How we work
One process. Four stages. Your decision at every gate.
We don’t sell software and leave. We scope one process, build and evaluate it against your real data, deploy it in your environment, and operate it in production. Fixed scope. Clear success criteria. Average time from scope to production: 30-60 days.
- 01
Scope
up to 1 week
- 02
Build & Eval
1-3 weeks
- 03
Deploy
1 week
- 04
Operate
Weekly, ongoing
Each gate is a real decision point. If the answer is no, we stop - without sunk cost.
Why this matters
Most automation projects die in implementation. Ours don’t reach implementation if they shouldn’t.
The standard enterprise automation playbook is to sell a platform, sign a multi-year contract, and figure out the actual work in a six-month “implementation phase” - by which point the budget is committed, the project is political, and stopping costs more than continuing. We run it the other way around. We figure out whether your process fits before you commit. We prove the agent works against your data before we deploy. We give you a real “no” option at every stage.
What most vendors do
Sell the platform. Promise implementation. Discover scope mid-build. Push for go-live regardless of evaluation results. Hand you the keys and walk away after deployment.
What we don't do
Sell software you have to integrate yourself. Estimate timelines we can't defend. Deploy before evaluation passes. Disappear after go-live.
What we do instead
Scope one process. Build and test against your data. Show you the evaluation report. Deploy when you approve. Operate the process in production. Review weekly.
Stage 1 - Scope
One working session with the process owner.
We map the workflow end-to-end: where work enters, what decisions happen, which systems are involved, what “done” looks like, what the failure modes are, where humans need to stay in the loop. You leave the session with a written scope document and agreed success metrics.
Stage 1 gate - does the process fit?
If the process is too custom, too varied, or fundamentally not a fit for agent automation - we say so here. No proposal, no rolling into Stage 2, no sunk cost. A meaningful share of scoping conversations end at this gate. The conversations end honestly.
- Time
- Typically completed within one week - sometimes a single working session.
- Who’s involved
- Process owner, one operational lead, one IT/security representative.
- What you walk away with
- A written scope document. Agreed success metrics. A go/no-go decision.
Stage 2 - Build & Evaluate
We build it. We test it against your real data. You see the numbers before anything ships.
We configure the agent workflow on our platform and connect it to your systems through controlled access. Then we run it against historical data you provide - real cases, not synthetic ones. The evaluation report gives you per-field accuracy, edge case coverage, failure modes, and tone scoring (for customer-facing agents). You set the threshold. We don’t deploy until we hit it.
Stage 2 gate - does it meet your bar?
You set the accuracy threshold during scope. We run the eval. If we don’t hit threshold, we iterate or scope the fallback. If we can’t hit threshold even with iteration, we tell you what we can deliver - and you decide whether that’s worth deploying.
- Time
- 1–3 weeks depending on data complexity and integration depth.
- Who’s involved
- Process owner (reviews report), risk/compliance lead (reviews failure modes), IT (validates integration access).
- What you walk away with
- A written evaluation report. Threshold pass/fail status. Recommendations for any sub-threshold paths. A go/no-go decision.
The same evaluation framework runs continuously after deploy. See Evaluation Framework
Stage 3 - Deploy
Production push in your environment. Not ours.
Cloud, hybrid, or full on-premise - depending on where your data has to live. Human-in-the-loop checkpoints wherever your risk team requires them. Audit trail from minute one. Rollback available in one click. We provide the deployment runbook; your team controls the go-live.
Stage 3 gate - go-live decision is yours
We don’t push to production. You do. We provide the runbook, the eval data, the rollback plan, and the security review. The “deploy” button is pressed by your team with our support, not the other way around.
- Time
- Typically 1 week from eval approval to full production traffic.
- Who’s involved
- Process owner, IT, security, risk/compliance, operations lead.
- What you walk away with
- A production deployment. Audit trail from day one. A documented rollback plan. Monitoring dashboards.
Cloud, hybrid, or on-prem? See Deployment options
Stage 4 - Operate
We run the process. You watch the dashboard. We meet weekly.
This is where most automation vendors disappear. We don’t. After go-live, we operate the deployed process - throughput, accuracy, exception handling, drift monitoring, version updates. Your team gets a dashboard with the metrics that matter. We meet weekly to review what’s running, what’s changed, and what needs to change next.
What changes after go-live
- A new document type arrives - we add it
- A vendor changes their format - we detect and adapt
- A rule changes (tax law, internal policy) - we update the workflow
- A system migrates (new ERP) - we re-integrate
- Accuracy drifts - we re-evaluate and fix before it becomes a problem
What stays constant
- The agreed success metrics from Stage 1
- The HITL checkpoints from Stage 2
- The audit trail from Stage 3
- The weekly review cadence
- The price (no hidden change requests)
Every gate is real
Stopping is a feature, not a failure.
Most enterprise software vendors are economically incentivized to push you through every stage. We’re incentivized to stop early when we should. A scoping conversation that ends at the Stage 1 gate is a successful conversation - for both sides. A pilot that ends at the Stage 2 gate is a successful pilot.
Stop at Stage 1
Process doesn't fit.
Too custom, too varied, no clear “done” state, or fundamentally not an agent automation problem. We tell you. No proposal. No effort to convince you otherwise. We may suggest a different problem in your operation that would fit - or we don't.
Stop at Stage 2
Evaluation can't hit threshold.
Either the data is too messy, the edge cases too varied, or the underlying process needs to change before automation works. You see the eval report. We tell you what we can deliver, what we can't, and what would need to change. You decide whether to scope a narrower workflow, iterate, or stop entirely.
Pause at Stage 3
Security or compliance blocker.
Threshold met in eval, but a security or IT or compliance issue surfaces during pre-deploy review. Deploy pauses. We resolve the blocker - or document explicitly why it can't be resolved - before go-live.
What we check
The questions we answer before each gate.
Each gate has explicit decision criteria - not vibes. Here are the checklists we use internally and share with you during the working sessions.
Stage 1 Gate - Scope fit
- Process has a defined start and end
- Volume justifies automation
- Data exists and is accessible
- Stakeholder owns the decision
- Risk tolerance is clear
- Duration
- ≤ 1 week
Stage 2 Gate - Threshold met
- Cost per case approved
- Latency within operational bounds
- Human-in-the-loop routing agreed
- Edge cases documented, not hidden
- Accuracy at or above agreed threshold
- Duration
- 4-8 weeks
Stage 3 Gate - Go live
- Security review complete
- Rollback plan documented
- Monitoring dashboards live
- IT and compliance sign-off
- Team trained on override
- Duration
- 2-4 weeks
Stage 4 - Ongoing health
- Weekly review held
- Accuracy drift within tolerance
- New edge cases logged and triaged
- Override rate tracked
- Expansion or exit decision on the table
- Duration
- Ongoing
Timeline
Average scope-to-production: 30-60 days.
This is what a typical engagement looks like. Faster is possible for narrow scopes. Longer happens when integrations are deep or data preparation is required.
Faster
What compresses the timeline
- Clean, accessible data from day one
- A single process owner with decision authority
- IT and security engaged early
- Threshold set before build starts
Longer
What extends the timeline
- Data that requires significant cleaning or access negotiation
- Multiple stakeholders without a single decision owner
- IT or security reviews scheduled late
- Threshold not agreed before build starts
- 01≤ 1 week
Scope - up to 1 week
Initial conversation, process mapping, feasibility, data access check. Output: go/no-go and scope document.
- 024-8 weeks
Build & Evaluate - 4-8 weeks
Agent development, evaluation harness, structured testing against real data. Output: eval report, accuracy vs. threshold.
- 032-4 weeks
Deploy - 2-4 weeks
Infrastructure, security review, IT integration, runbook, controlled rollout, monitoring dashboards live. Output: agent in production.
- 04Ongoing
Operate - ongoing
Weekly reviews, performance monitoring, drift detection, model updates, expansion planning. Monthly retainer, cancel at any cycle.
Explicit limits
The things we say no to.
We’re explicit about the engagements that don’t fit our model. Naming them protects both sides from a bad fit.
We don't do “discovery as the deliverable”
If you need a consultant to identify automation opportunities across your operation, we're not the right vendor. We work on one defined process at a time.
We don't do unbounded custom builds
If the engagement requires custom-coded workflows that won't replicate to any other customer, we're not the right vendor. Our model is repeatable process automation, not bespoke development.
We don't do “AI exploration”
If the engagement is “let's see what AI can do for us,” we're not the right vendor. We work on processes with measurable outcomes, decided up front.
If your need is one of the above, we know vendors who do that work well. We’ll tell you who.
Read next
The other enterprise deep dives.
This page covers the delivery model. The other enterprise pages cover what your security, compliance, risk, and IT teams will want to evaluate.
Evaluation Framework
How we test before deploy and monitor after. The same evaluation engine that gates Stage 2.
Read the frameworkSecurity
SOC 2-aligned controls. RBAC. Audit. Workspace isolation. The detail your security team will want.
Read the overviewAI Governance
Model risk, explainability, HITL design, regulatory framework alignment (SR 11-7, DORA, EU AI Act, MAS, HKMA).
Read the policyDeployment
Cloud, hybrid, on-prem. EU data residency. The detail your IT and infra teams will want.
Read the optionsGet started
Ready to see if it fits?
Start with a scoping conversation. No commitment. No proposal until we’ve both agreed there’s a fit. If there isn’t, we’ll tell you that too.
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