Middletown consultant brings human-centered AI adoption practice to the region, built on 20 years of watching technology transformations succeed and fail

MIDDLETOWN, NY — SAIGES (Strategic AI Governance & Enablement Services), a boutique AI adoption consultancy and a Digital Forge LLC company founded by Middletown resident Laurie Andreola, has joined the Orange County Chamber of Commerce. The membership marks the beginning of a broader effort to bring structured, human-centered AI adoption support to businesses of every size across the region.

Most businesses exploring AI are asking the wrong question. The question is not which tools to buy. It is whether the people involved are ready, willing, and able to actually use them. That challenge looks the same whether you are a solo contractor trying to get value out of a tool you signed up for last month, or a business owner managing a team who all have different ideas about whether AI belongs in their workflow at all.

"I have spent 20 years watching technology transformations succeed and fail across organizations of every size," said Laurie. "Cloud adoption, digital transformation, infrastructure modernization — the pattern never changes. The technology is rarely the problem. The people and the clarity around it almost always are. AI is just the latest chapter in that same story."

SAIGES is built around the ACCESS Framework™, a proprietary six-pillar methodology that approaches AI adoption as 80% people and process, 20% technology. The framework is designed to scale, from a one-person business figuring out where to start, to a larger organization navigating resistance across multiple teams and stakeholders. Unlike consulting practices that lead with tools and platforms, SAIGES addresses the readiness, confidence, and clarity gaps that cause AI investments to stall before they deliver results.

Laurie brings enterprise-scale experience to a local audience. Her background includes solutions architecture leadership at AWS, two Microsoft Regional Director designations, and technology transformation work at Pfizer, where she saw firsthand how even the most capable organizations struggle when people are not brought along through change. She holds certificates in Agentic AI Architecture from Cornell and Applied Agentic AI for Organizational Transformation from MIT, and has built production AI applications.

Services available to Chamber members range from one-time AI readiness assessments and advisory sessions to workshops, implementation support, and longer-term strategic engagements. For businesses that want a structured starting point, the SAIGES AI Readiness Assessment at portal.saiges.ai walks through 60 questions across six dimensions and produces a personalized report identifying where the gaps are and exactly which services and activities would address them. It is free to complete and takes about 20 minutes.

Through her Chamber membership, Laurie will also offer local businesses practical workshops including a hands-on session called "Claude for Small Business: What You Can Actually Use Tomorrow," expected to be available at local libraries and continuing education programs this spring.

"There is no shortage of people selling AI strategies and platforms," Laurie said. "Very few are focused on helping your people actually adopt AI in a way that sticks. That is the problem I am focused on solving, whether 'your people' means one person or a thousand."

Chamber members interested in exploring AI readiness can take a free self-guided assessment at portal.saiges.ai or reach Laurie directly at info@saiges.ai to schedule a complimentary 30 minute consultation.

About SAIGES

SAIGES (Strategic AI Governance & Enablement Services) is a boutique AI adoption consultancy and a Digital Forge LLC company. Built on the proprietary ACCESS Framework™, SAIGES helps organizations of any size address the human side of AI adoption that technology-first approaches consistently miss. Learn more at saiges.ai.

Media Contact

Laurie Andreola, Founder SAIGES / Digital Forge LLC info@saiges.ai saiges.ai