Built by people who have run the business, not just pitched it.
We are operators first. The honesty is not a tactic. It is the policy.
Who we are
The Orion Companies is a consulting and software firm built around one idea: tell the truth about AI, build real software when you need it, and get you on the most cost efficient path.
We are not a large firm with layers of account managers. We are operators and builders who have run businesses, managed the books, and shipped products. When you talk to us, you are talking to someone who has been in your chair.
The honest evaluation policy
Every engagement starts the same way: an honest evaluation. $250 an hour. We look at your workflows and we tell you the truth about whether AI helps you.
Sometimes AI is not the solution. We will say so. That can cost us the sale. It is supposed to. A client who walks away with a cheap, honest answer is a client who comes back when they actually need something built.
This is not a loss leader. It is the differentiator. Nobody in our market leads with "sometimes AI is not the answer." We do, because it is true and because the clients we want are the ones who respect it.
What we have built
We do not just advise. We build and ship. Two products prove it.
Orion Tuner
Mission control for local AI. Four inference engines in one desktop app. Hardware aware tuning recipes, real benchmarks with statistical safeguards, quality lanes that verify the model still thinks, a Command Center for your whole fleet. $10 once, offline, no telemetry, no subscription.
Shipped (v1.2.0)
Building now Agent Control Layer (an MCP server built into the app so AI agents can operate Orion Tuner natively).
Larder
The private family grocery app that knows what you have so you buy what you need. Receipt to pantry in seconds. Runs entirely on your own devices. No Larder cloud, no server holding your data. 400+ automated tests gate every release.
In early access (early list now, not sold in any store yet)
Building now Android version and payments and licensing rollout.
The operator creed
We have run businesses: a general contracting company, urgent care clinics, a healthcare software company, a medical finance firm, and the diversified real estate portfolio our CFO has led since 2015. We have managed cashflow, made payroll, and made the hard calls. We know what it costs to operate, and we know the difference between a real solution and a slide deck.
The pattern in this market is clear: parachute consultants with no operating experience, selling the promise of AI, hoping you do not ask whether it actually helps. We attack the pattern, kindly. We are the operators who know your struggles because we have had them.
We publish our price. We name the one number on the invoice. We build the software when off the shelf is not enough. And we tell you the truth, even when it costs us.
Where we have worked
Construction, Finance, Credit, Accounting, Real Estate, Healthcare, Software Development, Operational Dashboards, AI (models, inference, local AI and hardware), Networks and Low Voltage, Small Business. Not a buzzword list. These are the rooms we have been in.
The founders
The Orion Companies is led by two people who ran real businesses before they ever advised anyone on AI.
Jeromy Sjolseth, founder and CEO, has owned businesses his whole career: a general contracting company, urgent care in Phoenix founded as sole owner and sold successfully to NextCare, a multi clinic healthcare organization he ran from Director of Operations to Chief Executive Officer, a leading edge healthcare software company he cofounded, and a medical finance firm he owns outright today. Read Jeromy's story.
Cheryl Sjolseth, cofounder and CFO, built her career across PwC, JPMorgan Chase, Vestar Development, Republic Services, and Medicis, served as Controller of Callison, and has been CFO of Investco Financial Corporation since 2015. She keeps the numbers honest here the way she has everywhere else. Read Cheryl's story.
Between the two of us, we are the operators with the exact technical knowledge our partners want and need, and we speak operator, not jargon. One runs operations. One runs the numbers. Bring a problem to Orion and you get both sides of the ledger, and a straight answer either way.
Talk it through with an operator.
$250 an hour. A straight answer. No slide deck.