About Giacomo Balli
I'm Giacomo Balli, an independent technology advisor in San Francisco. I review expensive software, AI, app and vendor decisions for owners and CEOs before they commit the money. I do not sell the build or the software, so my only incentive is getting the decision right.
What I Actually Do
Read the decision
Proposals, contracts, architecture, the plan. What each one assumed about you, what it costs to be wrong, and what the alternatives cost, including doing nothing.
Stand in your corner
When the vendor, the agency, your developers and your own team are each pulling toward the answer that pays them, I am the one person in the room who is paid the same either way.
Separate the AI that matters
Which part of an initiative actually needs AI, what it changes in the business, and what a $20 a month tool would have done instead.
Move fast when it matters
When a project is late, a demo is tomorrow, or a contract has to be signed by Friday, I read it in days, not quarters.
Why I Work This Way
I have built products, launched ventures, worked across industries, and spent enough time around both technical and non-technical teams to know where misalignment starts. My value is not just technical literacy. It is judgment, pattern recognition, and the ability to translate product reality into better decisions. The same build-versus-buy and vendor mistakes recur from property management to home care to the trades, and that cross-industry experience is what I bring to every review.
Background
Mobile depth
I've been in mobile since 2010, with hands-on product, strategy, and execution experience across iOS, apps, and related mobile platforms.
Business lens
MBA plus a Masters in Luxury Management, which helps me weigh technical choices against market realities, brand, revenue, and execution constraints.
Range
From founders to Fortune 100 teams, across automotive, medical, ecommerce, publishing, events, manufacturing, and more.
Operator perspective
I do not only advise from the sidelines. I have built, shipped, launched, and learned firsthand what expensive product mistakes actually look like.
Portfolio
Browse my apps & services →
A gallery of apps and services I've built, from iOS apps and Safari extensions to web platforms serving niche operators and everyday consumers.
See how I work with owners →
The two engagements, what each one settles, when to bring me in, and the two things I will not do.
If you are about to make an expensive technology decision and want someone on your side of the table, start here.
Playing tennis at
the Bay Club in San Francisco.
Riding Aprilia Shiver 750
to Alice's Restaurant.