Skip the deck.
Ship AI.
We get AI out of the slideshow and into your business, with custom systems built on solid data foundations.
AI promised land
AI Race Results
Most AI projects never launch or sink after the demo. Ours stay afloat as we guide you across the finish line.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Finish | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consultants | Not reached | Not reached | Not reached | Did not start |
| AI gurus | Pass | Fail | Not reached | Sank |
| Riverboat | Pass | Pass | Pass | Shipped |
Why work with us?
Our background is in building data platforms for high-growth startups, and the AI age is a natural extension of that.
None of our projects can be done in a few minutes with ChatGPT. You need a team with real technical skills and an understanding of how AI systems work.
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AI-native
Our solutions are designed with AI at the core, not simply added onto paradigms of the past. We build the same way — lightning fast agentic engineering, with a human staying in the loop to ensure quality.
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Data-native
Successful AI projects need the right data foundation underneath. With our data and ML background, this is second nature to us.
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Built to outlast the engagement
We don't overoptimize towards a flashy demo. We build it right and add robust testing so that we're confident our solutions still work after we train your team and hand over the keys.
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Right-sized for your project
We start lean with a default a team of 1, then bring in exactly what your engagement needs by tapping into our network of staff-level resources.
Solutions
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AI Product Implementation
We build performant AI solutions like proprietary chatbots and RAG search. We'll help you pipe everything in securely and put the right system prompts and guardrails in place.
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AI Workflow Automation
Do you feel like your team is doing too many things manually or in spreadsheets? You probably are. We'll help you save time and money by automating these recurring tasks with agentic workflows that you own.
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Agentic Analytics & Data Platform Buildout
Want to chat with your data with an AI data analyst? We'll help your AI agent understand the data in your warehouse and how to respond to your business users' plain English questions. Don't have a data warehouse? We can set that up, too.
Testimonials
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Jacob made key contributions to our dbt project and Hex agentic analytics instance early and often in our engagement. He was agile and unafraid to tackle unfamiliar problems.
Peter Li Head of Data & ML at Disco -
I've worked with hundreds of data professionals in my career and Jacob is the number one person I would want to work with again.
Michelle Ballen Head of Data & Analytics -
Having worked with Jacob as both a teammate and as a client, I could not recommend him highly enough, both as someone who helps businesses solve meaningful problems and who empowers the teams and individuals around him.
Jacob has elite technical ability, the problem-solving skills to tackle anything thrown his way, and the communication chops to translate complex work into clear, actionable insights. He approaches problems with first-principles thinking, breaking them down thoughtfully and building efficient, scalable solutions.
Brett Paul Manager, Data & Analytics -
Jacob did a great job setting up the foundational data platform at Dutchie. Our codebase was built to scale and well-documented, which made it easy to ramp and start shipping fast. Startups looking for a partner who can move quickly, do high-quality work, and leave their team in a better place will find that in Riverboat Consulting.
Oscar Esquivel Lead Analytics Engineer -
Having worked closely with Jacob on several complex data initiatives, I've seen firsthand how well he connects business goals to the right data infrastructure. He builds strong technical foundations that help teams move faster, avoid common pitfalls, and end up with systems that are solid, maintainable, and not overengineered.
David Wallace Staff Data Engineer & AI Infrastructure Architect
Case Studies
See how we've delivered results for our clients.
- AdTech
Implementing agentic analytics at Disco
AI agents need context. We provided Disco's Hex AI agents with the right context to power self-service analytics.
AI ImplementationAnalytics Engineering - Health & Wellness
Kickstarting a data warehouse
From 0-to-data stack with a Series A startup who just hired their first data hire and wanted to get to insights faster.
Analytics EngineeringData Strategy - Education Technology
Resetting the data stack for scaling
Our client was pivoting business models and found that tech debt in the form of metrics and dashboards was in the way. We cleared it up.
Data AnalyticsBI Tool Migration
Blog
- Sep 16, 2026
Data teams should own the AI context layer
Querying data through AI agents requires context. Who is responsible?
- Sep 12, 2026
Agents need a memory. The Beads issue tracker is that
Beads provides memory and issue tracking for AI agents, fueling better performance without vendor lock-in.
- Sep 12, 2026
Why your data team hasn't 10xed productivity yet
Founders and data leads are hearing about huge AI productivity gains and wondering how to replicate that internally.
Common questions about our AI consulting services
I know my team needs to use AI more, but I don't know where to start. Can you still help?
Yes. Whether or not you come to us with a fully-formed project idea, we're still going to do discovery and audit your biggest areas of opportunity to use AI.
How is this different from someone on my team using ChatGPT or Claude?
Imagine you're working on a spreadsheet. You could go to ChatGPT and ask for help with a formula, then copy/paste it into the spreadsheet. That's AI-enabled. Or you could stay within the spreadsheet, say what you want, and AI writes the formula for you. That's AI-native. We build AI-native solutions. LLMs gain substantial power when they can access your other tools and company data. We help you unlock that.
What AI tools and platforms do you work with?
We're generally tool-agnostic on the AI side. Our recommendations will depend on your budget, cloud, tech stack, and compliance requirements. We recognize that the space is quickly evolving and the best tool for the job 3 months ago may not be the top recommendation anymore. Compare that to the data side, which is more established. We usually suggest one of Snowflake/BigQuery/Databricks/Redshift for a data warehouse, dbt for data transformation, Fivetran/Estuary/Airbyte for data pipelines, and Hex/Lightdash/Omni for a BI tool.
Can you scale up for larger or more complex projects?
Yes. We work with a talented group of staff-level AI engineers, data engineers, platform engineers, data scientists, analytics engineers, data analysts, and heads of data that we can add to your project.
How long does a consulting engagement take?
Project duration varies based on scope and complexity, but typically 4-6 months with the option to extend. We aim on all projects to demonstrate results in weeks.
Do you provide ongoing support after a project is complete?
Yes. We make our deliverables as durable as we can, and will diligently work to hand off and train your team on how to maintain them. However, we do offer follow-on support for interested clients on a retainer basis.
How do you price your work?
Project-based engagements are priced hourly at staff rates. Retainer-based engagements are a fixed monthly fee up to a set number of hours.
What does the engagement process look like?
First, we'll start with a discovery call to understand your company and project needs. We'll come back with a proposal, and write up a statement of work (SOW) if it's a good fit. Then, we get going on your project — checking in frequently to make sure we're on track.