A small team, a clear shape, work we'd sign.
Built in Charlotte. Seven people across two continents. Senior US core, global associates when the work needs them. Founded by Patrick Hill in 2011.
Our story.
ACM started in 2011 as a generalist agency. For fifteen years we shipped websites, mobile apps, brand systems, and the occasional government RFP. We did Microsoft Partner work, we ran SEO for clients, we built Umbraco sites. It paid the bills and trained a generation of people on how to ship.
What changed in 2025 was the math. AI tools made the senior people on our team ridiculously more productive — but only if they were senior. The model that made sense in 2011 (a roster of generalists at hourly rates) stopped making sense.
So we restructured. We trimmed the team to a senior US core plus a small bench of global associates. We dropped the partnerships and certifications that didn't fit the new shape. We started publishing prices. We named the thing we actually ship.
The work is the same kind of work it always was — we build software for clients who need real engineers. The difference is now we say so plainly, charge fixed fees, and won't take engagements where our senior staff can't deliver the senior-staff experience.
The team.
Patrick Hill
Built ACM in 2011. Also founded Disctopia, where he holds the patent filing for TruePlay. Based in Charlotte. Active in the local creative + tech community.
AJ Wiley
18+ years on the Microsoft platform. Identity, cloud architecture, deployment automation. Leads the infrastructure side of every engagement that touches Azure.
Ostap
React, React Native, Next.js. Builds member portals, mobile apps, and the rest of the user-facing surface. Cares about animation done right.
Marta
Product + brand. Leads design systems, component libraries, and the visual language that runs through every client surface we ship.
Nitin
Runs the financial side of ACM — billing, payments, contracts, the back-office that lets the rest of the team stay heads-down on the work.
Ben Leeson
Compliance and risk advisor for regulated builds — financial services, healthcare, fintech. Inside engagements only.
Henry
Outside counsel from Bradley Law. Contracts, IP, the rest of the legal infrastructure that lets a small firm work with enterprise clients.
Cultivated Pixels.
Cultivated Pixels is our community meetup — a monthly gathering in Charlotte for designers, engineers, founders, and the people who care about how digital things get made.
Third Wednesday of every month at Town Brewing Co. No tickets, no pitch deck. Bring something you're working on, or just come for the conversation.
Started in 2023 as an extension of our work on The Cultivated Collective and Designing CLT. Now standalone, hosted by ACM, sponsored by whoever brings a keg.