Mapleforge Labs is an AI application consultancy for individuals and businesses: we design AI solutions, write the implementation plan, train your people, integrate with the systems you already run, and review it all for privacy and security.
For businesses
Assessments from $1,500 · first builds typically $3,500–$8,000 · advisory $150/hr.
For individuals
1:1 coaching $95/hr · workshops from $1,200 · a community that sponsors real projects.
A maple leaf, a forge flame: craft and growth, in one mark.
Every claim below is backed by a project, a number, or a publication — explore the showcase, then book the free discovery call.
Custom AI tools and workflow automations, designed around how your organization already works.
From $1,500 →
A written, costed roadmap: where AI pays, in what order, with what tools — before you spend on builds.
From $1,500 →
Hands-on workshops and 1:1 coaching that make your people faster and safer with AI — on their real work.
From $2,400 →
Connect the systems you already run to modern AI services — safely, incrementally, without a rip-and-replace.
From $1,500 →
An independent review of how your AI tools handle data — flows, vendor access, retention — with fixes in writing.
From $1,800 →
That's what the free 20-minute discovery call is for. We'll tell you honestly which service — if any — fits.
Book the call →
1 · Discover
A free call, then a Readiness Assessment (from $1,500): where AI genuinely pays in your workflow, and where it doesn't.
2 · Plan
A written Strategy & Implementation Plan (from $2,500): prioritized, costed, sequenced — yours to implement with anyone.
3 · Build / Integrate
We build the solution or the legacy bridge, tested against acceptance criteria on your real cases.
4 · Train & Support
Your people learn the system on their real work, with a 90-day review against the numbers we promised to check.
A case study of AI in the systems analysis & design curriculum: 43 students built client-evaluated prototypes with AI tools, and we measured what changed.
54 participants ran a 14-task protocol against a domain AI agent embedded in a learning management system. Task success was high — incorrect information was the real story.
AI agents burn budget on bloated context. We have screened 232 papers on token optimization into a ready-made reading list — now let's build and benchmark the best ideas.
The Mapleforge community discusses company-posted project ideas and past conference projects — and members post their own. Selected projects are sponsored project-by-project (AI tool fees, token costs, publication fees) and developed with their authors toward academic publication. No standing fund, no published cap — every proposal is judged on its own merits.
PINNEDWelcome to the Mapleforge Labs community
Mapleforge Labs · Admin · last activity Nov 2, 2026
4 replies
212 views
PINNEDHow sponsorship works (project-by-project, no fixed fund)
Mapleforge Labs · Admin · last activity Nov 2, 2026
7 replies
348 views
Token optimization for AI agents — benchmark the best methods
Mapleforge Labs · Admin · last activity Nov 1, 2026
6 replies
189 views
AI privacy self-audit toolkit — what belongs in the checklist?
Mapleforge Labs · Admin · last activity Oct 31, 2026
9 replies
264 views
Mapleforge Labs is led by Dr. Gary Yu Zhao — Ph.D. in Information Systems (NLP research), Assistant Professor at Northwest Missouri State University, advisor for the Applied AI minor and instructor of Introduction to Applied AI. Before academia, he led the development of 22 production web and mobile applications. The research behind this practice — AI agents in learning systems, token optimization, AI in the design curriculum — is in the project showcase, with the real numbers attached.
More about Mapleforge Labs →