Karin S. Jenson brings global AI expertise to mid-michigan businesses

A new consultancy that focuses on helping small businesses embrace artificial intelligence (AI) has recently opened in Mt. Pleasant. Two Rivers AI Consulting is led by Karin S. Jenson, whose career has included working with some of the world’s top leaders in AI.

Her goal? To make sure that local mid-Michigan businesses are not left behind as technology advances. 

"Today, the power of AI is within reach of all of us—including small and local businesses right here in mid- and northern Michigan," says Jenson. "As I go about my life in Mt. Pleasant, I see so many opportunities to use AI to help solve problems and remove friction. I’m uniquely positioned and excited to help my region move past their questions and start getting value from AI."

Karin has lived in Mt. Pleasant since 2022 (learn more about her move here), while working remotely for two AI-focused companies before launching her Two Rivers AI Consulting business. Epicenter Mt. Pleasant spoke more with Jenson, a Chippewa Watershed Conservancy board member and proud hockey mom of a Mid-Michigan Raptor, in this Q&A.

Photo credit Courtney Jerome / Epicenter Mt. Pleasant AI books line Jenson’s Two Rivers office.
Epicenter Mt. Pleasant: Can you tell us about your professional background?
Karin Jenson: I haven’t taken a traditional path! My career spans three distinct phases: a decade as a hard-charging journalist, most of it as Chief Police Reporter in Cleveland; 17 years as a lawyer, including leading roles in the Bernie Madoff litigation and at General Motors; and the past five years working in various leadership roles at AI-focused companies.

I hold degrees in English, political science, law, and business. The common thread in my professional life is my use of emerging technology to excel as a journalist, lawyer, businesswoman, and leader. I was even named a Top 50 Trailblazer in the U.S. for my use of advanced technology on behalf of my clients. 

You can learn more about me on LinkedIn, follow me on Facebook, or check out the Two Rivers website.


Epicenter: You moved to Mt. Pleasant in 2022 and worked remote for two companies. Why did you decide to launch Two Rivers AI Consulting?
Jenson: I attended the Mt. Pleasant Women’s Initiative luncheon last year, where a local business leader said, “I can’t believe someone who knows what you know about AI lives in our town!” At the time, I was Chief of Staff to Google’s first former Chief Decision Scientist—a visionary leader who has dedicated her life to helping people make better decisions with AI.

That comment hit me like lightning. I was already using AI for the small business I worked for remotely—why not use it to support businesses in my own backyard? All business owners, wherever they are, want to reduce their burdens and find ways to do more with less.

AI’s influence on our lives is only going to grow. There’s no reason mid-Michigan businesses should wait to take advantage of affordable, helpful platforms like ChatGPT. If fear is holding them back, I can help with that.

I began building Two Rivers, using AI assistants to tackle time-consuming tasks like market research and creating the Two Rivers website. I was also fortunate to partner with a business in Clare on a “test case” that’s helping me design a program adaptable to any small business. In our first meeting, we had several "wow" moments—proof that I was on the right track. Now, I’m all in.


Epicenter: One of your goals is to help small businesses in mid and northern Michigan embrace AI. What type of business industries will you be able to help?
Jenson: AI is already transforming small businesses in surprising ways. My first AI project with a small business, back in 2020, was with a mushroom grower using AI to maximize his annual crop.

There are two broad categories for AI use cases:

1. Common business tasks like customer research, sales forecasting, inventory management, people management, invoicing, marketing, and business continuity planning.
2. Industry-specific tasks such for example, predicting diseases in healthcare or using predictive maintenance for manufacturing equipment.

The first category includes tasks that often make business owners want to pull their hair out! Studies show that AI can reduce time spent on these routine tasks by 50% or more and enhance the user’s skills. I see this time-saving and skill enhancement firsthand in my own work and personal life.

For example, I use an AI-powered food inventory at home. I just photograph my grocery receipts to update it, and I can query it for recipe ideas—saving time and cutting down on food waste.

The second category—industry-specific use cases—can be more complex but is not out of reach for small businesses, especially if the mindset is there.

AI uses in both categories can also be split into internal and customer-facing tasks. Internal uses, like building an AI-powered inventory, are lower-risk but still benefit customers because they free up owners' time to focus on customer needs. A great starting point is using AI for internal processes in that first category.


Epicenter: What type of AI consulting services are you offering? 
Jenson: I have broad experience helping clients explore opportunities with AI, so I am ready for whatever comes up for our businesses as the industry continues to unfold. Some business owners, for example, may need a helping hand to check out and benchmark new AI features in their Quickbooks or farm or manufacturing machinery. I offer my expertise on a by-project or hourly basis.  

Others may come to me with an urgent pain point—like inability to find the right hires, the need to build out a succession plan, or the need for better inventory management and insights—and we can focus on using AI to help solve that problem. Still others are eager to begin leveraging ChatGPT for all its various benefits—that’s what I’m hearing most often now.


Epicenter: Can you describe to us what one of your workshops may look like?
Jenson: Sure! The easiest but very impactful entry point for a business today is through ChatGPT, a multi-purpose and powerful app. It is made by an American company, OpenAI, and used by more than 200 million people every week. There are free and paid versions that are accessible to anyone with an email address.

I offer free initial meetings with business owners and their teams to learn about your needs and ideas. If AI is a good fit, I’ll show you right then and there how ChatGPT could help. I love when I hear, “WOW!”—and I aim to make that happen in 30 minutes or less!

If you decide to move forward, I’ll walk you through my ChatGPT Playbook. It’s a step-by-step roadmap for bringing AI into your business in a way that limits risk, facilitates success, and is customized for you.

With just one owner/leader meeting and a kickoff workshop, the Playbook covers everything—choosing a ChatGPT plan, setup, usage rules, and employee training. It’s filled with tips, tricks, and a custom-written guide for your business. After a few hours, you’ll be up and running. And if you need support or have new ideas, I’m just a drive away.

Epicenter: Why should small businesses care about AI? And how about customers and clients of those small businesses?
Jenson: Think of AI as a tool in your toolbox—a tool that helps you make better decisions by filling skill gaps. It can be your expert, your teacher, or your brainstorming partner.

Here are some recent ways AI has helped me:
 

1. Planned my Christmas dinner and walked me step-by-step from prep to serving, working backward from my target mealtime. Thanks to ChatGPT, I had time for a leisurely midday dog walk!
2. Created a Google Slides presentation for Two Rivers based on a 30-second voice memo. It wasn’t perfect, but it beat starting from scratch.
3. Answered complex business questions with research citations and organized my AI business resources so I can quickly access only the reliable ones.

For business owners and employees, AI saves time and solves problems you’ve been living with for too long. That means more time to focus on what your customers care about—which, in turn, makes your customers happier.


Epicenter: Five years from now, how do you anticipate our Mt. Pleasant and surrounding communities will be embracing AI? What could things look like? 
Jenson: In the next five years, AI will be everywhere—often embedded in everyday services without us even realizing it. Chatbots are already widespread. AI agents—machines acting on behalf of humans—like this one that works at some Taco Bell locations will be commonplace.  
 
By 2030, I envision our community as a place where we spend more time with our families and friends, patronize local shops and services, innovate in schools, businesses, and government,  and stay engaged in civic life. We’ll still be the tight-knit, vibrant community we are today, but with more free time—because we embraced AI in 2025 to handle the time-consuming, mundane tasks that don’t add meaning to our lives!

Learn more about Two Rivers AI Consulting here.