How an engagement is papered.
Fixed price in writing, and the rest of the paperwork in plain language.
Every engagement runs on the same documents, in the same order, so you always know what you have agreed to and what happens next. None of them are long.
The documents, in order
- The discovery call. Free. One process mapped end to end with a number on it. Within 24 hours you get a one-page summary of what we heard and what we would do.
- The audit report, if the engagement starts with a full diagnostic. Every process worth counting, the cost per miss, the ranked opportunities, and what to leave alone.
- The scope of work and proposal. What gets built, what does not, the fixed price, the timeline, and what we need from you. Nothing starts before it is signed.
- Change orders, if the build needs to differ from the signed scope. One page each, signed before the work happens.
- The handover record. Every account, credential rotation and repository transfer, written down with the date.
- The monthly report, on retainer. What the system did, how it performed, and what changed.
- The quarterly review, every third retainer month. The original numbers against the current ones.
Price
Fixed, in writing, before any work starts. We do not publish numbers because the price is set against your actual process and how much of it you automate, not against a menu. You will never get an invoice for something you did not sign.
Payment
- Builds: half at signing, half at completion before handover.
- Retainers and the Fractional AI Executive: monthly, term agreed up front.
- Audits: the audit fee is credited in full against a build that follows it.
Response times
Within 24 hours, in writing, for every retainer client. Systems check themselves every hour and tell us first. How that works in practice is on the Reliability page.
What you own
Everything. The accounts are in your name from day one, the code goes to a repository you control, and if we part ways the system keeps running. The details are on the Data & Security page.
Common questions
What does the proposal contain?
The scope in plain language, what is explicitly out of scope, the fixed price, the timeline, what we need from you and by when, and what the retainer includes afterwards. If a line is not in it, it is not in the build.
What are the payment terms?
Half of the build fee at signing, half at completion before handover. Retainers and the Fractional AI Executive are billed monthly. An audit fee is credited in full against a build that follows it.
What happens if we want something changed mid-build?
It becomes a change order: one page, what changes, what it costs, what it does to the timeline, signed by both sides before the work happens. Small things are absorbed. Anything meaningful is papered, so the system and the agreement never disagree.
What does the retainer include?
Hourly monitoring, a written response within 24 hours, a monthly report in plain terms, and the iteration that keeps the system matching the business as it changes. Larger changes are scoped and priced separately.
How does the Fractional AI Executive work day to day?
A standing monthly cadence: the next area being diagnosed, the builds in flight, a monthly report, and a review with you on what comes next. Scoped to what the company needs this quarter, with the term agreed up front. For early-stage companies with real growth potential we are open to structures that include equity.
What will you say no to?
Automating a judgment call. Building something that will not pay back. Reselling a tool because it pays us. Testing on your live accounts. If the honest answer on the first call is that the process is not worth fixing, that is the answer you get.