Halyard Consulting is an LGBTQ+ AI consultancy led by founder Jonathan Goodman, helping small businesses automate operations through chatbots, voice assistants, and custom workflow tools. In the conversation, Jonathan breaks down practical “first steps” for AI adoption, starting small with website chatbots for FAQs and lead capture, then expanding into appointment scheduling, voice bots for call handling and lead qualification, and deeper workflow automations that eliminate repetitive admin work.

He explains Halyard’s approach as more than just rules-based chat: each bot is backed by a tailored knowledge base built from a company’s website and internal documents, so it can answer business-specific questions and support lead generation and calendar integration. Jonathan also emphasizes ethical, inclusive design, prioritizing transparency, privacy, accessibility, and bias reduction, especially for communities often overlooked by mainstream tech.

The discussion broadens into the near-future impact of AI on work: Jonathan urges entrepreneurs to build basic AI literacy now (including learning tools like ChatGPT), while acknowledging real disruption ahead and advocating for responsible governance. He closes by inviting listeners to try Halyard’s chatbot and voicebot directly on the Halyard website as an easy entry point into automation.