Nick Craven · Founder, AIX Group
I'm Nick Craven. I started college in remedial classes, and everything good in my life since has come from people who believed in me and from systems that helped me grow. Today I help business owners and leaders use AI to reach their goals, and I'd love to hear what you're building.
My father left the country when I was in seventh grade. He told me I was a big kid and could take care of myself. My mother worked 12-hour shifts to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. With no one watching, I went astray. By 21 I had dropped out, failed at college once, and stopped believing I was capable of anything.
Then my father came back, once, and gave me one piece of advice.
“If you want to come out of the situation you're in, there's only one thing you can do. Get your education.”
I didn't believe I could do it. I tried anyway, and that one sentence is where everything on this site begins.
The climb
Remedial math. Remedial English. The only class that counted for real credit my first semester was P.E. I lived in the Student Learning Center until I learned how to learn, and that spring I passed all 12 credit hours.
Two and a half years later: Phi Theta Kappa, Student Ambassador, and president of T.A.M.A.C.S., the most active organization on campus. We ran hurricane relief drives, raised money to keep kids off the streets, and sent 26 students to a leadership conference. I applied to five universities and got into all five.
I walked onto SMU's cheer squad with zero experience and taught myself to tumble and stunt at an elite level. UNT recruited me, and in April 2002 our squad won the NCA Division IA Collegiate National Championship, broadcast on CBS Sports. That same year I graduated from SMU.
Eight banks said no. The ninth said yes. Maverick All-Star Tumblers opened in January 2004: 14,000 square feet, profitable in month two, 850 students by month nine. We later opened Jump X-treme (2007) and Indoor Sports (2009) right next door, three facilities side by side with about 40,000 square feet for kids, and grew to 1,000+ kids a week. We took a team to fourth place at the All-Star Cheerleading Worlds and built a booster club that paid for kids who couldn't afford to be there. I sold the business in 2016.
“Mr. Craven has positively impacted the lives of thousands of children over a 13-year period.”
As a project manager for Stonehill Commercial Painting, I ran finish trades on $580M+ of construction under Manhattan Construction and Austin Commercial: Texas Live!, the Live! by Loews hotel, the Westin Irving Convention Center Hotel. In 2018 I founded AIX Group and AIX Builders, and our crews renovated 40+ properties from gutted to finished.
Every business I built had the same problem: it ran on the founder's bandwidth instead of on systems. When ChatGPT launched in November 2022, I saw the answer and went back to school for it. I completed Stanford Online's AI-Driven Leadership program in 2025 and UT Austin McCombs' Post Graduate Program in Data Science & Business Analytics in January 2026.
What I'm building now
AI strategy and implementation for growth-stage companies, with healthcare as a core focus.
aixgroupllc.com ↗Your AI executive team. Agent suites that handle strategy, revenue and operations work for founders.
Launching soonAI receptionists, booking, lead follow-up, data and SEO for business owners.
bizsmart.ai ↗HealthcareAI patient experience for clinics. Every inquiry answered and turned into an appointment.
patientconcierge.ai ↗TelehealthTelehealth weight loss, energy and metabolic health. Co-founded.
evolveyourbod.com ↗ConstructionConstruction management for DFW homeowners since 2018: design, builds, additions and renovations.
aixbuilders.com ↗However it fits
I love learning what other people are building and how they're making an impact. If one of these sounds like you, start there. If you just want to talk, that's even better.
I run a business and I'm ready for AI.
Strategy, implementation and AI agents that give you your time back.
Book a strategy call ↗I run a clinic or medical practice.
Integrated AI infrastructure built to optimize efficiency, cut operational overhead, and scale practice growth.
Book a practice strategy call ↗I want to learn AI myself.
Practical AI education for founders and executives. No computer science degree required.
Join the Academy waitlist →Or just say hello. Comment on a post, send me a message on LinkedIn, or reach out directly. I read every one.
It started with kids in a gym. Now it's clinic owners who need to grow without burning out, business owners who need systems instead of stress, and people who want to learn AI. A man showed up once, at the worst moment of my life, and said the right thing. It changed the course of my life for the better. My job now is to be that for you.
