AI Governance & Compliance Consulting
Policy audits, risk reviews, human-readable guidance, and ongoing governance support for organizations adopting AI without an internal compliance lead.
AI Governance · Literacy · Community Advisory
Help organizations and communities use AI with clarity, accountability, and trust.
Cohosh Systems helps nonprofits, schools, local governments, healthcare and community institutions, and regional employers understand, govern, and communicate AI responsibly. The work centers on policy, literacy, public-interest questions, and practical guidance people can actually use.
Based in Louisa, Kentucky Serving institutions and communities across the U.S.
About
Grounded in translation, trust, and real institutional questions.
Cohosh Systems is a consulting practice founded by Phill Barnett and based in Louisa, Kentucky. The work centers on helping organizations and communities navigate AI in ways that are understandable, governable, and accountable to the people affected by it.
The name comes from cohosh, a plant native to the Appalachian and Eastern woodland region. It is a quiet nod to the landscape this work is rooted in. That grounding matters because the questions around AI are not abstract. They land in schools, public agencies, workplaces, and communities that need clear guidance before decisions become permanent.
Phill Barnett, Founder
An approach shaped by linguistics, teaching, communications, and the work of making complex ideas legible.
Phill brings experience across communications, research, teaching, web management, media production, and digital systems to the governance and trust questions organizations now face around AI. His background in linguistics at UCLA and the University of Kentucky, combined with work in communications, research, publishing, and live technical environments, supports a practical specialty: translating complex systems into language real people can understand and act on.
AI guidance should be clear enough for humans to follow, honest enough for the public to trust, and grounded enough to hold up when the stakes are real.
That belief shapes how Cohosh Systems approaches governance, communication, training, and advocacy.
Services
What Cohosh Systems does.
Four connected offers, led by governance and community advisory work. AI literacy and speaking support the same mission and often open the door to deeper engagements.
Rural AI Policy & Community Advocacy
Briefings, advisory support, and public-interest guidance for communities evaluating AI policy, data center proposals, and other high-stakes technology decisions.
AI Literacy Training
Plain-language workshops and curricula for staff, boards, educators, workforce groups, and community audiences who need usable understanding instead of hype.
Speaking, Workshops & Facilitation
Keynotes, panels, leadership sessions, and facilitated conversations on AI governance, ethical communication, rural tech equity, and responsible adoption.
How we work
A clear path from uncertainty to accountable action.
The process is built to reduce confusion, surface real risks, and leave behind guidance people can actually use.
Assess the situation
Start with the real question in front of you: a policy gap, staff confusion, procurement pressure, public concern, or a community decision with long consequences.
Review risk and context
Map the systems, stakeholders, obligations, and public-facing concerns so the advice is grounded in how the organization or community actually operates.
Recommend a clear path
Translate the situation into practical next steps: what needs policy, what needs training, what needs communication, and what should slow down before harm is created.
Document and communicate
Build the materials people will actually use, whether that is internal policy language, staff guidance, board-facing explanations, or public briefing materials.
Train the people involved
Support staff, leadership, partners, or community groups with workshops and facilitation so the work lands clearly and does not stay trapped in a PDF.
Stay accountable
Offer follow-up advisory support, refreshers, and revisions as laws change, tools shift, and communities need updated guidance.
Where this work shows up
The questions are bigger than any single tool.
Cohosh Systems is not a hype-heavy AI vendor or a generic implementation shop. The work shows up where organizations and communities need clear judgment, better language, and a practical way through messy decisions.
Sometimes that means policy and procurement review. Sometimes it means staff training, community briefings, or public-facing explanations before a high-stakes decision moves forward.
Organizational Governance
- AI use policies
- Compliance reviews
- Procurement questions
- Board and leadership guidance
Staff and Public Communication
- Change communication
- Public-facing explainers
- Training materials
- Human-readable documentation
Education and Workforce Readiness
- AI literacy workshops
- Community college sessions
- Library programming
- Employer training
Community and Civic Questions
- Data center briefings
- Regional advocacy
- Public-interest framing
- Stakeholder facilitation
Contact
Start with the question in front of you.
If your organization is setting AI policy, weighing a vendor decision, planning staff training, or trying to help a community understand what is at stake, let’s talk through it.