How I engage.
Every engagement follows the same ladder, whatever the domain. Each rung ends in a named deliverable and a decision point where stopping is a legitimate outcome.
1. Scoping call. Free, 30 minutes.
Bring one workflow that is slow, manual, or too fragile to automate blindly. We decide together whether it fits a fixed-scope engagement, needs a narrower first step, or is better left alone. Some calls end with "don't hire me for this." That is a good outcome.
2. Workflow teardown. Paid, half a day.
A half-day working session on one workflow, followed by a short written readout: where the friction is, and whether the AI Workflow Diligence Sprint is the right next step. It is the smaller first commitment for a team that has not worked with me yet. If the readout says proceed, the Sprint picks up from the teardown notes. If it says stop, the readout explains why.
3. Fixed-scope engagement.
One workflow, one named deliverable, a fixed scope and calendar agreed before work starts. The lead offer is the AI Workflow Diligence Sprint (three calendar weeks): a workflow map, a risk-and-value ranking, and one bounded pilot specification with a build, narrow, defer, or stop decision memo. Other engagements follow the same shape in their own domain.
4. Pilot, then production, only if earned.
If the decision memo says build, the pilot runs in your repository on representative inputs, with acceptance criteria and stop conditions agreed in writing. Production hardening is scoped separately, after the pilot proves out. Some clients then keep an advisory retainer going. That retainer is a separate agreement you opt into, and any month can be the last. No phase auto-renews into the next.
Data handling and contracting
Data handling is scoped with the work: on-premises for the highest confidentiality, secured private infrastructure in between, or business-tier commercial AI where the data allows it. W-9 and certificate of insurance available on request. Every critical output is traced to a source or flagged for review; that rule does not bend.