ASK THE AI COUNCILAbout Ask the AI Council
An AI board of advisors for small business owners — built by an operator who spent decades making the big calls alone.
What is Ask the AI Council?
Ask the AI Council is an AI board of advisors for small business owners, founders and solopreneurs. Instead of one chatbot answer, a five-member AI advisory board — a Chairman and four specialist advisors for operations, growth, innovation and finance — debates your decision out loud and the Chairman delivers a verdict with next steps. It runs on the web and on iPhone, in English and Spanish.
Who is behind it?
Ask the AI Council was founded by Joshua Aponte. Joshua has spent 26 years in property restoration — on job sites, leading crews, and as the general manager of a regional restoration office responsible for its people, its jobs and its P&L.
Like most owners and managers, he made the biggest decisions alone: when to hire, which work to take, what to charge, when cash was too tight to say yes. Large companies pressure-test those calls with a board. Small businesses rarely can. He built the council to close that gap — a board that already knows your business and argues with the plan before the money is spent.
Why a board instead of a chatbot?
A single AI model tends to give one fluent, agreeable answer to the question as you framed it. Good decisions come from tension. On the council, each advisor holds a different lane — can we deliver it, will anyone buy it, what does it do to cash, is there a better tool for it — so the weak spots surface in the debate. The Chairman then weighs the arguments and commits to a decision, rather than handing you a list of considerations. Read more in What is an AI board of advisors? and how it compares with ChatGPT.
Are the advisors real people?
No. Jonathan Pierce (Chairman), Alexander Weiss (operations), Charlotte Bauer (growth), Dr. Sophia Chen (innovation) and Gabriel Morales (finance) are AI personas — fictional characters whose names and titles describe their role on the council. Behind them, the council runs across multiple leading AI models (Claude, GPT, Gemini and Grok), with voices by ElevenLabs.
What the council is not
The council gives AI-generated general business analysis for planning. It is not financial, investment, tax or legal advice, and it does not replace a licensed professional. See our AI notice & disclaimer, privacy policy and terms.
Where to find us
Email info@asktheaicouncil.com or visit support. The iPhone app is on the App Store (rated 5.0 from 3 ratings as of October 2026).
Last updated October 13, 2026.