Available for advisory, fractional, or full-time leadership

Powered by AI. Driven by Humans.™

Most companies can deploy AI. I lead the human half that makes it work.

I'm James Berry. I've led teams through complex change, most recently 5.5 years at CHG Healthcare. AI succeeds or fails on the human side: clear communication, real adoption, and the governance and standards that keep it safe and consistent. That's the half most companies struggle with, and it's where I lead, on top of the data and process work underneath. I've shipped real products too, so I know what works in practice. I've put the whole method into a field guide, Own the Human Half, out August 15th.

See the books → See what I've built

AI readiness · Data & process · Governance · Communication & adoption · Team leadership
Open to remote, hybrid, on-site, or relocation

James Berry, Founder, Berry App Labs Own the Human Half book cover New bookReleasing Aug 15

Companies I've consulted & partnered with

Google Ford GSK Abbott Walgreens Boots Alliance VMLY&R Banfield Pet Hospital

Books

Two field guides, and the workshops I teach from them

Everything I teach lives in two short books. Each one comes with hands-on workshops I run for teams, available as a keynote, a working session, or a multi-session program, in person or remote.

Own the Human Half book cover
Releasing Aug 15

Own the Human Half

Lead the human side of AI, the part most teams get wrong.

Most AI rollouts stall on the people, not the technology: the owners, the communication, and the guardrails that decide whether anyone actually uses what you built. This short field guide is that human system, seven truths and a set of first moves, and the method behind my consulting.

Read more & get the tools →

Workshops from this book

  • 🧭AI Readiness Workshop · 1-dayFrame the human half, score your team on the maturity grid, name the owners, and set a prioritized first 90 days.

You walk out with: a maturity profile, a prioritized use-case list, a named ownership structure, and a 90-day plan.

Culture on Purpose book cover
Coming Aug 30

Culture on Purpose

How to run your team’s culture like a product and a project.

Most culture committees stall by Q2. This is the operating system for the leader who inherited a team and has no time, budget, or staff for culture: understand what people need, build trust, then run it like a project. A charter, a year on a page with named owners, a monthly rhythm, and the one number that proves it worked.

That same method now runs beyond your own team. It powers In Good Company, the hosted game that connects a whole room in an hour, and a full year of events planned on a single page. Aim it at your clients, and it deepens the relationships you already have into the kind they actually remember.

Explore the book & workshops → See the In Good Company game →

Workshops from this book

  • 📅Build the Year · 2-dayDesign the whole year from scratch: a committee charter, a year on a page with named owners, a monthly rhythm, and a scoreboard.
  • 🎯Set the Year · 1-dayThe annual renewal: reset the plan, refresh owners, and re-baseline the scoreboard each January.

Want a session tailored to your team? Let's talk →

In Good Company

One game. Your team, or your clients.

A one-hour hosted game that connects a whole room, built on their own answers. Bring your own team together, or turn a room of clients into relationships they remember. Same game, two very good reasons to run it.

For your team

Bring your own team together

Turn coworkers into people who actually see each other, and hand leadership a real read on the culture.

Connect your team →

For your clients

Turn clients into relationships

Turn a room of clients into relationships they remember, and you into the reason. One event, or a whole year of them.

Connect your clients →

Apps

Proof, not promises

I don't just advise on AI. I build with it. Plate Spotter is live on the App Store, with three more on the way, most built solo and multilingual, in a matter of weeks.

Plate Spotter road trip map with spotted states
Plate Spotter Released June 18
The family road-trip game for soccer's biggest summer.

Spot license plates across the US, Canada & Mexico, meet all 48 nations of soccer's big summer, and answer 2,100+ trivia questions. Works fully offline, no ads, in 23 languages.

23 languages 48 nations 3 countries
Download on the App Store → Visit marketing site →
Metis peptide protocol tracker showing active cycles and vials
Metis Beta
The transformation engine.

A research log and protocol tracker for cycles, body composition, photos, and labs, with an AI Cycle Report and bloodwork interpreter that turn raw data into insight.

4 languages AI insights Health & fitness
Visit marketing site →
HairPath patient recovery dashboard
HairPath Coming soon
Your recovery companion.

A patient-experience SaaS for hair-transplant clinics: daily check-ins, AI photo analysis, recovery timeline, and multilingual support for medical-tourism patients.

10 languages AI photo analysis Clinic SaaS
Demo marketing site →
HolyTL;DR
"Stop doom-scrolling your worries. Just talk to God about it."
Philippians 4:6
✅ Text a friend 📝 Journal
HolyTL;DR Coming soon
Scripture that actually hits.

Daily Bible verses in Gen Z voice with 3 actionable steps, personalized to what you're going through. Streaks, leaderboard, monthly goals. Catholic + Protestant.

10 languages AI-powered 185 verses
Demo marketing site →

What People Say

Trusted from the top and the team

“
He doesn't simply manage to requirements, he shapes them. James has the operational horsepower, the people leadership, and the executive presence to excel in a senior leadership role. He achieved the highest employee engagement scores in the company, and you can't coach a number like that; you have to earn it. I recommend him without qualification.
DA
Daniel A.
VP, Sales & Revenue Operations · CHG Healthcare
“
I would recommend James Berry everyday and twice on Sunday. He is an outstanding leader of people and makes the most difficult of scenarios seem simple. He made an incredible impact on our organization and our team, and the way he did it with a great sense of humor and inclusion left a profound impact on me.
MW
Michael W.
Director, Enterprise Business Development · CHG Healthcare
“
James was my leader at CHG for nearly four years, and he is the best of the best. His direction and transparency always instilled trust on our team, and he brought out the best in each of us because of it. He leads people first, and he is an incredible manager, mentor, and friend.
SR
Shannon R.
Direct Report, Senior Project Manager · CHG Healthcare
“
James transformed a typical team building event into an experience we’ll never forget. The personalized superhero theme was creative, fun, and sparked conversations that helped us better understand and appreciate one another. We laughed, learned, and left feeling more connected as a team. James brought incredible energy and kept everyone engaged from start to finish. If you’re looking for a team building experience that’s both meaningful and memorable, I can’t recommend James highly enough!
NW
Niki W.
Director · Moreton & Company

Impact at CHG Healthcare

Five years. Measurable results.

A snapshot of what I delivered in my most recent role at CHG Healthcare, leading client implementations and data management through process improvement, automation, and cross-functional collaboration. Same team, dramatically more output.

12×
Concurrent implementations
From 1 at a time to 12 at once, 2022 to 2023
66.7%
Faster time to market
Implementation duration cut from 6 weeks to 2
600%
Client support scale
From 40 to 280 clients supported
4.2×
Data points supported
From 6,000 to 25,230 since 2021
62.5%
Cleaner sources of truth
Consolidated reporting and fewer conflicting data sources
0
Added headcount
Every result above delivered with the same team
2 hrs
Manual work automated
A task that once took 2 full days now runs in 2 hours, on the second attempt, the first I shelved for inconsistent results
100%
Perfect EES score
Top-of-scale leadership rating from my team, earned twice
$600M
Business supported

I led, architected, and built a company-wide data management ecosystem from scratch: the single source of truth and the structure that lets our enterprise clients’ data be consumed into the BI warehouse, plus the dashboards and reporting that a $600 million business runs on every day. One connected system that turned scattered spreadsheets into the operational backbone of the entire organization.

About

The operator behind the work

James Berry, Founder, Berry App Labs
James Berry
Founder, Berry App Labs · AI-First Operations & Transformation Leader

A transformation leader who builds. He leads the human side of AI, the governance, communication, and adoption that make it stick, and ships real software too, so he knows what works in practice.

James has spent a career leading teams, streamlining operations, and delivering complex transformations, most recently 5.5 years at CHG Healthcare, where he led high-performing teams through meaningful, large-scale change and built solutions that stuck.

Berry App Labs grew out of a simple conviction: AI succeeds or fails on the human side, not the technology. James leads that side, the communication, adoption, governance, and standards that make AI stick, on top of the data and process work underneath. And he builds the software himself; the portfolio above isn't a side project, it's proof he knows what actually works, not just what looks good on a slide.

That work happens at whatever depth a company needs, from a few days a month of advisory to embedded, hands-on leadership. For the right team, the deepest version is joining full-time as a Director or VP to lead a transformation end to end, in Implementation, Operations, Customer Success, or Business Transformation. Open to on-site, hybrid, remote, or relocation for the right role.

Let's build the next chapter.

Whether you need help getting AI right, a guide for your transformation, or a leader to drive it end to end, I'd love to talk.

📅 Book a call → Email me LinkedIn

One operator, from a few days a month to full-time on your team
Open to remote, hybrid, on-site, or relocation