AI Fluency for Small Businesses
Anthropic · July 2026Training focused on the practical and responsible use of AI in small-business environments.
Rugged intelligencefor real operationsBook a discovery callDiscovery
Founder & Principal
Ryan Fagerstrom
An operator who spent thirteen years running restaurants before building practical AI systems for owner-run businesses.
Book a discovery call
Founder / OperatorReal businesses.
Practical systems.
Practical systems.
The operator behind Kodiak
Thirteen years on the owner’s side of the table.
Before he ever built a piece of software, Ryan spent thirteen years owning and operating two restaurants across two states. He knows the work behind the work: hiring, scheduling, margins, logistics, customer expectations, and the constant pressure of keeping an operation moving.
That experience shapes every Kodiak engagement. The work starts with how the business runs today, where time or opportunity is being lost, and which problems are worth solving. It never starts with technology looking for a place to land.
AI qualifications
Focused study. Hands-on implementation.
After stepping away from the restaurant industry, Ryan began studying how artificial intelligence could be applied to real-world business operations. What started as a personal interest developed into more than a year of focused study, experimentation, and hands-on implementation.
AI Fluency for Builders
Anthropic · July 2026Applied training in building AI-powered workflows and solutions.
Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Anthropic · July 2026Certification covering the protocol used to connect AI systems with tools, data, and business context.
Claude Code: Software Engineering with Generative AI Agents
Vanderbilt University · January 2026Coursework in software engineering with generative AI agents and AI-assisted development.
Why Kodiak
Figure out where AI belongs and where it does not.
Today, through Kodiak Strategy, Ryan works with business owners to identify practical ways to use AI to save time, improve operations, and grow more efficiently.
His approach begins with understanding the company as it operates today, finding the areas creating the most friction or consuming the most time, and then applying AI, automation, and better processes only where they can create measurable value.
You do not need AI everywhere. You need it in the right places.
Background
From Alaska to South Dakota.
Ryan was born and raised in Juneau, Alaska. He attended Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota, where he studied marketing and played wide receiver.
He and his wife, Mallorie Fagerstrom, originally Mallorie Haley of Winner, South Dakota, now live in Brandon, South Dakota, with their four children.