About Steph
Hi, I’m Stephanie Zhou. You can call me Steph.
I’m an independent AI consultant in Vancouver, BC. I help small businesses figure out where AI is worth using and what to do next.
My work focuses on two practical areas: how AI can improve the way work gets done inside the business, and how customers find and understand the business when they use AI to research their options. I also provide hands-on AI training for business owners and teams who want to develop these skills themselves.
You work directly with me throughout the project.
How I approach AI
Before starting Steph Forward, I spent 6+ years designing software products across SaaS, fintech, edtech and e-commerce, after beginning my career in architecture and urban planning. Across those fields, the work had a lot in common: understand how things work, identify the real problem and design within real constraints. That still shapes how I work with AI today.
I look at what is possible, but also what it would take, where people still need to be involved and whether a simpler option would do the job. Sometimes AI is the right answer. Sometimes a simpler automation, an existing tool or a process change is enough. Sometimes the right decision is not to build anything yet.
I keep that perspective grounded in hands-on work. I build and test AI workflows in my own business and with clients, and I also look at how other businesses are putting AI to use. I share some of what I’m testing and learning through YouTube. The point is not to use more AI. It is to figure out what actually works in the business.
Selected AI work
A few examples of the businesses I’ve worked with and the AI work I’ve helped with.
Industries I’ve worked with
Different businesses.
Similar opportunities.
- Acupuncture & wellness
- Dental
- Landscape architecture & design
- E-commerce
- Cultural nonprofits
- Marketing teams
Recent AI work
From AI Search
to AI Automation.
- AI Search visibility
- Document & admin automation
- Lead research agents
- Personal AI assistants
- Marketing content workflows
- Monitoring & reporting
Let’s Talk
Have something you want to improve?
Bring the business problem first. You do not need to know which AI tool you need before we talk.