Ardent AI · Lake Havasu City, Arizona

AI systems and marketing for businesses that can't afford to miss a lead.

Ardent Executive Services is Ray Dietrich's consulting practice. I install the AI systems that answer every lead, ask for every review, and win back customers who already bought once — and I run the paid media, email and automation around them. Local shops, ecommerce brands, and political campaigns. Havasu is home; the work is remote and nationwide.

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The short version

What Ardent actually does

Most local businesses do not have a lead problem. They have a follow-up problem. The call comes in at 7pm while the owner is on a job, nobody calls back, and the customer hires whoever answered. The same business has hundreds of past customers it never contacts again, and a review count that stopped growing two years ago.

I fix that with five systems, installed once, running on the business's own tools — not rented from an agency. Then, where it makes sense, I run the acquisition on top: Meta and Google, connected TV, email.

• Who runs it: Ray Dietrich, founder. Twenty-five years building online businesses.
• Based in: Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Clients anywhere in the United States.
• Works with: local service businesses, ecommerce and DTC brands, political campaigns, founders and owners.
• Engagement types: consulting and advisory, done-for-you management, or self-serve products.
• First step: a free 60-minute AI Game-Plan Call. You leave with a plan whether or not you hire me.

The build

The five systems

Installed as one command center, live in about a week.

Services

What you can hire me for

Start without hiring anyone

What it costs

Every price is on this page. Nothing here is "contact us for pricing."

Why me

Ray Dietrich

I am not an agency that read about this. I am a direct-to-consumer operator who runs the same systems inside my own companies — co-owner and CMO of a multi-million-dollar retail and DTC brand that runs on four and a half people doing the work of twelve, because of AI.

• 1M+ followers built on a media brand run with AI.
• $68,000 in unattended discounting found in a single afternoon inside my own store's order data.
• Three books written in my own voice with AI, including the book on AI for local business.
• 25 years of this — eight-figure ecommerce one year, a shop with one truck the next.

You own everything I build. It lives in your accounts, on your subscriptions, under your login. I don't hold a business hostage on my own tools.

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Questions

Straight answers

What does Ardent Executive Services do?

Two things, run separately. On this side: AI systems, marketing automation and paid media for local service businesses, ecommerce brands and political campaigns. The other side is NIL deal tooling, linked at the bottom of this page.

Do you only work with businesses in Lake Havasu City?

No. Lake Havasu City, Arizona is where Ray is based. Clients are anywhere in the United States, and the work is delivered remotely. Local clients can meet in person.

What is an AI command center?

It is the five systems above, installed together and connected to the tools a business already uses, so lead response, review requests, content, reactivation and admin all run without anyone remembering to do them. It is not one piece of software you buy; it is a setup built on your own accounts.

How much does it cost?

Published, not hidden. The AI Command Center is $1,997 one-time for the Deep Dive and the Build, then $497 a month for Autopilot — month to month, cancel any time. The do-it-yourself Playbook is $197, and it is credited toward the build if you upgrade. The PDF + Prompt Vault is $17. The Quick-Start Checklist is free. Ad management, CTV, email and bespoke consulting get scoped on the free Game-Plan Call.

Is the first call really free?

Yes. It runs about 60 minutes, and you leave with a plan of the two or three fastest wins for your business whether or not you hire anyone.

How long does a build take?

A command center is typically live in about a week. Bigger front-end work — a new website, a Shopify launch, a full email and SMS capture system — runs longer, and that gets set on the call rather than guessed at here.

Do I have to buy a bunch of software?

You will need your own subscriptions for the tools your system runs on, in your name, approved by you before anything is connected. That is deliberate: you own the stack and can fire me without losing it. Nothing gets connected to an account you do not control.

Do you work with political campaigns?

Yes. Campaign back-office, marketing, list building and paid media are part of the consulting practice.

What industries does this work for?

It works wherever a customer has to raise their hand before anything happens — trades and home services, marine and powersports, pools, salons and clinics, restaurants, professional services — plus ecommerce and DTC brands, where the same follow-up mechanics run on a bigger list.

What is the difference between buying the playbook and hiring you?

The playbook is the instructions, and plenty of owners run it themselves for $17. Hiring me means I install it, connect it and run it, so it is working while you are still on the job.

How do I get in touch?

Book the free Game-Plan Call on the booking link on this page, or send a message through the contact form. Ray is in Arizona, US Mountain Standard Time year round — Arizona does not observe daylight saving.