01Building with agents
Agency OS: why I built my own Grok Bot alternative
An agency OS puts your AI agents, client data and way of working in one system you own. Why Grok Bot wasn't enough, and how I built my own.
FRACTIONAL AI CONSULTANT FOR AGENCIES
I help web agencies run on agentic AI.
I’ve run an agency for 20 years and spent the last three changing how agencies work with AI, starting with four of my own. Now I work inside other agencies as their AI lead, helping owners and their teams build differently, safely.
- years running an agency
- 20+
- businesses of my own rebuilt with agentic AI
- 8
- AI agents at work in my own business
- 30+
- of UK SMEs now use AI, up from 35% a year ago (BCC & Atos, 2026)
- 54%
WHERE MOST AGENCIES ARE
Most agencies talk to AI. Few have AI doing the work.
Everyone has a chat window open, each on a different tool, and the work still gets done the old way. Agentic AI is different. You give an agent a job, not a question, and it does the work while your people direct it and sign it off. I made that change in my own agencies first.
AGENCIES I WORK WITH
Your kind of agency.
Your kind of work.
01 / SPECIALIST SUPPORTWeb & development.Agents that build to your standards, and QA that catches what automated scans miss.How I work with web agencies02 / SPECIALIST SUPPORTSEO & search.Faster research and reporting, so your team spends its time on judgement.How I work with SEO agencies
- 03Paid media.Turn campaign data into decisions faster, with your team making the call.
- 04Content & social.Take the repeatable production off the team’s plate.
- 05Brand & creative.Keep brand knowledge somewhere every agent can use it.
- 06PR & communications.Research, coverage and reporting in one place.
- 07Marketing & full-service.Connect the work across your teams, tools and clients.
WHY WORK WITH ME
An agency owner first.
An AI lead second.
I founded Code23 in 2005 and I’ve run it through the boom years and the hard ones. I know how an agency’s margins, deadlines and teams feel from the inside, because I still live with them.
I did it to my own agencies first.
Four of them, rebuilt around AI before I asked anyone else to change.
I still build.
The agents, build loops and QA set-up I bring are the ones I use every day.
You get me.
No account managers, no junior consultants, no hand-off after the sale.
Safe by design.
Your team makes the calls that matter and owns the result. We agree which tools touch client data, and nothing goes live without your sign-off.
WHAT I DO INSIDE YOUR AGENCY
Fractional.
Inside your team.
Set the direction.
Decide where AI earns its place in your agency: in delivery, in the back office and in what you sell to clients. Tool choices, standards, and how you’ll know it’s working.
PRIORITIES / TOOL DECISIONS / WORKING STANDARDS
Build the way you work.
Your agency’s own standards written into its agents. Build loops that check each piece as it’s made. QA agents that test like a real user before anything goes live.
AGENT STANDARDS / BUILD LOOPS / QA AGENTS
Bring the team with you.
Find the champion, start them on the job they’re sick of doing, and let everyone else see it working. It sticks when the team owns it.
AI CHAMPIONS / HANDS-ON SESSIONS / ONGOING SUPPORT
HOW THE WORK CHANGES
Less moving information.
More moving work forward.
Take a familiar piece of agency work. Agents take on the volume in between. Your team makes the calls that matter.
- 01
The brief
Client context, goals and the work to be done.
- 02
A strong first pass
Research, drafts and a structured start, built by agents to your standards.
- 03
Your judgement
Your team shapes it, challenges it and makes the calls.
- 04
Checked & ready
Automated checks and a QA agent go over it before your team signs it off.
HOW IT WORKS
Start with one change.
Then keep going.
- STEP 1
The strategy month.
Month one is the strategy on every plan, at the plan’s price. Advisor starts with a kick-off and a one-page AI plan. Partner and Lead start with the full map of your agency and a 90-day plan. You keep the plan whatever you decide next.
- STEP 2
Choose your plan.
£750 to £3,000 a month (+VAT).
Advisor £750, Partner £1,500 or Lead £3,000 a month. Month to month, with no long-term commitment. Need me one day a week or more? Let’s talk.
- STEP 3
Keep improving.
Each month we add the next agent and sharpen the last. You own everything we build.
See plans & pricing
ALL PRICES (+VAT).
A FEW QUESTIONS
Before we
get started.
What does an AI consultant do?
An AI consultant helps a business decide where AI should change the work, then makes that change happen. Inside an agency, I set the direction with the owners, build the new way of working with your team, and bring your people with it.
What is a fractional AI consultant?
A senior AI lead who isn’t a full-time hire, but works properly inside your team. Usually two days a month with your leads and your people, not advice from the outside. It gives an agency an AI lead without hiring a full-time head of AI or chief AI officer.
How much does an AI consultant cost?
My prices are published. There are three plans: Advisor at £750, Partner at £1,500 and Lead at £3,000 a month, all (+VAT). Month one is the strategy on every plan, at the plan’s price. There’s no long-term commitment: after month one, plans run month to month.
Are you an AI consultancy or an independent AI consultant?
Ansell AI is just me, James Ansell. You get an independent AI consultant who works inside your team on a monthly plan, not a consultancy that sends juniors. You work with me directly: no account managers, no junior consultants.
Do you only work with agencies?
No. I work as an AI consultant for any business. Agencies and marketplaces are my specialism, which is why most of this site is written for agency owners.
Where are you based?
I’m an AI consultant based in Reading. I work in Berkshire, the surrounding counties and London.
Do you do AI strategy, or do you build as well?
Both. Month one is the strategy on every plan: a kick-off and a one-page AI plan on Advisor, or the full map of your agency and a 90-day plan on Partner and Lead. On Partner, your team builds with my briefs and reviews. On Lead, I build alongside your team, starting the first agent in month one.
Is this for our operations or our clients?
Both. Most agencies start inside, with delivery and the back office. Then we look at what you could sell to clients, and whether to build it, white-label it or leave it alone.
Is it safe with client work?
It is when it’s set up properly. We agree which tools touch client data, what agents can do on their own, and which decisions stay with your team.
What if AI isn’t right for part of our work?
Then I’ll say so. Not everything needs an agent.
Where do we start?
Send me a message about your agency. I’ll suggest a useful next step. If it makes sense, month one comes next.
FROM THE BLOG
02Building with agentsThe memory layer: how AI agents remember what your agency knows
AI agent memory, explained: one shared record of what your agency knows that every agent reads first. What goes in it, what stays out, and how to start one.
03Fractional AIWhat is a fractional chief AI officer, and does an agency need one?
A fractional chief AI officer leads AI in your business for a few days a month. What the role covers, how it differs from a hire, and whether you need one.