Tracking AI usage is fine. Rewarding it is a mistake. What to measure instead.
Read MoreTurnarounds & Growth | AI & Robotics Operations | $40M P&L | Teams of 200+ | Greater St. Louis, open to on-site, hybrid, remote, or relocation
Steve Urban | CEO | COO | President | Senior Operating Executive
ABOUT
Steve Urban is a senior operating executive, entrepreneur, and author with 20+ years of full P&L leadership across AI-enabled services, robotics and field service, retail, wholesale, consumer goods, and executive recruiting. I have led businesses up to $40M in revenue and teams of 200+, reporting to boards and ownership. Today I am COO of MPS Security / NBI, a multi-division security, investigations, and active shooter training enterprise, and Founder & Chairman of Robo Reliance, a national robotics maintenance and field service company.
When a business is struggling, I start with the people, the numbers, and the work. I look for unclear ownership, wasted effort, and decisions that never get made. I fix cash flow, cost structure, and operating cadence first, then put AI, automation, and robotics to work where they deliver measurable ROI.
Where I create value
For executive and board opportunities, email me or call 970-502-7437.
Explore my work
Resume
LinkedIn
My four books | Books on audio
steve.p.urban@gmail.com
When a business is struggling, I start with the people, the numbers, and the work. I look for unclear ownership, wasted effort, and decisions that never get made. I fix cash flow, cost structure, and operating cadence first, then put AI, automation, and robotics to work where they deliver measurable ROI.
Where I create value
- Turnarounds and crisis management: cash discipline, cost resets, restructuring, and execution under pressure.
- Growth to exit: scaling revenue and preparing companies for sale.
- Robotics and field service operations: technician networks, uptime, and scalable national delivery.
- AI adoption and governance that improve speed, quality, and accountability.
- Multi-site operating leadership focused on margin and execution cadence.
- Stabilized a $40M apparel brand through the 2008 recession as COO and acting CEO, lifting profitability 35% in two years.
- Grew a $40M omnichannel retailer 20%+ a year as President & COO and prepared it for its sale to Future Seating.
- Founded and scaled Riderflex to $3M+ in revenue and 4,000+ placements with no outside capital.
- Cut recruiting time-to-fill 40%+ and delivered 50%+ efficiency gains in legal document review through AI.
- Founded Robo Reliance, a national robotics maintenance and field service company, and landed its first contracted client, Chef Robotics.
For executive and board opportunities, email me or call 970-502-7437.
Explore my work
Resume
My four books | Books on audio
steve.p.urban@gmail.com
Testimonials
Steve played a key role in helping me develop a clearer, more strategic plan for Elevated Concrete Coatings.
Katie PolistenaElevated Concrete Coatings
Steve is a keen and insightful career consultant who provided excellent direction and the basis for new momentum when my career was stuck in the doldrums. I highly recommend Steve without reservation.
Thom Probus
Testimonials from satisfied clients and candidates.
Reviews listed on Riderflex websiteRiderflex
Testimonials provided on LinkedIn regarding Steve's leadership and management.
Written recommendations on LinkedIn.
Reviews listed on google about Riderflex.
Riderflex google reviews
Podcast / Book
Zero to Something, A Novel Inspired by True Events
A novel inspired by true events about a man who loses almost everything and fights his way back, holding a family together through divorce, blended parenting, and financial setbacks. Available on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0vK4b8I
Stormwalker's Grit: A Memoir of Struggle and Strength
My memoir, from the poor side of Chickasha, Oklahoma, to the boardroom. It is for anyone who has ever felt behind, broken, or beaten down, and kept getting back up.
Learn MoreThe Riderflex Guide 2.0: Mastering Job Interviews
A practical guide to preparing for interviews, handling tough questions, and leaving a lasting impression, in person or virtual.
Learn MoreThe Riderflex Guide: Inspiring & Hiring
“The Riderflex Guide: Inspiring & Hiring” presents 85 of the most useful tips from an executive recruiter with more than 30 years of combined experience in management, executive-level leadership, and recruiting.
Learn MoreRiderflex Podcast
Our podcast shares Career Advice & Job Interviewing Tips. In addition, we interview the most successful entrepreneurs, CEO's, and business leaders. Hear them tell the "REAL" stories of what it's like to start and lead businesses. Contact us at: podcast@riderflex.com
Learn MoreBlog
Judgment is only as good as the information behind it. Steve Urban on why bad news gets filtered on the way up and how leaders make it cheaper to deliver.
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The calendar is the real strategy. Fix the weekly rhythm before you rewrite the plan.
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A former AI safety researcher says AI could kill us all. Steve Urban takes the risk seriously, then explains why the doom framing is the wrong way to lead.
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Only about 14 percent of CFOs report measurable AI ROI. The tools made first drafts free. The verification work they created never got assigned to anyone.
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Everyone is chasing the new thing while service businesses quietly compound. Why unglamorous companies hold up, and where AI actually belongs in one.
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AI is flattening org charts, and a lot of the coordination work being cut genuinely should go. But the middle was also the training ground. If you delete the rung, you do not delete the need for the skill.
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AI is an amplifier, and amplifiers are honest. Most stalled AI programs fail on ownership, not technology. Why access is not adoption, why every workflow needs one name on it, and the sequence I use before automating anything.
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After 400+ podcast interviews and more than a decade in executive search, here are the three tells that separate real leaders from people who just interview well.
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McKinsey found 88% of companies use AI, but only 39% see real impact. Here's what actually separates AI that works from AI that just looks good on a slide.
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Most companies think they have an AI strategy because the CEO said AI is a priority. That is not a strategy. Here is what real AI ownership looks like and why it matters who is sitting in the seat.
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