Engagements & Pricing
Prices are quoted per engagement, in writing, and they are negotiable. Every project begins with the same short scoping step, so neither of us commits to a build on a guess.
One week
AI Systems Audit
Negotiablequoted per engagement
The paid first step. I review your systems, data and constraints, then hand you a written assessment you can act on — or take elsewhere.
- Working session to map the problem, the constraints, and the assumptions you have not said out loud
- Review of your current stack, data and infrastructure
- Costed, prioritised options — including the ones I would not build
- Written recommendation with latency, cost and risk attached
- Sixty-minute readout call
Two to eight weeks
Pilot or build
Quoted in writingfixed scope
The audit tells us both what is worth building. Then I deliver it — on your hardware or a private VPC — with the evaluation to prove it works.
- Fixed scope and fixed price, agreed in writing before work starts
- On-prem or private-cloud deployment by default
- Evaluation harness, so quality claims are measurable and repeatable
- Documentation, handover and training for your own team
Minimum two days a month
Fractional AI engineer
Negotiableper day, flexible
Ongoing senior engineering without a permanent hire: keep the systems running, improve them, and have one accountable person when it matters.
- Direct access — no account layers, no handoffs
- Inference performance, cost and reliability work
- Model and evaluation upkeep as the field moves
- Architecture decisions made with your team, in the open
How an engagement runs
Step one
Scope — one week, priced to the work
You get a written assessment of what is worth building, what it should cost to run, and what I would refuse to build. The fee is agreed in writing before we start — nothing else is committed.
Step two
Build — fixed scope, agreed in writing
If the audit says proceed, we agree scope, price and success criteria before any code is written. Then I deliver it, on your hardware or a private VPC, with the evaluation that proves it works.
Step three
Handover or continuity
Either your team takes it on with documentation and training, or we move to a fractional arrangement where I stay accountable for it. Both are legitimate endings.
Terms, in plain English
What every engagement includes
- Direct access to the engineer doing the work
- Source code and infrastructure documentation, handed over
- Evaluation harness, so quality is measurable
- No lock-in, no seat licences, no reseller margin
How payment works
- Scoping step: agreed in writing, paid up front
- Build: invoiced against agreed milestones
- Fractional: invoiced monthly in arrears
- One simple invoice: a receipt on payment and a diary entry on commitment — no procurement process required.
Questions people actually ask
Why does every engagement start with a paid scoping step?
Because it is the cheapest way to find out whether the work is worth doing. You get a written assessment of your systems and data, and it is yours to act on whether or not you continue with me. Most consultants do this part on a free call, badly.
Is the price really negotiable?
Yes — openly. Scope, risk and the outcome you need set the number, and we agree it in writing before anything starts. I would rather quote a fair figure and negotiate it plainly than hide it behind a day rate.
How does payment work?
The scoping step is agreed in writing and paid up front, so the diary fills on commitment rather than intention. Build engagements are invoiced against agreed milestones; fractional work is invoiced monthly in arrears. Prices exclude VAT where applicable.
Can the systems run on our own hardware?
That is the default, not an upsell. Open-weight models served on your own GPUs or a private VPC, so confidential data never leaves your environment. If a hosted API is genuinely the better answer for your case, the audit will say so.
What if the scoping step concludes the work is not worth it?
Then you have saved the cost of a build, and you get that conclusion in writing. I would rather tell you “not yet” than sell you a pilot you do not need.
Do you work outside Plymouth?
Yes. On-site across Devon and Cornwall, regularly in Greater Manchester, and remotely throughout the UK and further afield. Location has never been the constraint — access to your systems and your people is.
