Hello, neighbor.

Brett Hahn and Jared Stone met their first week at East Carolina University in 2007. What started as a friendship between a marketing major and an accounting major became nearly two decades of parallel careers inside some of the most recognizable companies in the world, and eventually, Oak Island AI.

Brett has spent his career leading customer lifecycle, loyalty, and retention programs at Caesars Entertainment, Vail Resorts, and Comcast. The kind of programs built by dedicated teams with nine-figure budgets. Jared built his career on the finance and operations side at KPMG, Bank of America, and Steel Partners Holdings, bringing the analytical discipline and operational rigor that keeps strategy grounded in reality.

Oak Island AI exists because that experience should not be reserved for companies that can afford a CTO and a data science team. The tools are the same. The playbooks are the same. The only thing that changes is the price and who gets to use them.

We are rooted in faith and believe that strong local businesses make stronger communities. Oak Island and Brunswick County are worth investing in, and we are here for the long haul. We work with a limited number of clients at any time. That is by design. We are partners, not vendors, and we care about what happens after the engagement ends.

We know firsthand the impact high-quality, local businesses have on their communities. These businesses are more than storefronts. They are the heart and soul of our towns, run by neighbors and friends, each contributing to the local economy, culture, and identity. This is the kind of community we want to live in, and that’s exactly why we’re dedicated to helping foster and grow it. It’s our way of giving back, of helping real people and real neighbors flourish in an ever-evolving marketplace.

Jared Stone is a CPA with nearly two decades of experience across public accounting, banking, and private equity. He graduated from East Carolina University with a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Accounting. He brings the numbers side of the equation: the discipline, the rigor, and the financial lens that most marketing shops do not have.