CR8IVE / APPROACH
04 PHASES

How the work actually runs.

Most AI projects fail on process, not technology. So we run every engagement the same disciplined way — fixed scope, weekly proof, and a clean handover. Here's exactly what to expect, week by week.

01

Discovery

WEEK 0 · COMPLIMENTARY

A focused 30–45-minute consultation. We learn your business, map the workflows in play, and pressure-test where AI genuinely helps versus where it's a distraction. You leave with a written engagement brief — yours to keep, whether or not we work together.

  • Workflow and pain-point mapping
  • Opportunity shortlist, ranked by impact
  • Written brief + recommended next step
02

Design

WEEK 1 · SCOPING

We scope the smallest system that fully solves the problem — nothing gold-plated. You get an architecture document, a fixed price, and a fixed timeline before a single line of production code is written. If the numbers don't work, you find out now, not later.

  • Solution architecture and data-flow design
  • Fixed price and fixed timeline, in writing
  • Success metrics agreed up front
03

Build

WEEKS 2–6 · DELIVERY

Short sprints, each ending in a working demo you can click through. No black boxes, no month-long silences. Every week you see real progress against the agreed milestones — and you can steer while it's still cheap to steer.

  • Weekly working demonstrations
  • Milestone-based progress, fully visible
  • Testing, evaluation, and guardrails baked in
04

Deploy & operate

ONGOING · OPTIONAL RETAINER

We ship to production, train your team, and hand over everything — code, weights, documentation, and access. From there you can run it yourself, or keep us on a light retainer for monitoring and continuous improvement. Your call, always.

  • Production deployment + team enablement
  • Full handover: code, weights, docs, access
  • Optional monitoring and improvement retainer
Operating principles

The rules we don't break.

These aren't marketing lines. They're the constraints we hold ourselves to on every engagement — the reasons clients trust us with production systems.

P.01

Working software over slideware

We prove with running systems, not decks. If we can't demo it, we don't claim it.

P.02

Fixed scope, no surprises

One price, one timeline, agreed before we start. If we underestimate, we absorb it — not you.

P.03

You own everything

Code, weights, documentation, and access transfer to you on delivery. No hostage-taking, no lock-in.

P.04

Model-agnostic by default

We pick the model that wins on accuracy, latency, cost, and privacy — never by brand loyalty.

P.05

Documented for your team

Every system ships with docs a non-author can operate. The bus factor is never one.

P.06

Honest about fit

If AI isn't the right tool, or we're not the right team, we say so — and point you somewhere better.

Week 0 starts here

Start with the free consultation.

No commitment, no pitch deck. Thirty to forty-five minutes, a real conversation about your workflows, and a written brief you keep either way.