A method, not a deck.

The shape of an engagement

Whichever shape the work takes — a diagnostic audit, a build sprint, or an embedded retainer (see About for the shapes) — the engagement moves through four phases.

1. Frame

Pin down what problem we're actually solving and whether AI is the right answer. Usually one to three calls plus a short written diagnostic. Half the time this is where we stop — because the right answer isn't AI.

2. Prove

Build the smallest version that's still real. Working code, against real data, on a real workflow. Two to four weeks. If it doesn't survive contact with reality, we kill it here — before anyone's signed off a roadmap based on a demo.

3. Build

Take what worked from Prove and harden it into something your team can run. Add the evals, the monitoring, the human-in-the-loop, the rollback path. Four to eight weeks.

4. Run

Stay close while it's in production, until it's stable enough that I'm not needed. Usually a thinning retainer over three to six months. You shouldn't need me forever.

What you'll actually have at the end

Different consultancies leave very different things behind. Here's what's in the box at the end of an engagement with me:

A written diagnostic. Your problem, the options considered, why we chose what we chose, and what we explicitly didn't do.

Working code in your repos. Owned by your team. No black boxes. No "consultant tech" you have to license.

An evaluation suite. So when the model changes, the prompt changes, or the data drifts, you'll know before your clients do.

Monitoring and alerting. Hooked into whatever you already use. Production AI is mostly observability.

A handover document. Written so the engineer who picks this up after me can actually pick it up.

Optional team sessions. If you want your engineers or partners to be able to extend the work.

Why a boutique

Three common alternatives. Why none of them, for most of the work I do:

A Big-4 consultancy. You won't get the partner you met in the pitch — you'll get whichever associate has the cheapest billable rate. The strategy will be solid and the execution will go to an offshore team. Fine for some kinds of work. Not this kind.

Hiring a senior ML engineer. If you need one for the next year, hire one. If you need four to eight weeks once or twice a year, a permanent hire is the wrong shape — and a junior hire is worse.

A generic AI agency. Most agencies will take your brief and route it to whoever's free. I won't take the work if I'm not the right person for it, and you won't be on a roster.

Most often, though, the thing I'm replacing is doing nothing — because you didn't know who to call.