How We Work
Most AI projects never get out of pilot.
Ours do.
Because your team is the one asking. We don't decide which workflow to automate. Your people do, through an idea channel we set up in week one and a monthly scoring meeting we run together. Then forward-deployed engineers automate the workflows they flagged, inside the tools they already use, and stay on call after launch.
Across recent engagements our forward-deployed engineers have automated workflows backed by 326K+ lines of production AI code and 122 deployed services — every one of them living inside the client's existing tools and staying on our keep-running list. The model is closer to forward-deployed engineering teams than to traditional consulting.
The cycle is three steps. They run continuously, governed by a work-in-progress limit (one, two, or three workflows in active build at a time). Audit finds the workflows worth automating. Automate ships a usable first version in two weeks and keeps shipping into it until it's stable; once stable, it moves to ongoing care. Deploy & Watch keeps every live workflow running on call.
2 weeks
target to first live use per workflow; we keep scaling the feature set from there
10-30
workflows your team flags per month, on average
30 days
to prove an automation sticks or we rebuild it
30 days
to exit any time after the first 3 months
How it works
Your team knows which workflows hurt.
We built the channel to capture them.
Most AI vendors tell you what to automate. We let your people tell us, through a channel that fits how they already work, and we automate the workflows they flag. Every month.
We set up the idea channel
A Slack channel, a Google Form, or a kiosk for non-desk staff. Whatever your team already uses. Submissions take under a minute.
Your team flags the workflows
Anyone in the company can submit a workflow worth automating. Most months we collect 10 to 30, and they come from frontline staff and ops as often as from leadership.
We score together each cycle
One short meeting per cycle. We bring hours-back estimates and feasibility data, you bring the business context, and you pick which workflow we automate next.
We automate
One, two, or three workflows in active build at a time, depending on your tier. Each targets two weeks from entering the build slot to a usable live version, then keeps scaling until it's stable.
Why this works
Four rules that decide whether an automation sticks.
Most AI projects fail because of one of these four. We built the model around all four, and they aren't aspirational. They're how every cycle actually runs.
Each new workflow has a usable version live in two weeks, then we keep scaling it
Two weeks gets you a usable first version running in your tools, handling real work. From there we keep hardening the feature set — edge cases, integrations, depth — often for weeks or months until it handles full production. Bigger ones (full integrations, multi-step agents) count as two workflows, and we tell you up front when that's the case so the month's plan stays honest.
The automation lives inside your existing tools
Your team shouldn't have to learn a new app to get value. We automate workflows inside your CRM, your inbox, your Slack, your phone system, your shared drive. The automation shows up in the work, not next to it.
Adoption is measured at 30 days, not assumed
Every workflow has a 30-day adoption check. Active users, daily use, where people get stuck. If an automation isn't sticking by day 30, we pull it back and rebuild it next cycle. We'd rather rebuild than maintain a graveyard.
We don't leave when it's live
Every automated workflow stays on our 'keep running' list. Tools break, vendors change, models drift, and we handle all of it inside the retainer. The same forward-deployed engineers stay on call. Your team never has to learn what an API is.
The cycle, every month
Each step in detail
Every step answers a specific question and produces the artifacts the next step needs. Tap a step to expand.
vs. the alternatives
Why Uplift AI
Three ways businesses usually try to add AI: hire in-house, hire a consultant, or hire us. Here's how the choice plays out across the things that actually matter.
| Dimension | Hire In-House | Traditional Consulting | Uplift AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where workflow ideas come from | Whoever shouts loudest in a meeting | Consultant interviews leadership | A workflow-intake channel anyone in the company can submit to, plus shadowing the work |
| How long to first automated workflow | Months, while it competes with everything else on your team's plate | 3-6 months minimum, often longer | Two weeks to first live use per workflow, then we keep scaling the feature set |
| Where the automation lives | Often a new app or dashboard | A platform you buy from them | Inside the tools your team already uses every day: CRM, email, drive, phone |
| Who builds it | Whoever you can hire, usually generalists | Mixed bench, juniors often do the actual work | The forward-deployed engineer who heard the problem is the one who automates it |
| Adoption support | Whatever your team can manage on the side | Training webinars, then the consultant leaves | We sit with users in their actual work and watch the first two weeks closely |
| What happens when something breaks | Your team figures it out, if they have time | Out of scope. Buy another engagement. | We answer within your tier's response time, inside the retainer |
| What happens if a workflow isn't used | It sits in a graveyard | Same outcome, just with a bigger invoice attached | 30-day adoption check. If it's not being used, we pull it back and rebuild it |
| Cancellation | N/A | Multi-year retainers, termination fees, switching costs | Month-to-month after the 3-month minimum. 30-day exit at any monthly review point. No termination fees. |
| What you walk away with | Institutional knowledge varies | A platform you'll keep paying for, or slides | Every automated workflow lives in your tools from day one, so there's nothing to transfer |
Let's talk
Bring your team, an idea or two of what's already annoying them, and 30 minutes. We'll size the tier and walk through what the first month would look like. Or start with the $10K Audit.
“They sat with our team, found the work nobody was talking about, and shipped a tool inside our existing systems within two weeks.”Operations Director
BOOK A 30-MIN CALL30-minute call. No upfront fee. Monthly retainer.