Amit Kothari, St. Louis, MO
I build workflow software and set up AI for companies.
I built Tallyfy from scratch and raised $3.6m. I'm also a founding partner at Blue Sheen, which helps small and medium-sized companies make AI pay off, together.
Building
What I'm building now.
- Tallyfy®, Workflow Made Easy®
- SternStella, at the idea stage
- BrightKite, early stage, stealth mode
Helping
How I help companies with AI.
- Companies of 10 to 500, via Blue Sheen
- AI coaching for executives and founders
- AI architecture and shared context
Teaching
Where I teach, and what.
- EIR at the WashU Skandalaris Center
- The AI curriculum for an accredited MBA
- Lean ops, automation and practical AI
Recommendations
As a non-technical founder, I've been lucky enough to be coached by Amit on leveraging AI tools like Claude for my business. How to think, how to plan, how to build, how to execute, etc., etc. If you're lucky enough to get a chance to work with him - just do it! It'll be one of the best investments in yourself and your business. If you really want to learn the true fundamentals in a short period of time, I can't recommend working with him enough. He's also a genuine guy who is easy to work with!
I had the pleasure of working with Amit Kothari on automating a complex weekly customer reporting and demand-tracking workflow at Fortis Solutions Group. Amit quickly understood our multi-plant data requirements, helped structure a reliable automation pipeline and was consistently responsive and collaborative when turning around enhancements on tight timelines. I really appreciated his technical direction, problem-solving mindset, and partnership throughout the project.
I had the opportunity to work with Amit during his time consulting with Fortis Solutions Group. Amit was always attentive to requests, quick to offer insight, and clearly knowledgeable in his field. I would gladly recommend Amit to anyone seeking a knowledgeable, dependable, and professional consultant.
Amit is an exceptional AI expert and an outstanding mentor. I had the opportunity to work with him on a language-model-based product, and his guidance was extremely valuable in shaping the direction of the project. What stood out most was Amit's ability to combine deep technical expertise with strong product design insight. Amit was also very patient throughout the process. He communicated complex ideas clearly, asked thoughtful questions, and helped me make better decisions with more confidence.
Amit was my mentor and teacher during my MBA process. I felt like I was decent with AI at the time- but Amit completely transformed how I think about using AI. He explains complex concepts in an easy to understand manner. He is creative in his thinking with practical outcomes. He was also able to help me one on one which was very productive. Highly recommend working with him and just all around great human!
Amit is generous with his time and knowledge to help students across St. Louis to learn and succeed with AI. Very thankful for Amit and the great partnership established with UMSL.
I had the wonderful opportunity to benefit from Amit's mentorship at the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurship at WashU. Speaking with him was mind-blowing and deeply inspiring, and it gave me new insights while opening fresh and original perspectives for my project. Amit shared many great ideas, as well as a full range of practical advice (spanning from customer discovery, problem solving, to AI...) and actionable tips on how to implement them effectively. He was extremely generous with his time, fully committed, and truly dedicated to his mission as both a mentor and a role model.
About Amit
- AI practitioner and coach for operations leaders.
- Built Tallyfy® from scratch. Raised $3.6m.
- Computer Science degree. Battle-tested experience.
- EIR at WashU. Former faculty at OneDay.
- Gets priorities, budgets, moats, and why you lose sleep.
- Wrote a book of poetry. Deep intuition for UI/UX.
- Originally British. Lives in St. Louis, MO.
20+ years of experience
- Founding partner Blue Sheen 2026 - Present
Helps small and medium-sized companies make AI pay off, together. Co-founded with Pravina Pindoria. Senior operators on every engagement. No juniors handed the work. All my consulting work now runs through Blue Sheen.
- Co-founder and CEO Tallyfy 2014 - Present
Built Tallyfy from scratch - the easiest, most cost-effective workflow automation platform available. Invented Workflow Made Easy - a product that anyone can use to document, run and track business processes. Currently running most operations with AI, with deep knowledge of where it works and where it fails.
- Entrepreneur in residence Skandalaris Center, Washington University in St. Louis 2025 - Present
Helping deep-tech and all kinds of entrepreneurs with AI, technology, and operations.
- Faculty OneDay (a Woolf college) 2025 - 2026
Taught cohorts of MBA students about lean operations, automation, and effective AI use. Also taught creativity and innovation to early-stage founders.
- Process improvement consultant Dachis Group 2007 - 2012
Joined via the Headshift acquisition - Headshift pioneered Social Business consulting and Dachis Group acquired it to scale that work. Clients were City law firms, large corporates, blue chip companies, and charities. Problems mixed technology, culture, and process.
- Process improvement and systems integration Atos Origin 2004 - 2006
BPM, systems integration, and process improvement for UK public sector and enterprise clients including a local authority portal, NHS Choose and Book, and VOSA. Stack: Tibco, BEA WLI/WLP, Java.
What I think about when doing AI work
- Context engineering Feeding the right background data into prompts so AI isn't guessing.
- Context availability Making sure AI can grab what it needs, even when data's scattered.
- Picking the right model Small model for grunt work, big model for thinking. Match the tool to the job.
- Divide and conquer Splitting big problems into tiny prompts. One thing at a time.
- Real solutions, not demos Building things that actually run in production, not slide decks.
- Planning big jobs When one prompt won't cut it - chaining dozens together.
- Securing AI for enterprise IT Tenant restrictions, device trust, locked-down proxies, MCP allowlisting. The phase-0 work most teams miss.
- Eval and quality checks Baking in checks so AI doesn't go off the rails.
- Getting better over time Prompts and instructions that improve themselves automatically.
- Defining the actual problem Most AI fails because the problem was badly defined. I've spent decades on this.
- Code vs AI Sometimes a simple script beats a fancy prompt. Knowing when matters.
- Running prompts in parallel Running many prompts at once without them stepping on each other.
- Helping people adapt Tech changes are easy. Getting people on board is the hard part.
- Trigger design When should AI fire? On a schedule? On an event? On a hunch?
- Teaching and mentoring I work with everyone from college students to C-suite execs.
Will my work be locked into one AI tool?
No. I use Claude. I use ChatGPT. I use whatever wins next. Your work lives in your own fileshares like SharePoint, OneDrive, or Google Drive. You own it. You can switch any time.
More recommendations
Amit is a whirlwind of ideas. And what's better, he is usually sharing them with others. Every idea, even the ones that won't make it into a project in the end, is bound to contain some inspiring nugget that will eventually get you thinking about scenarios and possibilities for days.
There really is only one Amit. With a unique blend of strong technical capabilities, entrepreneurial spirit and deep understanding of user behaviour, Amit has the enviable ability to sniff out problems and then (seemingly) effortlessly create innovative business solutions with infectious enthusiasm and relentless follow through. Equally as important, Amit is absolutely lovely to work with. He's got an unflappable positive outlook, loads of energy and is not afraid to ask the tough questions.
Amit is a fantastic, lateral thinker. His entrepreneurial spirit is matched by his kindness, presence and ability to generate great enthusiasm. Amit can teeter between the logical and the dreamy with an envious ease.
Amit and I had a lot of fun working on some really interesting Digital web projects. With lots of hurdles and challenges, I often found Amit to rise to the challenge with creative technical solutions that complimented business requirements. There simply is only one Amit.
Amit has the right attitude for the new way of creating business solutions so the technology is not in the way of the experience. Amit is a one-off diamond.
Amit is a great guy both professionally and personally. Working with Amit was always an eye-opener because of the incredible knowledge and skill he brings to the table. I have worked with Amit on various occasions where I was lucky enough to witness some of the innovative skill and thinking that comes from combining a thorough sense for business and incredible skill in Programming and Architecting.
Amit is an excellent technical thinker who always manages to keep an eye on the human nature of what's being built; he can be relied on for sharp, relevant insights into both user centred process/design and technical decisions, and it's always a pleasure working with him, as well as spending time together socially away from the office.
Amit's technical capabilities are combined with a strong business insight and understanding of user behaviours which makes him a great project collaborator. His focus is on getting the work done and problems solved. I always enjoyed working with Amit on development projects both for his ideas and his helpful positive attitude.
Amit has a fabulous attitude and is a very capable technologist. I've always enjoyed working with Amit and watching him solve the world's problems one entrepreneurial idea at a time.
Amit offers an impressive background of technological and creative knowledge. I was introduced to Amit through a networked link and his recommendation proceeded his entrepreneurial-ship and effective working practice. His ideas are sharp and original, and provide clear insight for what will be the next big thing. I very much look forward to working with Amit and anticipate his success for the future.
Amit has great vision and knowledge of web design and web usability. He has a real intuition and passion for usability in web applications.
I recommend Amit highly. He is a very smart and dedicated person who is also a pleasure to work with.
Amit is a truly unique and colourful person who will bring light into any group of people he encounters. His commitment to anything he turns his mind to amazed me and he is not only willing but loves to put himself in the firing line for any new challenges or experiences he can find.
Amit is an open minded and very creative entrepreneur. He has very good communication skills and has always a pragmatic approach in getting things done.
Amit worked with me on a paper researching Multi-Agent Systems. I found him very knowledgeable, reliable and committed. I regularly see Amit contributing to forum discussions and is always willing to help anyone above and beyond the call of duty.