Small Business Plan · Managed AI Operations · $1M–$10M revenue
One production build shipped into your business every month - an AI agent, automation, or workflow that goes live - plus senior advisory between builds. A flat monthly fee, no per-project quoting, cancel any month.
Managed AI Operations - also known as our Small Business Plan - is NxtLayr AI's productised AI retainer for Australian businesses with $1M–$10M revenue. For a flat $5,000 per month ex-GST, you join a build queue and a senior AI team ships one production build - an AI agent, automation, or workflow - live in your business every month, plus advisory between builds. No per-project quoting, no lock-in. NxtLayr AI is a Sydney-based AI consulting firm.
20 min · No pitch · No pressure
A business at $1M–$10M revenue has a real AI problem and not the scale to solve it the way a Fortune 500 would. Or even the way a $50M business would.
$180K+ base, 6 months to ramp, recruiting risk, hard to fire if it doesn't work.
One-off build, no ongoing strategy, AI changes faster than they re-engage.
One production build shipped every month, senior advisory between builds, flat fee, cancel any month.
Every engagement runs on a structured monthly rhythm. There is never a "wait, what's happening this month" moment. You always know what you are getting. We always know what we owe you.
What moved last month, what broke, what needs attention. KPIs reviewed against targets. Incidents investigated. Priorities for the month adjusted. Output: a clear list of what we're tackling next.
Ship the improvements identified in Week 1. Tune existing systems. Fix what's slipping. Harden what's working. Output: the existing AI stack runs measurably better than 30 days ago.
Net-new workflow or capability expansion. Every month a new piece of the AI stack goes live. Output: a new system in production, owned by your team.
Leadership update. Roadmap re-rank. Next month locked. Written monthly impact report delivered to your leadership team.
Month-to-month. No lock-in.
| Approach | Annual cost | What you get | What's missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hire a senior AI generalist | $180K–$220K + super + equity | One person, full-time focus once they ramp | 6-month ramp, recruiting risk, single-person dependency, hard to fire |
| Engage a Big4 / boutique consultancy | $80K–$150K per engagement | Polished deck, recommendations | No implementation, they leave, deck ages out in 90 days |
| Hire an automation freelancer | $50K–$80K | Tactical builds | No strategy, no continuity, no senior judgment |
| Managed AI Operations | $60K/yr ex-GST | One production build shipped every month + senior advisory + reporting | None of the above tradeoffs |
"Around a third of the cost of the in-house equivalent. A production build shipped every month. Cancel any month if we are not earning it."
Most clients start at Managed AI Operations and stay for the duration. A subset graduates upward as the business grows or AI becomes a board-level priority.
See Fractional Head of AIManaged AI Operations is operational and execution-led. Fractional Head of AI is strategic and executive-led. Same cadence, different seat at the table. If your leadership team needs senior-level AI judgment and direct involvement in vendor decisions, you want Fractional Head of AI. If you need a capable team running the operational side and shipping monthly improvements, Managed AI Operations is right.
Yes. We do not take retainer engagements without an audit first. The audit is how we confirm we can deliver value. If we cannot find enough opportunity to justify the retainer, we tell you and recommend a one-off engagement instead.
Audit slots are usually available within 2 weeks. From audit to retainer kick-off is typically 2–3 weeks after the audit report. So 4–6 weeks from first conversation to first retainer cycle.
That is the right move at scale. Every system we build is documented and yours. When you are ready to hire an internal AI lead, we hand the keys over and the system continues running. Several clients have made this transition.
Australian regions wherever providers offer them. Full disclosure at /trust-center. No client data is used to train any AI model.
Every system we build runs in your accounts (your Make/n8n/Twilio/etc.) with full documentation. If NxtLayr disappeared tomorrow, your team could continue operating using the runbook we leave behind.
“Chris set up Claude on my MacBook and configured it specifically for how I work as a mortgage broker. He took the time to understand the business before touching anything, which made a real difference - what he built actually fits the way I operate day to day. Straightforward to work with, knows his stuff, and didn't overcomplicate anything. If you're a small business owner wanting to get AI working properly (not just installed), Chris is worth talking to.”
“We brought Chris from NxtLayr in to consult for us. He ran an AI audit which found a few gaps in our process. We're a concrete business and before meeting Chris I assumed AI couldn't do much for us. The team is fully in the know and using the AI System every day now for quoting, writing scopes, admin, and more. If you're a business owner who knows AI is coming but has no idea where to start then talk to him. We couldn't recommend him more highly.”
“I was hearing a lot about AI but not knowing where to start. Chris was very knowledgeable and patiently explained the advantages. Many of his recommendations were surprisingly low cost and easy to use. The audit paid for itself already, and we plan to engage NxtLayr AI to automate more processes.”
“Chris built my dental business a custom AI operating system. He connected my tools into AI so now I can ask it questions on my revenue, customers, and it helps me get more things done in my day.”
“In an evolving area Chris is really on top of what's available and how these can add real value to your business.”
“Every business owner is either already engaging with AI to looking to start. The conversation I had with Chris and the audit he conducted on my business was helped me understand it where to start and how easy it can be to get some quick wins. Thank you”
20 minutes. No prep. No pitch. By the end you'll know if Managed AI Operations is right for your business or whether something else fits better.