From the desk
Nobody should spend their week moving data between screens. That work belongs to systems. People belong on the calls, the ideas and the problems that need a human.
An AI marketing agency in Springfield, Missouri, run by owners
Unchained AI Solutions is an AI marketing agency in Springfield, Missouri, founded in 2022 by marketers who also run businesses. We serve established companies across the U.S. that want growth and their time back.
How Unchained AI started
In late 2022, ChatGPT went public and most of the marketing world treated it like a novelty. Shay Owensby treated it like a turning point. By then Shay had spent more than a decade in digital marketing, building online stores, websites and campaigns largely by hand. A lot of that work was repetition, and it was suddenly clear it didn't have to be done by people anymore.
Unchained AI Solutions started that year. Not as a marketing agency that would add AI later, but as one built around it from the first week. We've been building with it ever since, through every new model and every round of hype.
What we learned early still drives everything: the tool on its own isn't the advantage. A general AI model writes like a brochure nobody asked for. Put a real understanding of the business behind it, and it starts producing work an owner would actually sign off on.
What does "unchained" mean?
Freedom, at three levels.
From the template
No packages, no recycled playbooks, no output that could belong to any business. Every system we build starts from the client's own context.
For the owner
This is the one that matters most. You built the business for a reason: time, money, the life you wanted. Marketing should serve that, not eat it.
What we believe about AI and marketing
AI does repetitive work better than people
With the right system around it, AI doesn't get bored on the hundredth repetition and doesn't skip steps. We say that plainly because it's true.
That's a reason to free people, not cut them
We don't build systems to shrink your team. We build them so your team stops doing work beneath their ability.
Context is the whole game
Generic input, generic output. We write down how your business works before we build anything, so the work sounds like you.
Marketing is judged in the bank account
We own businesses too. Likes and impressions are fine. Revenue, profit and hours saved are what we report on.
How we work with clients
We're a team of four, and we like it that way. Nothing gets passed down a chain. The people you talk to are the people building your campaigns and your AI systems.
Every engagement starts with learning the business: your customers, your numbers, your offers and the way your team actually talks. That becomes the foundation for everything we run, from marketing channels to custom AI agents and automations for teams outside marketing.
We're based in Springfield, Missouri, and we work with businesses across the U.S. Some clients are down the road. Others are across the country. It works the same either way.
Who we're for, and who we're not
We turn work down. It's how we keep results honest.
We're a strong fit if
- Your business is established and wants to grow
- Your team is losing real hours to repetitive computer work
- You measure marketing by revenue, leads and time saved
- You're open to changing how work gets done, not just adding a tool
We're probably not right if
- The business is too early for the investment to pay off yet
- You want the cheapest package available
- You need results on a timeline marketing can't deliver
If we don't think we can move the needle, we'll say so on the first call and save us both the trouble.
The team
Two founders who've built businesses, two engineers who build the systems.
Shay Owensby
CEO / Founder
Shay has 14+ years in digital marketing. Before Unchained, Shay built a regional retailer's online store from the ground up and grew online sales from $0 to $1M+ a year within two years. Shay founded Unchained in 2022, the year ChatGPT launched. Off the clock: married with two kids, a guitar and bass player, and happiest outdoors or traveling.
John Lopez
Co-Founder
John is a serial entrepreneur who has started and run businesses across many industries, so he knows the owner's side of the table firsthand. He's a U.S. Army veteran who served as a combat engineer. He also founded K9s For Camo, a nonprofit that trains rescue dogs as service animals for veterans.
Ab Jalan
Senior AI Engineer
Builds the custom agents, automations and systems behind our client work.
Anand Jalan
AI Engineer
Builds and maintains the systems and automations our clients run every day.
Want to see if we're a fit? Start the conversation here.
Questions owners ask us
Who founded Unchained AI Solutions?
Unchained AI Solutions was founded in 2022 by Shay Owensby, a digital marketer with 14+ years of experience, with co-founder John Lopez, a serial entrepreneur and U.S. Army veteran. The team also includes AI engineers Ab Jalan and Anand Jalan.
Where is Unchained AI located?
Unchained AI is based in Springfield, Missouri. We work with businesses in Springfield and across the U.S., and where a client is located doesn't change how we work.
What makes an AI marketing agency different from a traditional agency?
An AI marketing agency uses AI systems to do much of the repetitive execution behind marketing, like drafting, reporting and follow-up. At Unchained AI, we build those systems ourselves, on context about each client's business, so the work sounds like the client and moves faster. People stay focused on strategy and judgment.
What kind of businesses does Unchained AI work with?
We work best with established small and medium businesses that want to grow, with a team that loses real hours to repetitive computer work. We're selective and only take clients we believe we can grow.
What does the name Unchained mean?
Unchained means freedom on three levels. Freedom from the desk, because people shouldn't be stuck doing repetitive computer tasks. Freedom from the template, because every system is built from the client's own context. And freedom for the owner, who should get more time and more growth out of the business they built.
Does Unchained AI use AI to replace staff?
No. We build agents and automations that take busywork off a team so people can focus on higher-value work. Freeing people up is the whole point.
Bring us the numbers and the headaches.
One strategy call. We'll tell you plainly where we'd start, or tell you if we're not the right fit.