About WiscAI
A Madison AI consulting firm, founded 2024. We sit with the people doing the work, find where AI gives them real time back, build it beside them, and hand it over so their team runs it. Remote-first, with a leadership check-in every week, and on-site when it helps.
Michael Zhang
- Led AI image search, voice, and language work at a billion-dollar fashion and consumer brand
- Started Wisconsin's longest-running weekly AI practitioner community, AAIG, in 2024
- Co-hosts a bi-monthly AI leadership forum for C-suite leaders
Ally Rilling
Muhammed Cikmaz
Rachel Bahrenburg
Six people we lean on for industry depth, from fintech to retail.
Matt Messinger
Nhi Le
Steve Cretney
Ben Udell
Dru Dominici
Eric Townley
We run on what we sell
We use the same tools and methods we deploy for clients to build our own AI products. When we tell you something works, it's because we're running it ourselves.
Also: our implementation services are listed on AWS Marketplace, we work with the Wisconsin Technology Council on the state's AI-readiness effort, and we mentor in UW-Madison's CS Marketplace program. Press and media resources are in the newsroom.
Common questions
What is WiscAI?
WiscAI, Inc. is an AI consulting firm in Madison, Wisconsin, founded in 2024 by Michael Zhang, serving leadership teams across Wisconsin and nationwide. We sit with the people doing the work, find where AI gives them real time back, and build it beside them: a working system in weeks, with the rules it learns written down so your team runs it without us. You pay for working pieces, one step at a time, each proven on your own data before the next, and you can stop after any step. As your outside AI partner, we keep the AI work moving while your team keeps the business running: your people learn by doing, adoption keeps its momentum, and the know-how of your 30-year veterans gets written down before it walks out the door. A three-week AI Audit / Roadmap shows where to start. We work with a diverse group of companies, from manufacturers and consumer brands to credit unions and college athletic programs.
Who founded WiscAI?
WiscAI was founded by Michael Zhang, who also started the AI Agent Innovation Group (AAIG), Wisconsin's longest-running AI practitioner community, meeting weekly since 2024, and co-hosts the AI Leadership Breakfast Forum. Before WiscAI, Michael led AI image search, voice, and language work as VP of eCommerce and Digital Marketing and Head of Innovation at a billion-dollar fashion and consumer brand.
Does WiscAI work outside Wisconsin?
Yes. WiscAI is headquartered at 821 E Washington Ave, 2nd Floor, Madison, Wisconsin 53703, and works with clients across Wisconsin and nationwide. Engagements run remote-first with a leadership check-in every week, and on-site when it helps, usually for the kickoff and key working sessions.
What do WiscAI's advisors do?
Six operators from fintech, AI investing, enterprise technology, financial services, retail merchandising, and marketing are in our corner. They meet with us for industry depth, straight answers on where AI pays in their fields, and introductions, and they help shape where WiscAI goes next.
Why does WiscAI build its own products?
Running our own AI products is how we know what works before we recommend it. The same methods, models, and habits go into client work, and the products surface problems a consulting engagement alone would miss.
Is WiscAI hiring?
Yes. WiscAI hires people who want to build with AI every day, starting with a paid evaluation project. Open roles and how to apply are on the Careers page at wiscai.com/join.
Start with a conversation.
30 minutes with Mike. If we can help, we'll show you how. If we can't, we'll tell you that too.