AI Nerd and People Person
What if your AI expert understood your business?
Most don't. They know the technology but not your operations, your constraints, or what "working" looks like for your team. Nick Card knows the technology and the business. He brings practical AI strategy, hands-on coaching, and tools built for how businesses actually run.
What I Do
Three ways I help organizations put AI to work.
AI Consulting
Strategic guidance on where AI fits in your operations, and where it doesn't. I work with leadership teams to identify high-value use cases, evaluate tools, and build adoption plans grounded in how your business runs.
Start a conversationAI Education & Coaching
From a free introductory workshop to the 12-module AI for Business Series to advanced and development courses, I meet people where they are and leave them knowing exactly how to use AI in their daily work.
Explore the seriesOpen-Source Development
Real tools for real infrastructure. I maintain open-source projects focused on containerization, developer tooling, and AI integrations. Everything ships production-ready.
View projectsNick knows AI inside and out. Not just the buzzwords, but the actual tools, how they work, and what they're good for. If you're looking for someone who actually understands this space and can translate it into results, Nick is the person to call.
I use AI tools every day, so it takes a lot to impress me. Nick is the real deal. He understands the infrastructure underneath and knows how to build systems that do actual work. He's the first person I call when I need to think bigger about what's possible.
Cross-Industry Experience
I've spent my career in industries where operational complexity is real, not theoretical.
Defense
Legal
Trucking & Logistics
Municipal Government
Higher Education
AI Education
I teach business professionals how to use AI for the work they actually do. No theory for theory's sake. No hype. No "imagine the possibilities."
Most AI training treats the tool like the subject. I treat your work like the subject. Every session targets a specific business function, uses real tools on real problems you bring with you, and ends with something you can use the next morning.
I offer a free introductory workshop, a 12-module flagship series, an advanced series for people past the basics, and a development course for non-developers. I work with individuals, teams, chambers of commerce, and private organizations.
You'll learn how to
- Draft emails in your own voice, not an AI's
- Generate a week of marketing content that doesn't read like filler
- Turn your spreadsheets into answers without hiring a data analyst
- Work through a business decision with AI as a thinking partner
- Build working tools and automations without writing code
- Tell the difference between AI that helps and AI that wastes your time
The best prompters are not computer scientists. They are people who figure out how to give the AI instructions and talk to it.
Featured Projects
This is my AI work: open-source, public, and running in production.
vikunja-mcp-http
A containerized MCP server that exposes the Vikunja task management API over HTTP. Built for Claude.ai custom integrations and any MCP client supporting Streamable HTTP or SSE transport.
View on GitHubfreshell-container
A browser-accessible development environment packaging Freshell with five AI coding CLI tools. Designed as a persistent, multi-device workspace with token-based auth and automatic weekly rebuilds.
View on GitHubAbout Nick
Practitioner, not evangelist.
I'm a fifth-generation Oregonian. I grew up in Southern Oregon, studied engineering at Harvey Mudd College, and spent my early career in Silicon Valley as a patent engineer, prosecuting patents for Google, HP, and Facebook. I saw where the technology now called "AI" comes from, and I watched it develop for years before it ever hit the headlines.
In 2013 I came home to join my family's trucking company, Combined Transport. I'm the VP of Operations, responsible for the shop, yard, and 500 trucks and drivers. That job teaches you quickly that tools only matter if they fit the work. It also gave me a front-row seat to how AI does (and doesn't) fit into the operations of a real business.
I was elected to the Medford, Oregon City Council in 2022. Today I'm Vice Chairman of the Oregon Trucking Association and a director of the American Trucking Associations. I previously served on the executive committee of the Medford & Jackson County Chamber.
I started NKCX because I kept seeing the same problem: businesses either paralyzed by AI hype or ignoring it entirely. I wanted to offer a grounded alternative. Practical consulting, hands-on coaching, and open-source tools that work.
Let's Talk
Whether you're exploring AI for your business, looking for hands-on coaching, or need strategic guidance, I'd like to hear from you.