Where do most engagements start?+
With a Diagnosis Sprint: a two-week paid engagement, from $5,000, that produces a written architectural diagnosis you can act on with us or anyone else. The exact fee is scoped during kickoff. If we go on to build, the sprint fee credits fully toward the engagement.
Who actually does the work?+
Senior architects, engineers and designers. We do not staff juniors on client work. The person who scopes the engagement is the person who leads it.
How is an engagement priced after the Diagnosis Sprint?+
After the Sprint, the build is bespoke and scoped to your stack — with a written engagement plan and price agreed before any build work begins. The Sprint fee credits in full against the build.
How long do engagements typically run?+
Anywhere from a few weeks to several years. Many of our clients have worked with us for four or more years — we treat the system as a living asset and stay on as stewards once it ships.
Where are you based, and which time zones do you cover?+
Remote and global. The bench spans four time zones; we work in whichever overlaps best with your team.
What if it turns out we're not the right team for the work?+
The diagnosis is yours either way. It's deliberately written so another team could pick it up and execute. The Diagnosis Sprint is the cheapest way to find out whether we're a fit, with no obligation to continue.
Should I hire a contract AI engineer or engage an AI studio?+
A contractor wins if you already have an engineering manager directing them and a stable written spec. A studio wins if you need the spec written for you, want fixed-price delivery, and can't afford the four-to-eight weeks a contractor needs to ramp on your stack. Most SMBs are in the second bucket and don't realise it until two months in.
Who should I hire to build AI for my dental practice, HVAC business, accounting firm, or other SMB vertical?+
Look for four things: senior-only delivery (no junior off-shoring), named integrations with your actual software stack (not generic "we use AI"), fixed-price after a written diagnosis, and a single point of contact who can scope and sign. Vertical-specialist boutiques beat generalist agencies when your software stack is non-standard — which it almost always is at the SMB level.
How do I add AI to my business without an engineering team?+
Start with a written diagnosis of your stack and workflows before any build. The common mistake is buying a tool first, then trying to retrofit a process around it. The right shape is: someone senior maps your current process, identifies the two or three highest-leverage automations, and scopes a fixed-price build against your existing software. That's what the Diagnosis Sprint does.
How do I automate intake for a service business?+
Three layers — capture (form, chat, voice), classify (qualifying logic and routing), respond (sending the right next-step to the right inbox). The cheap win is layer 3; most businesses gain a week of response time just by automating the reply. The compounding win is layer 2 — getting the right lead to the right person at the right urgency. Layer 1 is usually fine already; don't rebuild what works.
What are the alternatives to hiring an in-house AI engineer?+
Four real options. A fractional CTO is good for governance, weak on delivery. A contract engineer is good for delivery, weak on direction. An AI integrations studio handles both — more expensive per hour, but lower total cost on a defined scope. A no-code automation shop is cheap but caps at simple workflows. Most SMBs over-index on cost per hour and under-index on total time to working system.
When is AI not worth it for a small business?+
Three real disqualifiers we apply in every Diagnosis Sprint. First: the workflow happens fewer than 20 times a week — automation overhead never pays back at lower volumes. Second: the input data is unstructured and unfixable — garbage in, garbage out, no model fixes a data problem. Third: the human judgment in the loop is the actual product you're selling — automating it commoditises what you charge for. If any of these is true, we tell you and we don't take the engagement.
