HOLARIS ADVISORS
AI for operating leaders.
Holaris Advisors helps CEOs, CFOs, and COOs of $5M to $100M businesses identify, implement, and prove out AI initiatives that move operating margin. Founded by a team known for integrity, success, and trust based in Reno, Nevada.
THE PROBLEM
You have already tried AI. It probably did not work.
Most small- and middle-market companies have spent the last two years buying AI tools, hiring consultants, or burning internal cycles on point solutions. Almost none of them can point to a number on the P&L that has shifted by a known amount.
The pattern is consistent. Vendors sell software nobody adopts. Consultants deliver decks with no implementation path. Internal teams chase pilots that never reach production. The CEO is told AI is working. The CEO cannot find the savings.
According to MIT's NANDA Initiative, 95 percent of generative AI pilots are delivering no measurable P&L impact. The technology is rarely the problem. The buying process is.
Holaris Advisors exists for the middle. Companies large enough to fund real AI work. Small enough that the CEO is the buyer. Operator-led, so the people deciding cannot afford another vendor relationship that wastes a quarter.
of generative AI pilots are delivering no measurable P&L impact.
PROPRIETARY DIAGNOSTIC
The AI Opportunity Map.™
A diagnostic that tells you where AI moves the needle, and where it does not.
Every Holaris Advisors engagement starts with the AI Opportunity Map, our proprietary diagnostic framework. We score each function in scope on five quantitative axes:
- Volume. Transactions, decisions, or interactions per month.
- Repetition. How structured and repeatable the work is.
- Latency cost. What delay costs the business.
- Error cost. What an AI mistake costs.
- Data availability. Cleanliness and accessibility of the data needed to operate AI here.
The composite score plots each function on a 2x2 matrix of opportunity versus difficulty. Quick Wins. Strategic Bets. Optimization. Avoid. The output is a prioritized roadmap your team can execute, with or without us.
AI Opportunity Map™ is a Holaris Advisors methodology.
EXECUTION STANDARD
Diagnosis tells you what. The Agentic Pivot tells you how.
The AI Opportunity Map is Holaris Advisors' diagnostic. It tells you which functions to pursue and in what order. Once that is decided, execution follows a sequence the field has converged on, captured most concisely in Emanuel Rose's ten-step roadmap from The Agentic Pivot. Holaris Advisors uses Rose's sequence as the operating standard for how an engagement moves from diagnosis to durable capability.
Diagnosis answers the what and why. The ten-step sequence answers the how and in what order. Skipping diagnosis produces motion without direction. Skipping sequence produces direction without execution.
CEO is a believer.
Leadership aligns on why AI matters now, where it creates value, and how executive-led adoption drives faster ROI.
The Agentic Pivot eBookGovernance.
Policies, procedures, and guardrails are written before tools are deployed, so the company can adopt AI responsibly and confidently.
AI Governance PolicyChange management.
Teams are prepared for new workflows, new expectations, and the cultural shift required for successful adoption.
Download Future-Proof LeadershipCustom GPTs.
We identify where custom GPTs can support your business using your services, brand voice, processes, and internal knowledge.
Custom GPT PricingStrategic planning.
The roadmap is tied to real business outcomes, so AI supports growth, efficiency, service quality, and leadership priorities.
Strategy NavigatorTask visualization.
Repetitive, high-friction work is mapped so your team can see exactly where AI should assist, automate, or augment.
Strategic SOPImplementation.
Phased rollout focused on early wins that build trust, momentum, and measurable value inside the business.
Get Started TodayAgent creation.
As the foundation matures, we scope AI agents that can handle routine execution with oversight and purpose.
Agentic Growth EngineCustom software.
When needed, we guide development of custom tools that fit the way your business actually operates.
KPIs and tracking.
The work ends in visibility, measurement, and refinement, so AI becomes a managed capability, not a one-time initiative.
Steps 1 to 3 are addressed in the first two weeks of every engagement, before any tool is selected. Steps 4 to 6 align with the AI Opportunity Map. Steps 7 to 10 are where most consultancies stop early. Holaris Advisors holds the standard that an engagement is not complete until step 10 is operational. Framework adapted from Emanuel Rose, The Agentic Pivot, 2026.
ENGAGEMENTS
Three ways to work with us.
Transparent pricing. No vendor commissions. Outcome-measured.
Compass.
Ongoing advisory for leadership teams that want a senior AI partner without a full implementation contract. Quarterly review of your AI Opportunity Map. Monthly working sessions with the executive team. Light implementation oversight when initiatives are running.
Best for: Companies that have a Map and need a thinking partner to keep momentum.
Implement.
A defined initiative with a defined result. Eight to sixteen weeks. We deliver a Quick Win identified in your AI Opportunity Map, integrated into your operations, with measured ROI against a baseline we agree on at the start.
Best for: Companies ready to convert one specific opportunity into operating impact.
Embed.
For middle-market transformations where AI is one piece of a larger operational change. We embed alongside your leadership team for six to eighteen months. Multiple Quick Wins. Strategic Bet preparation. Change management. Internal capability building, so you do not need us forever.
Best for: PE-backed portfolio companies, family businesses preparing for transition, or operators running a multi-function transformation.
HONEST MATH
Reasonable ROI. Not pitch-deck ROI.
Vendor pitch decks generally claim AI ROI in weeks. Consulting firms generally claim AI ROI in months. The truth, in the small- and middle-market, looks more like this.
| Initiative type | Typical investment | Time to first ROI | Realistic year-one return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick win (single workflow) | $35K to $75K | 60 to 90 days | 2 to 4x in year one |
| Function transformation | $85K to $150K | 4 to 7 months | 1.5 to 3x in year one, larger afterward |
| Custom AI build | $100K to $250K | 6 to 12 months | Highly variable. Plan 12 to 18 months to clear payback |
| Strategy and roadmap (no build) | $50K to $100K | Indirect | Avoided cost of bad investment, not direct ROI |
| Compliance or risk audit | $25K to $60K | Immediate | Loss avoidance. Measured differently |
1. Counting saved hours as cash.
Hours saved are real. They are not the same as dollars saved unless those hours translate into avoided headcount, expanded capacity, or generated revenue.
2. Comparing to the wrong baseline.
If your team starts using AI quietly six months before the official project, the project will look smaller than it is. Measure the right starting point.
3. Ignoring second-order costs.
New tools create new categories of work: prompt management, model governance, exception handling. Budget for them.
Ranges are Holaris Advisors field judgment for $5M to $100M revenue clients. Industry data from MIT NANDA, McKinsey, and S&P Global, 2025 to 2026.
INDUSTRIES
Built for operators ready to capture the ROI of AI.
We go deep where we have lived, and work with operating leaders across the broader middle market when the fit is right.
Logistics and distribution.
Reno is the western distribution hub for the country. Fleet operations, dispatch, customer service, and billing are full of high-volume, repetitive decisions where AI moves measurable margin. Our founder built and ran a multi-state logistics company. We know where the savings are because we have found them before.
Advanced manufacturing.
Tesla, Panasonic, and the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center have made northern Nevada one of the densest manufacturing corridors in the West. We help operators apply AI to quality inspection, predictive maintenance, supply chain visibility, and production scheduling without disrupting throughput.
Healthcare practices.
Multi-location medical, dental, and specialty practices across the Reno-Sparks region have administrative drag that scales linearly with growth. AI breaks that link. We focus on patient communication, scheduling, billing, and intake, where impact is measurable and regulatory complexity is manageable.
Gaming and hospitality.
Casinos, resorts, and full-service hotels run on labor, loyalty, and floor optimization. AI sharpens demand forecasting, player segmentation, dynamic staffing, and guest service. We help operators capture margin without compromising the experience that brings guests back.
Technology and data centers.
Switch, Apple, Google, and a growing cluster of SaaS and infrastructure firms have made northern Nevada a serious technology market. We help operators in this sector apply AI to capacity planning, internal tooling, customer support automation, and the engineering productivity loop.
Professional services.
Law firms, accounting practices, and consultancies sell expertise priced by the hour. AI changes both the cost structure and the offer. We help partners decide what to automate, what to redesign, and what to charge for differently.
Construction and real estate.
Sustained population growth across the Reno-Sparks region has kept general contractors, civil firms, and commercial developers running at capacity. AI tightens estimating, scheduling, submittal review, and field reporting. We help operators reclaim hours lost to coordination overhead and turn historical project data into a real bidding advantage.
Mining and natural resources.
Nevada produces more gold than any state in the country, and the lithium loop runs through northern Nevada. We help mining operators and their service providers apply AI to geological data, equipment uptime, safety reporting, and the back-office workload that scales with every new permit and audit cycle.
Financial services.
Nevada's business-friendly tax structure has built a dense cluster of community banks, credit unions, RIAs, and wealth managers across Reno. AI sharpens underwriting, compliance review, client servicing, and the analyst workload behind every advisor. We help operators deploy it without crossing the lines regulators care about.
THE TEAM
Operators, not theorists.
Three principals. Decades of operating experience. Reno-based, working nationally.
Daniel Allen
Founder and Advisor
Daniel is a multi-time founder and operator who has built, led, and exited middle-market companies. The same environment Holaris clients operate in. He founded ITS Logistics in Reno in 1999 and led it as CFO and later CEO, growing the company into one of North America's top-ranked third-party logistics providers before its final sale in March 2026. He also co-founded Tavern Craft, a Reno-based beverage distributor, and The CFO Group, a financial consulting firm. A retired CPA, he spent roughly a decade earlier in his career at Grant Thornton LLP as a Senior Assurance Manager. Holaris Advisors exists because Daniel wanted operating leaders to have an AI advisor who has actually operated. B.S. in Accounting, University of Nevada, Reno.
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Charlie Moberly
Managing Partner
Charlie is the Managing Partner of Holaris Advisors, where he leads business development and client engagement strategy. As CEO of Moberly Consulting, he provides strategic advisory services across industries, drawing on deep cross-functional leadership experience. His operational expertise was honed as Chief Executive Officer of Tavern Craft, a specialized beverage distribution company, and as Director of Operations for Pritchett Eye Care Associates. Earlier in his career, Charlie spent more than 25 years delivering marketing and sales leadership for mid-sized companies. He excels at identifying genuine alignment between client needs and Holaris Advisors' strengths, ensuring every engagement the firm accepts is positioned for success from day one. Charlie is based in Reno, Nevada.
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Emanuel Rose
AI Marketing and Implementation
Emanuel leads marketing systems and AI implementation for Holaris Advisors. With more than thirty years in B2B marketing, he is the founder of Strategic eMarketing, author of Authentic Marketing in the Age of AI and The Agentic Pivot, and host of the Marketing in the Age of AI podcast. Emanuel's specialty is the operational layer most firms skip. The data plumbing, the workflows, the agents, and the measurement systems that turn AI from a slide into revenue. The Agentic Pivot framework Holaris Advisors uses as its execution standard is his.
emanuelrose.comWe publish our pricing. We do not take vendor commissions. We measure ourselves on operating outcomes, not technology deployed.
INSIGHTS
Read what we believe.
Public briefs and frameworks. Operator-written. No gates beyond email.
AI Implementation for Operating Leaders.
Choosing vendors, asking the right questions, and setting honest ROI expectations. Includes the twelve questions every operator should ask an AI implementation consultant.
Read the brief →The AI Opportunity Map sample.
A redacted sample of a Holaris Advisors client deliverable. See the five-axis scoring, the 2x2 matrix, the function scorecards, and the 90-day roadmap.
Download sample →The Agentic Pivot, ten-step roadmap.
Emanuel Rose's ten-step sequence for moving from AI experiments to revenue infrastructure, used as Holaris Advisors' execution standard.
View framework →START HERE
Start with a free audit.
Thirty minutes. No deck. We tell you whether AI is worth your time, and where.
If you run a $5M to $100M business and you have been wondering whether AI is real for you, we will spend thirty minutes with you, look at one or two functions, and give you a straight answer. No proposal. No follow-up sequence. If we are a fit, we will say so. If we are not, we will tell you who is.