FAQ
The questions operators ask first.
Direct answers. No corporate non-answers.
Pricing & engagement
- How much does this cost?
- Foundation audit is $5,000–$25,000. A Pilot build is $25,000–$75,000 fixed-scope. Retainer is $3,000–$8,000 per month. Range is determined by operation size and workflow complexity. We’ll quote a number on the first call.
- Why no hourly billing?
- Hourly billing punishes the customer for the vendor’s inefficiency. We do fixed scope so you know the price before you sign. If we miss the date, we eat the overage.
- Do you discount?
- For our first three Pilots in each industry, yes, in exchange for a published case study. After that, no.
- Do you take equity?
- Not for services. We’re open to it for productized AI infrastructure we co-build with a customer.
Scope & timeline
- How long does an AI implementation take?
- An AI implementation takes 8–12 weeks from your first call to a working workflow: 2 weeks for the audit, 6–10 weeks to ship the Pilot.
- What if we don’t know which workflow to start with?
- That’s what the Foundation audit is for. We’ll find it.
- What if we already know exactly what we want built?
- Skip the audit. Book a Pilot scoping call.
- What if the workflow turns out to be a bad fit for AI?
- We’ll tell you in the audit and refund the unused portion. We don’t ship things that won’t work.
Ownership, data & security
- Who owns the AI we build?
- You own everything: code, prompts, data, integrations, and documentation. We don’t lock you in.
- Where does our data go?
- We’ll tell you exactly. Most builds use enterprise AI APIs (Anthropic, OpenAI, Azure, AWS) with data-handling agreements that prohibit training on your data. Some builds use models running on infrastructure we manage. We’ll show you the data flow before you sign.
- Is this secure?
- We have a cybersecurity practice in-house through Synthera Technology. Every build gets a security review before it touches your data. We don’t ship unsigned downloads, exposed APIs, or shared admin credentials.
- What if AI hallucinates at our customers?
- We don’t ship customer-facing AI without human review on every output. We design for “AI drafts, human approves” by default. Customer-facing autonomous AI is a request, not a default.
Tech stack & integrations
- Do we have to switch CRMs / ERPs / accounting systems?
- No. We integrate with what you run. If your tools have an API, we connect to it. If they don’t, we build a bridge.
- Which AI models do you use?
- Whichever is best for the job. We’re model-agnostic: Anthropic Claude, OpenAI GPT, open-source models, or specialized providers depending on the workflow. We’ll explain the choice.
- What about your team’s IT involvement?
- We work directly with your IT person or vendor. If you don’t have one, our ART Computer team can step in.
The partnership
- How are you different from McKinsey/Deloitte/the Big Four AI practices?
- They sell strategy decks at $400 an hour. We ship working systems at fixed price. They send junior consultants. You work directly with the founders.
- How are you different from a freelance AI developer?
- We’re a firm with strategy, build, IT, and security in-house. A freelancer is one person doing one of those four things.
- Is this a "real" company or a side project?
- California LLC. Two committed founders. Backed by nine operating companies and 42 combined years. This is not a side project.
- What if we don’t like the work?
- Foundation audit comes with a money-back guarantee on the unused portion if we recommend against proceeding. Pilots have milestone billing, so you can pause between milestones. Retainers cancel any time after month three.