yes.

Keynote · Workshop

Guardrails Before Scale

AI governance, security and risk in plain language, and the 4-phase path from pilot to production.

Keynote · Industry

Physical AI on Main Street

What happens when cameras and sensors start to understand the world, with real examples from food service and small business.

Workshop · Owners

Small Business, Big AI

Hands-on: the AI agents a small team can launch this quarter, and how to keep them safe.

Panel · Partners

Selling AI With the Giants

Lessons from co-selling AI, HPC and hybrid cloud with the world's largest systems integrators.

Built & delivered

I build the AI I talk about.

CAM 03 · Kitchen · Back wall--:--:--
Detection running…
Computer vision · Food service

Pest Detection App

Spots rodents and insects in food service facilities, then logs the last direction of travel with a date and time stamp, so operators can catch activity early. The animation shows the idea.

Agentic AI · Business

AI Agents for Business

Many agents designed and shipped for businesses, automating the repetitive work that eats up a team's week.

Beyond work

The person behind the keynote.

Pick a topic.

I like to build things with my hands, too.

When I'm not designing AI systems, I'm usually in the shop or on a trail. Both keep me honest: real materials and real terrain don't care about your slide deck.

Maker

Laser cutting

Custom pieces and home projects, designed and cut in my own shop.

Maker

3D printing

Prototypes, parts and the occasional just-because build.

Maker

Woodworking & home builds

From furniture to full rooms, I like a project with a tape measure in it.

Outdoors

Hiking

Georgia trails are where I clear my head and think through the big problems.

Community

Building Atlanta's AI community.

Applied AI Association

Atlanta Chapter

Founded in 2024 around one question: "What are you using AI for?" Grew to 140 members and 4 institutional members. Chapter President, now Board Advisor.

Credentials

NVIDIA Certified AI Advisor

Plus Lenovo data center and analytics certifications, VMware VCP6, Nutanix and EMC architect credentials.

Education

B.S. Computer Science

State University of New York at Old Westbury. New York born, Kennesaw since 1996.

Let's talk

Ready to make AI pay off?

Tell me about your project or your event. I read every message personally.

[email protected]

Connect on LinkedIn ↗