RJ Grimshaw

Founder & CEO

RJ Grimshaw, AI Leadership Advisor and Former Equipment Finance CEO

Former bank-owned equipment finance CEO. AI operator. Author of The AI Edge. Founder of The AI CEO and ABLE Leadership.

Former President and CEO of UniFi Equipment Finance. Over $1 billion originated. 10,000+ clients served. Now building and operating production-grade AI for equipment finance lenders, banks, and credit unions.

linkedin.com/in/rjgrimshaw

RJ Grimshaw, Founder of The AI CEO, former President and CEO of UniFi Equipment Finance

RJ Grimshaw moderating an AI leadership panel at an industry conference

What he built

RJ Grimshaw spent a decade as President and CEO of UniFi Equipment Finance, a bank-owned platform inside Bank of Ann Arbor. During that time he scaled originations from $14 million to more than $115 million annually, built a $250M+ portfolio, cut operating costs by 30 percent, and designed an intrapreneurship system, UniFi 2.0, that turned employees into operators. Across 25 years in equipment finance, he has originated more than one billion dollars in financing and served over 10,000 clients.

Before the corner office, RJ served in the U.S. Air Force and co-founded Scriba Town Inn in Oswego, New York, his first seven-figure business, built in his early 20s with his brother Eric and his father Jean. His father's 1983 business plan still hangs on RJ's office wall. That combination of small-business grit and bank-grade governance defines his work today.

$250M+

Assets under management at exit

$1B+

Total financing originated

10

Years as President & CEO

30%+

Operating cost reduction

What he runs now

RJ now runs The AI CEO, powered by the ABLE Operating System (Analyze, Build, Leverage, Execute). The AI CEO builds and operates production-grade AI agents for equipment finance lenders, banks, and credit unions. The edge is the operator advantage: RJ doesn't advise on workflows, he ran them. Every escalation pipe, every data gap, every compliance line. That institutional knowledge becomes a reusable intelligence layer that makes each client deployment faster and more precise than the last. The AI CEO also delivers AI-driven modernization for community and regional banks through the Prudent Innovation Review, governance-first work that makes technology decisions board-ready before any vendor conversation begins.

He is the author of The AI Edge, a NEFA Certified Lease and Finance Professional, and holds AI certifications from Anthropic, MIT Management Executive Education, and Upstart. He serves as AI Strategy Advisor to NEFA, is a former ELFA board member and Industry Future Council participant, a founding board member and chair of Equipment Finance Cares, and was recognized as a Baker's Dozen CEO. His writing has appeared in Monitor Magazine, Equipment Finance Advisor, and Equipment Finance Journal. He has been investing in AI since 2022.

The AI CEO

Advisory and operating partner for CEOs who want AI in their P&L in 90 days. AI Operating Review, ABLE framework deployment, and executive coaching for leaders navigating AI transition.

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ABLE Leadership

The ABLE framework (Analyze, Build, Leverage, Execute) and Intrapreneurship Operating System structured tools for building owner behavior inside regulated organizations.

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The AI Edge

Published operating playbook. Practical AI wins for leaders who need results, not theory.

STRATEGIC ADVISORS

The people behind the work

Geoff Woods

Strategic Advisor

Author of The AI-Driven Leader and founder of AI Leadership. Former Chief Growth Officer at Jindal Steel & Power. Co-founded The ONE Thing training company. International Bestselling Author. Siegfried Award Winner 2025.

Rose Beverly

Strategic Advisor

Helps enterprise UX and product teams at PayPal embed automation into their products and workflows through research-driven innovation. Expert in redesigning workflows for adoption, applying human judgment to automation decisions, and ethical implementation.

How he thinks

RJ is an operator first, "AI guy" second. He builds systems that work Monday through Friday, under audit and under pressure. Off the balance sheets, he has spent more than 20 years coaching hockey, including seasons behind the bench with his sons Tyler and Trent, both now assistant college hockey coaches. He treats teams the way he treats line changes: clear roles, clear plays, and accountability on the scoreboard.

He thinks like Peter Drucker: you can't manage what you haven't defined, and the purpose of a business is to create a customer. AI only earns its place when it moves a number that matters.

Credentials & speaking

Certifications & publications

AI Fluency Framework & Foundations

Anthropic · Nov 2025

AI in Financial Services Professional Certification

Upstart · Nov 2024

Executive education in AI and business strategy

MIT-style programs

Author, The AI Edge

Published

Featured in Monitor Magazine, Equipment Finance Advisor, Equipment Finance Journal

Industry roles & speaking

NEFA - National Equipment Finance Association

AACFB - American Association of Commercial Finance Brokers

AI Strategy Advisor National Equipment Finance Association (NEFA)

Former ELFA Board Member

Multi-year ELFA Industry Future Council participant

Treasurer Equipment Finance Cares

Speaker: NEFA Annual Conference

Speaker: AACFB (American Association of Commercial Finance Brokers)

Speaker: Equipment Finance Cares Innovation Forum

Podcast guest: Insights & Straight Talk, Portfolio Perspective, Consult Disrupt, On The Brink

Recognized as one of the industry's "Baker's Dozen CEOs"

Signature talks

"AI Won't Replace Equipment Finance But It Will Expose the Leaders Who Can't Adapt"

"From Legacy Leasing to AI Operator: How to Build a 250M+ Book Without Losing Your Mind"

"Intrapreneurs, Not Tourists: The System That Turns Employees Into Owners"

ABLE Framework Member

"I have used ChatGPT to draft a strategic plan and I am working on drafting an executive comp plan for a not-for-profit. I will look into the course. Interesting stuff! The output was pretty amazing. This is an incredibly powerful tool that will reshape the workforce."

SM

Stephen Markley

ABLE Framework Member

Work with RJ

Typical engagements run 90 days. Ideal partners are community and regional banks, equipment finance and specialty finance platforms, and mid-market CEOs who are serious about AI, governance, and culture.

AI Operating Review

Pick one workflow, scope the implementation, and deliver measurable AI results in 90 days.

Intrapreneurship Operating System

Design the owner culture inside your organization the system that turns employees into operators.

Executive Coaching

For CEOs and heads of business units navigating an AI transition. Strategy, governance, and execution.

Book Your AI Operating Review Get in Touch

Able Leadership LLC. Operating as The AI CEO.