As a transformational Fractional COO with nearly 30 years leading $30M+ operations across Fortune 500 corporations, federal agencies, and nonprofits, Andrea N. Grant specializes in identifying operational bottlenecks and integrating human-centered AI to eliminate them — so organizations can scale without unnecessary headcount or cultural strain.
The key to scaling revenue without exhausting a workforce lies in how leaders design their operations. “Operational excellence is a strategy. It’s not about cost-cutting. It’s about giving people the tools and time they need to succeed,” says Grant, Founder, CEO and Principal Consultant of Grant Consulting Group, a SWaM-certified national consulting firm serving government contractors, corporations, and nonprofits across all 50 states.
Grant’s conviction that revenue is engineered was shaped early in her career. While working at LHH, a subsidiary of the global staffing firm Adecco, she was offered a move into sales. Resisting the offer, her manager presented data showing she’d already been generating revenue in an underdeveloped market. She accepted a $500,000 quota and closed $850,000 in her first year. She later secured a $4.6 million prepaid agreement in the United States, with additional international revenue layered on top. The lesson was simple. “None of us have enough time in the day. So, where you focus that time determines your impact,” Grant says.
That focus now shapes her approach to scaling revenue and impact. Disciplined operations and commercial performance are inseparable. In Grant’s view, revenue architecture begins with infrastructure, and AI becomes powerful only when it’s layered onto systems designed for clarity, accountability, and trust.
Exposing Revenue Leaks
When Grant enters a new organization, she looks for three predictable gaps. The first is undocumented or poorly documented workflows. She compares strong process design to an Individual Education Plan, where any educator can review the document and immediately understand how to support a student. “If someone new walks in, they should be able to pick up your process and execute,” she says.
The second gap is information hoarding. Employees often withhold data to protect job security, particularly during economic uncertainty. That behavior creates psychological unsafety and suppresses collaboration. Revenue suffers because insights never circulate. Lastly, she identifies where confusion exists. “If you can’t explain on one page what you do, you don’t really know what you do,” Grant says.
To address these breakdowns, she developed a five-phase operational model, GRANT™: Gather and listen to assess the current state; Review and assess maturity and accountability; Align strategically around future goals and KPIs; Navigate a clear governance roadmap; and Track, trust, and transform through continuous improvement with human oversight. The framework embeds AI readiness and safeguards without losing clarity or accountability.
Designing AI Enabled Revenue Plays
Grant pairs the GRANT™ operational model with a commercial framework she calls Convert, Expand, Retain™, using GRANT™ to stabilize infrastructure and clarify accountability before directing revenue teams to focus on the right accounts. Leaders identify ten accounts in each category: new or win-back prospects to convert, trusted clients where wallet share can expand, and strategic relationships worth retaining. “We do not want to keep everybody,” she says. “Retention has to be intentional.”
At a globally successful but operationally antiquated consulting firm, seasoned salespeople relied heavily on relationship tactics. Those who adopted Grant’s structured approach increased revenue for one overlooked product line by 70% in a single year. AI accelerates the mechanics. Grant uses AI to model scenarios before pursuing new business, testing potential ROI, staffing needs, and pricing structures. “AI is infused in all parts of my business,” she says. “But the fundamentals have to be there first.”
Rethinking Monetization and Trust
As AI becomes embedded in products and services, Grant expects pricing models to evolve toward outcomes, revenue sharing, and strategic retainers. She recently helped a small government contractor secure a $556,000 contract by first correcting operational weaknesses, then presenting a transparent, AI-generated a la carte pricing grid. The proposal charged at cost with no markup and offered clear ranges where uncertainty existed. The transparency built credibility.
In another engagement, she implemented a non-refundable retainer in a nonprofit setting, reframing value from hours billed to accessibility and expertise delivered. Buyers, she argues, are willing to pay for clarity and confidence. Still, she cautions that innovation without ethics is shortsighted. Global regulatory frameworks are tightening, and leaders must understand how cross-border AI governance affects their operations. “AI is not the boogeyman,” Grant says. “It’s like medicine. Used responsibly, it can cure and prevent. Used carelessly, it can cause harm.”
Follow Andrea N. Grant on LinkedIn or visit her website for more insights.
