Humboldt County, California
AI advice for North Coast businesses, grounded in how your work actually gets done.
I'm Marie Doce, founder of Grounded AI. I help small businesses and mission-driven organizations decide where AI is worth it — with strategy, hands-on training, and responsible implementation.
About
I'm a Humboldt County native, and I care about our region and the businesses that keep it running. My work is about giving them the knowledge to make the right technical decisions for their companies.
Over 16 years I've turned complex technology into practical workflows — most recently leading enterprise AI products at Jasper AI, before founding Grounded AI here at home.
How I work with organizations
AI strategy
We find where AI actually fits in your business — and where it doesn't — before you spend money on tools.
Workflow design
Human-reviewed workflows, with a clear source of truth and quality checks built in from the start.
Hands-on training
Role-specific training for teams in construction, solar, and professional services.
Responsible implementation
Guardrails that keep your team's judgment, accuracy, and accountability in the loop.
Results and recognition
40 hours to 30 minutes
Built an AI-assisted document workflow that cut scope-of-work creation from 40 hours to 30 minutes, expanding bidding capacity and supporting local hiring.
$10,000 in prize funding
Leads AI strategy for Leadership Redwood Coast's countywide AI initiative; awarded $10,000 in StartUp Humboldt 2026 prize funding.
20% of the Fortune 500
At Jasper AI, managed enterprise features that doubled enterprise revenue and expanded reach to 20% of the Fortune 500 through several 0-to-1 product launches.
85% adoption in 30 days
Launched a usage and analytics dashboard at Jasper AI that enterprise customers adopted within the first month.
Experience
Jan 2026 – Present
Founder & Principal AI Consultant
Grounded AI, Bayside, CA
A Humboldt County consultancy delivering AI strategy, workflow design, hands-on training, and responsible implementation for small businesses and mission-driven organizations.
Mar 2025 – Jan 2026
Co-Founder
Hyperfocus AI, Bayside, CA
Led product strategy for founder-led MVPs powered by large language models, including chat interfaces and self-hosted deployments for privacy-sensitive clients in legal and niche SaaS. Translated ambiguous ideas into roadmaps and investor-ready prototypes.
Jan 2023 – Dec 2024
Staff Technical Product Manager, Enterprise Solutions
Jasper AI, Austin, TX
Launched Groups, an AI-powered Style Guide, a Roles and Permissions framework, a Usage and Analytics Dashboard with 85% adoption in 30 days, and an AI Audit Log for security-focused enterprise customers.
Jun 2015 – Mar 2016
Product Manager
Mitchell International (Autochex, GlassMate, eGlass)
Owned the roadmap and long-term vision for products serving insurance and automotive repair customers.
Jun 2010 – May 2015
Content Integrity Specialist
TripAdvisor, Newton, MA
Improved the internal content filtering system and ran fraud and SQL trainings for a team of 93 in the Philippines office.
Education, certifications, and community
B.A., International and Global Studies
Brandeis University — minors in South Asian Studies and Music
Certificate, Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Certificates, Mobile Device Programming (iOS) and Java Programming
University of California, San Diego
Speaker Engagement Lead, Women Applying AI
Curates diverse speakers and leads outreach for WAAI's global programming, creating inclusive, skills-based AI learning for women across industries.
Product Management Mentor, MentorCruise
Helps product managers and startup founders navigate 0-to-1 challenges and scale their ideas with clarity.
Get in touch
Curious whether AI is worth it for your organization? Send a note and tell me a little about your work. You can also email marie@groundedai.co.