Charleston, SC · AI automation consulting · custom ops dashboards

AI automation and ops dashboards for manual work.

Owner-led teams hire me when quoting, follow-up, reporting, and the rest of the back office quietly eats the week. I fix the part that's leaking first.

Book a workflow audit See work

If the workflow has a real baseline, I'll lower the upfront build cost and put part of my fee on results.

Blaine Heffron
About

Background

I run Blaine Heffron Consulting. The work is usually easy to describe: clunky handoffs, reports nobody trusts, two tools that almost talk to each other. Fixing it is the annoying part.

I have a PhD in physics from the University of Tennessee. I worked on the PROSPECT neutrino experiment at Oak Ridge, which is where I learned how to handle complex datasets.

Recent work: StockForge, Songcraft, Stellar tooling, and custom software for teams stuck in process.

I'm most useful when the problem involves messy workflows where you are unsure about what AI can and cannot automate.

Workflow automation Internal tools AI systems Integrations Reporting pipelines Machine learning Scientific computing Signal processing Detector analysis TypeScript Python Rust Node.js React / Preact Automation design Technical product development Research software

Why people hire me

Systems thinking
I simplify the parts that should be simple and leave the important constraints in place.
Direct implementation
You talk to the person doing the thinking and the building. No handoffs to a team you've never met.
Technical range
Ops software one week, ML pipeline the next. Most engagements don't fit one neat box.

Education

PhD in Physics
University of Tennessee
2023
MS in Physics
University of Tennessee
2017
BS in Physics
University of North Carolina
2012
Consulting

Workflow automation consulting

AI automation, internal tools, ops dashboards, and technical software for teams whose work is spread across too many places.

The starting point usually shows up in the numbers. Quotes that go out late. Follow-up that never happens. Inventory drift. Hours spent shuffling data nobody asked for.

Pilot availability

A build that has to earn its keep

I'm trying a performance-based structure with a few businesses. Pick one bottleneck. Set the baseline. Build the smallest useful version. Upside only kicks in when the number moves.

  • Fits: slow quoting, missed follow-up, inventory mistakes, repetitive docs, admin work that's eating billable hours.
  • Doesn't fit when the numbers are vague or nobody owns the workflow.
  • We agree on attribution, support, payment triggers, and what happens if the metric doesn't move — before anything gets built.

Lead and follow-up systems

Catch inquiries before they rot in the inbox. Draft the reply, assign an owner, surface anything that's gone cold.

Quote and proposal workflows

Messy inputs in, reviewed quotes out. Approval queues people will actually use, with status the owner can see.

Inventory and order cleanup

Reconcile product data and SKU mappings across tools. Surface shipping exceptions and handoffs that fall through the cracks.

Owner-ready ops dashboards

One private view for the work that needs action this week: follow-ups, approvals, exceptions, connector health. Skip the vanity charts.

Lane 1

Automation and ops cleanup

For founder-led companies with one operational problem that keeps coming back no matter who's on shift.

Workflow bottleneck audit

How the work moves now, where it jams, and which fix pays off first. Usually the answer surprises someone.

Workflow review Automation plan Fast turnaround

Fixed diagnostic, often credited into an approved build

Start here if the work feels clunky and nobody can point at the right first step.

Audit details

Measurable automation pilot

One painful workflow, one short build. Usually intake, reporting, onboarding, CRM cleanup, or document handling.

Baseline first Measured upside Done-for-you build

Lower upfront build cost, with upside only when the agreed metric moves

Pick this if you already know the bottleneck and can attach a number to it.

Pilot details

Custom ops cockpit

One private dashboard pointed at the work that needs attention: stale leads, pending approvals, exceptions, unpaid invoices.

Operations dashboard Exception queues Human review

Scoped dashboard build with connectors and handoff

Pick this when the work lives in too many tools and the owner has lost the operating view.

Dashboard details
Lane 2

Scientific ML and technical analysis

For research and engineering groups whose problem isn't a no-code one. ML, analysis tooling, software where the technical calls matter.

Technical advisory

Consulting on analysis strategy, system design, or a debugging pass before someone signs off on a bigger build.

Technical review System design Analysis strategy

Scoped advisory, milestone, or retainer structure

Use this when the project deserves a real technical pass before anyone starts shipping.

Technical details

Custom technical buildout

ML pipelines, detector and signal analysis tooling, research software, technical dashboards. The work where plausible isn't good enough.

Machine learning Scientific computing Research software

Scoped after discovery with milestones and handoff defined up front

Use this when the work needs real software and somebody has to make the technical calls.

Technical details

Not sure which lane fits?

If the headache is reporting, approvals, inventory, or quoting, start in the automation lane. If it's ML, simulation, or research software, the technical lane is the right door.

Workflow automation Business automation
Proof

Selected work

A handful of recent projects across ops software, developer tooling, and technical systems.

Current platform build

StockForge

Inventory and operations software for a chemical-industry use case: BOMs, barcode scanning, reorder logic, and supply-chain workflows in one place.

TypeScript Astro Inventory systems Operations
Live site

Songcraft

A music reading game where kids play along with sheet music in real time, with classroom tools, parent tracking, and live note matching over WebSockets.

TypeScript EdTech WebSockets Node.js
Live site
Client platform

Breeze Homes

A cloud-backed platform for customer onboarding, project tracking, floor plans, photo storage, and contractor workflows.

React TypeScript AWS PostgreSQL
Live site
Stellar tooling

Scaffold Stellar

Developer tooling for building and shipping Stellar smart contracts with less setup friction.

Rust TypeScript Stellar Developer tooling
Live site
DeFi infrastructure

EquitX

Contract and backend support systems for CDP indexing, price feeds, liquidity tracking, and liquidation logic on Stellar.

Rust TypeScript DeFi Stellar
Live site
Open-source tooling

soroban-sdk-tools

Rust proc macros and test utilities for Soroban contracts, funded through an SCF #39 Developer Tooling grant.

Rust Developer tooling Smart contracts
GitHub SCF award Demo

paper-search-mcp

MCP server for searching and indexing scientific papers across multiple sources, backed by local hybrid search.

Rust AI tooling MCP
GitHub

symbolic-math-mcp

MCP server for symbolic mathematics and tensor algebra in specialized technical work.

C++ SymPy Physics
GitHub

ML for PROSPECT

CNN and GCN-based event reconstruction for the PROSPECT neutrino detector, improving usable signal statistics by 3.3%.

Python Deep learning Physics
GitHub Slides
Contact

Get in touch

If a workflow is wasting time, leaking margin, or stuck in admin land, send me a note.

A good first message tells me what's broken, which tools touch it, how you measure the problem today, and roughly when you want it gone.

blaine@blaineheffron.com GitHub LinkedIn Google Scholar
Research

Selected publications

Academic work in neutrino physics, detector analysis, and machine learning.