Service · Innovation & Emerging Tech Advisory
A plain read on what is worth trying now
New tooling arrives faster than any owner can evaluate it. We keep a short, honest list: what is production-ready for a company your size, what is early but cheap to test, and what is still a demo with a sales team attached.
- Every recommendation is tied to a job your business already has
- Cost to try, cost to run, and cost to leave are all stated
- We say plainly when the answer is wait
- No reseller relationships behind the recommendations
What you get
Deliverables, not slideware
- 01
Watchlist
The technologies relevant to your operation, each with a status: adopt, trial, wait, or ignore.
- 02
Cheap-test designs
For anything marked trial, a small time-boxed test with a pass mark and a budget cap.
- 03
Exit cost note
What it would cost to reverse each adoption, including data portability.
- 04
Quarterly refresh
The list revisited on a schedule so decisions age out instead of hardening.
- 01voice agents for intake — TRIAL — 2 wks, cap $1.5k
- 02on-device models — WAIT — no cost case at your volume
- 03workflow orchestration — ADOPT — replaces 2 manual handoffs
- 04blockchain traceability — IGNORE — no buyer asking for it
- 05exit note: all data exportable as CSV + JSON
How it runs
What actually happens, step by step
No discovery theatre. Each step ends with something you can read or use.
- 01
Start from the job
What the business needs, not what launched.
- 02
Screen
Maturity, cost, lock-in, and who else runs it in production.
- 03
Classify
Adopt, trial, wait, or ignore — in writing.
- 04
Design the test
Time-boxed, capped, with a pass mark.
- 05
Revisit
Quarterly, because the answers move.
Tangible
What lands in your hands
Named objects with a format and a week attached, so the handover is easy to picture.
Verdict memo
Build, build with conditions, or do not build — with the reason attached.
PDF · 9 pagesWeek 2Data readiness read
What exists, how complete it is, and what has to be fixed first.
Findings tableWeek 1Risk and blocker list
Each risk with severity and the cheapest way to remove it.
Ranked listWeek 2
Feasibility Verdict
Can it be built on your data — with the blocker and the cost to clear it.
This is the real template, with client figures replaced by representative ones. Read it before you talk to us — if the format is not useful to you, the engagement will not be either.
Before and after
What the change looks like in the week
Red is the cost you carry today. Green is what the system gives back.
Today
- Decisions driven by whatever a vendor demoed last
- Pilots with no cap, no pass mark, and no end date
- Tools adopted without knowing the cost of leaving
- Nobody tracks what was already ruled out and why
After
- A short list with a status next to each item
- Tests that are capped in time and money
- Exit cost known before you commit
- A record of what was ruled out, so it stays ruled out
Objections
Answered before you ask
Is this a retainer?
It can be a one-off read or a light quarterly refresh. Most owners start with the one-off and add the refresh once the list has value.
Do you resell any of these tools?
No. We take no vendor commissions, which is the only reason the list is worth reading.
How is this different from AI Advisory?
AI Advisory ranks and prices specific opportunities inside your operation. This is the wider scan of tooling, including things you should deliberately skip.
Keep going
Where people look next
Related work, the category this sits in, and the proof behind it.
One next step, and it is a paid one on purpose
The AI Opportunity Diagnostic is a fixed-scope engagement. You leave with a ranked plan you can act on with us or without us.
Still sizing the problem? Write to us in your own words first. A person reads it.