How we work
Engagement models
Five ways to start, each with a fixed fee, a fixed duration, and a gate at the end. You never buy the next one before the current one has produced evidence.
- Commercials
- Fixed fee, fixed duration
- Every engagement ends in
- A decision, including the decision to stop
00
The NATIVE Audit
- Duration
- 15 minutes, self-serve
- Fee
- Free. No discovery tax, no call required.
- Method and ladder
- Notice, Assess · Pre-Proof
What is delivered
- An interactive scored assessment across the four readiness pillars
- A one-page summary you can circulate
- The weakest-pillar diagnosis with the question to take into your next leadership meeting
Right for you if
- You want a baseline before you involve anyone else.
- You are preparing for a board conversation.
- You want to test whether our method is worth your time.
Not right if
- You need a facilitated scoring session with your executive team. Start at the Diagnostic.
01
AI Readiness Diagnostic
- Duration
- 3 to 4 weeks
- Fee
- Fixed fee. Comparable enterprise AI assessments from large consultancies are commonly quoted in the $50,000 to $150,000 range.
- Method and ladder
- Notice, Assess, Target · Pre-Proof
What is delivered
- Pilot and shadow-AI inventory
- Two named structural market signals
- Four-pillar readiness score with named owners
- Triaged use-case shortlist
- One completed value map
- A ninety-day plan
Right for you if
- Your board has asked what the AI plan is and the honest answer is a list of pilots.
- You need a baseline you can defend, not a vendor maturity score.
- You are willing to have the weakest pillar named out loud.
Not right if
- You already have a scored readiness baseline, a named owner per pillar, and a triaged shortlist. In that case start at the Prototype Sprint.
- You want a document rather than a decision.
02
Prototype Sprint
- Duration
- 2 to 3 weeks
- Fee
- Fixed fee, published.
- Method and ladder
- Target, Integrate · Proof
What is delivered
- A working prototype on your workflow
- A before-and-after workflow map
- A build-or-stop recommendation with a named decision owner
Right for you if
- You already know the workflow.
- A decision is blocked because nobody has seen it work.
- You can name the person who will act on the outcome.
Not right if
- There is no named decision attached to the prototype.
- You need production software now. Start at the First Workflow Build.
03
First Workflow Build
- Duration
- 6 to 12 weeks
- Fee
- From a published figure. Three variables move it: integrated systems, regulatory review, and whether an eval harness is required.
- Method and ladder
- Integrate, Validate · Product
What is delivered
- One production application
- An integrated redesigned workflow with named approve, override, and escalate roles
- A pilot charter with a pre-written pass line and kill switch
- A fully loaded cost comparison
- An operational handover
Right for you if
- A value map exists.
- Operations will engage before hardening, not after.
- You want the workflow changed, not a tool added on top of it.
Not right if
- The workflow has never been mapped.
- No one is willing to be named as operational owner.
04
The 90-Day AI-Native Programme
- Duration
- 90 days
- Fee
- From a published figure.
- Method and ladder
- Notice through Expand · Proof into Product
What is delivered
- One complete governed pass through the loop on one real business problem
- Three thirty-day phases: audit, design, execution
- A board-ready ninety-day scorecard
- A documented pass-or-stop decision
Right for you if
- You want one thing done properly rather than six things started.
- The leadership team will meet on a fixed cadence for a quarter.
- You are prepared for the answer to be stop.
Not right if
- You need six functions moving simultaneously in the first quarter.
- The sponsor cannot commit to the day 30, 60, and 90 sessions.
05
AI Platform Programme
- Duration
- 2 to 4 quarters, in sequenced waves
- Fee
- Not published. Scoped after a diagnostic. Priced per wave, never per seat.
- Method and ladder
- Expand, looping to Notice · Platform
What is delivered
- Governance model and decision-rights matrix
- Platform standards and publishing controls
- Enablement curriculum
- Build-request intake
- Adoption instrumentation and a quarterly review cadence
Right for you if
- One workflow is already live in routine operations.
- You have a crossover point calculated for it.
Not right if
- Nothing has shipped yet. Platform work before Product work builds governance for a capability you do not have.
06
Fractional Chief AI Officer
- Duration
- Monthly, six-month minimum
- Fee
- Monthly band, published. A defined commitment in days, never hourly.
- Method and ladder
- All stages · Any
What is delivered
- Named senior ownership of the loop
- A standing leadership cadence
- A quarterly board report
- A named internal successor plan by month four
Right for you if
- You need accountability now and a permanent hire is nine months away.
Not right if
- You want capacity rather than ownership. We do not sell seats.
Choosing
Which one, honestly
- No written baseline and no named owner: start with the Audit, then the Diagnostic.
- A specific workflow and a sponsor who will use it: start with a Prototype Sprint.
- A prototype that works and a stalled production conversation: start with PoC to production.
- A parent-company AI mandate and no senior owner in-country: start with fractional Chief AI Officer cover.
FAQ
Questions about engaging us
- Can we start anywhere on the ladder?
- Yes, provided the evidence the earlier rung would have produced already exists. If you have a written baseline, a named owner, and a metric, we will start at the build. If not, starting later just moves the argument to month four.
- Do you do time and materials?
- Rarely, and only for defined extension work after a fixed-fee engagement. Time and materials removes our incentive to finish, and it removes your ability to judge whether we did.
- Can we run two engagements in parallel?
- Sometimes: an advisory engagement alongside a build in a different function works well. Two builds against the same team's attention does not, and we will say so.
- What happens when an engagement ends?
- Handover, runbook, named owner, and a written statement of what the evidence supports. Any continuing work is a new engagement with its own scope, not an open retainer.
Next step
Start with a baseline, not a proposal
Take the NATIVE Audit in fifteen minutes, or book a scoping call and bring the pilots you already have running.