Be at the table.
Not on the menu.
Pomo AI Consulting helps Tribal governments and Indigenous-serving organizations adopt artificial intelligence that protects your data, honors your knowledge, and keeps every decision in your hands.
Not a generic tech firm with a Tribal add-on.
We're Indigenous professionals who understand the federal trust relationship, governance complexity, and what self-determination actually requires. We help your Nation use AI in a way that's protected, sovereignty-aligned, and built to work for your community, not against it.
The AI wave is already here, and the stakes are higher for Nations.
AI is being pitched to Tribal governments and Native organizations every week. The right move isn't to rush, or to sit it out. It's to adopt AI on sovereign terms, with governance first.
of enterprise AI pilots stall
The vast majority never reach real value, usually because strategy, data, and governance came last instead of first.
Tribes & 37 TCUs in scope
Federally recognized Tribes and Tribal colleges are being sold tools designed without sovereignty in mind.
Data is territory
Once your data trains someone else's model, you can't pull it back. Control has to be designed in from the start.
Full-stack AI, from first strategy to sustained governance.
Most firms stop at advice. We go further: strategy, governance, training, and implementation under one roof, with sovereignty woven through every layer.
AI Strategy & Implementation
Readiness reviews, opportunity roadmaps, and hands-on build & workflow automation that turn plans into working systems.
AI Governance & Policy
Data-sovereignty ordinances, vendor & RFP addenda, and AI ethics and acceptable-use policy, council-ready and enforceable.
AI Training & Education
Leadership briefings, role-based staff workshops, and the Tribal AI Sovereignty Academy, with certification your team keeps.
Tribal AI Sovereignty
Data rights, vendor contracts, federal compliance, and AI governance that reflects your Nation's own law and values. Our most specialized service.
A proven five-phase path, from readiness to lasting independence.
We never sell what a community isn't ready for. Every engagement follows the same disciplined arc, so you always know what comes next.
Assess
AI readiness review & stakeholder listening → a clear baseline and roadmap.
Educate
Leadership briefings & staff training → informed, confident decision-makers.
Design
Custom AI framework & governance policy → a sovereign-aligned blueprint.
Build
Implementation & workflow automation → AI that's live and in use.
Sustain
Ongoing governance & capacity building → long-term independence.
Two ways to get value today: no cost, no commitment.
See where your Nation stands and learn the language of sovereign AI before you ever talk to us. These are yours to keep.
Tribal AI Sovereignty Readiness Self-Check
Answer 14 quick questions and get an instant, personalized read on your readiness across seven dimensions.
- Score across Strategy, Data, Infrastructure, Talent, Governance, Culture & Sovereignty
- See your weakest area and the right first step
- Private, instant, and free
The Tribal AI Sovereignty Starter Kit
A practical field guide to adopting AI without giving up your data, your culture, or your control.
- Six sovereignty principles & the readiness self-check
- Eight ready-to-use RFP sovereignty clauses + red flags
- A plain-language CARE / OCAP® / UNDRIP / TK Labels glossary
A map is free. A guide who knows the country is the work.
Three flagship engagements. Fixed scope, fixed price.
Climb the ladder as your Nation is ready: assess what you have, build the skills, then lock in the guardrails. Each is a focused four-week engagement.
Tribal AI Sovereignty Readiness Assessment
- Readiness scorecard across six pillars + a Sovereignty layer
- Data-control & sovereignty map
- Traditional Knowledge sensitivity audit
- Top-5 opportunity matrix & 90-day roadmap
Tribal AI Sovereignty Academy
- Role-based AI literacy for leadership & staff
- A sovereignty & TK module in every track
- A tailored curriculum your Nation keeps
- “Tribal AI Sovereignty Certified” staff
Sovereignty Governance Policy Package
- Tribal Data Sovereignty Ordinance (CARE / OCAP®)
- Vendor & RFP Sovereignty Addenda
- AI Ethics & Acceptable-Use Policy
- Framework, TK Labels guidance & council briefing
Sovereignty Foundations
All three flagships (Assess, Educate & Govern) sequenced as one coordinated program to stand up sovereign AI end to end.
Talk through the bundleThe pathway to recurring partnership
Prices are starting points, confirmed at proposal. Every engagement is tailored to your Nation.
What sets us apart.
A short list of things a generic AI vendor (or an advisory-only shop) simply can't offer.
Indigenous-led
Built by Native professionals who live the sovereignty mandate, not a checkbox bolted onto someone else's playbook.
Full-stack delivery
Strategy, governance, training, and build under one roof. We don't hand you a slide deck and walk away.
Productized & fixed-price
Clear scopes and clear prices, not open-ended billable hours. You know exactly what you're getting.
Sovereignty-fluent
CARE, OCAP®, UNDRIP and TK Labels aren't add-ons. They're the foundation everything else is built on.
The same sovereignty-grade rigor, for any mission-driven organization.
Enterprise, government, environmental and real-estate clients come to us for AI strategy, governance and training held to the highest bar of responsibility and data control.
Indigenous-led, sovereignty-first, here for the long term.
Mike Brown
Mike Brown is the Founder & CEO of Pomo AI Consulting. Indigenous (El-em Pomo and Mishewal Wappo) and based in Northern California, he has built his career where Tribal self-determination meets technology.
As Executive Director of Buckeye Tribal Visions, Mike worked alongside the EPA and federal contractors on a Superfund site clean up, where ancestral land and territory put Tribal sovereignty squarely on the table. Standing together as a group, the community helped government officials understand what they could and could not do on Native land.
That experience opened a new frontier: if a Nation can defend its physical territory, who defends its digital territory in the age of AI? Pomo AI Consulting is Mike's answer.
He founded the firm to help Tribes recognize and exercise the power they already hold.
“What about Tribal digital sovereignty? AI specifically. Who protects that? How can Tribes protect themselves?”
Mission
To empower Tribal governments and Indigenous-serving organizations with responsible, sovereign-aligned AI that protects community interests and creates lasting value.
Vision
A regional-to-national network of Indigenous AI governance, from the West Coast across the United States and into Canada: a replicable model for every Nation.
How we show up
As partners, not vendors. We reject “move fast and break things,” and we never sell what a community isn't ready for.
When the AI future arrives, your Nation should be at the table, not on the menu.
Let's talk about what sovereign AI looks like for your community. Your first consultation is complimentary.
Start the conversation.
Reach out directly, or book a time that works for you. We'd be glad to learn about your Nation and where you are with AI.