01 · Triage question
Have your AI pilots stalled, or have you not started?
Either way, start with the AI-Native Org Audit. It maps the redesign before you spend on another tool.
Services · Six engagement shapes
Pick where you are. The work scales from a 4-week diagnostic to a fractional retainer, with a continuity tier on the back end.
Most clients start with the AI-Native Org Audit and graduate to Fractional Head of AI Transformation. Some skip the diagnostic and start at the retainer. Scoped builds and training plug in where the redesign needs proof. AI Care keeps the system running after the active engagement ends.
§01
Three questions that pick the tier.
If you can't answer these clearly, that is also a signal. Book the call. Ten minutes to triage.
02 · Triage question
Do you need ongoing AI leadership, or one shipped capability?
Ongoing, Fractional Head of AI Transformation. One thing shipped, scoped build. One thing shipped plus a leader, both.
03 · Triage question
Is the bottleneck the team, the tools, or the strategy?
Team, workforce training. Tools, scoped build. Strategy, Three-Horizon review or fractional retainer.
§02
The service ladder
Flagship engagement first. The diagnostics, build, and training tiers feed into it or stand alone.
Flagship · Ongoing retainer, 6-month minimum
Fractional Head of AI Transformation
For companies that need a Director-altitude AI leader without a full-time hire. Owns the org redesign, the production builds, and the team handoff. Reports into the exec team, hands-on across builds, eval, hiring, vendor calls.
01 · Diagnostic · 3 to 4 weeks
AI-Native Org Audit
For COO or VP Ops in pilot purgatory or facing board pressure with no pilots shipped. Maps the org redesign required to ship AI past the pilot. Deliverable: decision-flow map, AI-native role design, 90-day execution plan.
02 · Portfolio review · 3 to 4 weeks
Three-Horizon AI portfolio review
For execs who need to defend AI budget and pick where to allocate next. Board-ready roadmap classifying every AI bet across H1 (~70%), H2 (~20%), H3 (~10%). Named failure modes per horizon.
03 · Scoped build · 60 to 90 days
Scoped AI build
For one AI use case ready to ship to production. Multi-agent workflow shipped, eval suite the team owns. Observability, token tracking, regression tests on prompts that matter.
04 · Training · 4 to 8 weeks
AI workforce training
For teams hitting the 20% adoption ceiling. Three tiers: exec workshops, IC hands-on, embedded coaching. Anchored on Mollick's Leadership-Lab-Crowd framing (Wharton, May 2025).
05 · Continuity · $3-5k/month
AI Care
For clients post-Scoped Build or post-Fractional who shipped production AI and need someone watching it. 2 to 3 days a month: eval monitoring, prompt regression triage, vendor escalations, one small scope addition. 3-month minimum.
§03
Regardless of tier, every engagement ships with the same backbone.
No tier comes without these. Director-altitude org design, production patterns, and a team that runs the work after I leave.
01 · Standard inclusion
Org-redesign altitude
Headcount-to-output decoupling logic in every deliverable. Agents and humans as co-actors, not vendor add-ons.
02 · Standard inclusion
Production patterns from Baxie
Multi-agent orchestration, multi-model routing, eval suites, observability, the patterns I ship daily, applied to your stack.
03 · Standard inclusion
The layer your team and your AI both work from
Versioned. Searchable. Both your team and your AI read from it. Delivered when the redesign needs a substrate. Lives inside the Fractional and Scoped Build engagements.
04 · Standard inclusion
The team trained to run it
Eval suite, playbook, and named patterns the team owns after I leave. Not a permanent dependency.
§04
Pricing and capacity, in writing.
Reference ranges below. Each engagement scopes against your stack, team size, and time horizon. Book the call. I'll quote against your problem in writing within 48 hours.
Flagship
Fractional Head of AI Transformation
$12-20k per month. 6-month minimum. Quarterly renewal after that.
Diagnostic
AI-Native Org Audit
$7-12k. 3 to 4 weeks. Three artifacts delivered.
Portfolio review
Three-Horizon AI portfolio review
$5-15k. 3 to 4 weeks. Board-ready roadmap.
Build
Scoped AI build
$30-60k. 60 to 90 days. 14-day ground-truth phase or you walk.
Training
AI workforce training
$10-25k. 4 to 8 weeks. Three tracks: Leadership, Lab, Crowd.
Continuity
AI Care
$3-5k per month. 3-month minimum. 2 to 3 days a month. Eval monitoring, prompt triage, vendor escalations.
Capacity · Honest
~4 active client commitments at a time
I hold ~4 active client commitments across Fractional, Scoped Build, and Audit. Care retainers sit below that cap because they're scope-locked at 2 to 3 days a month. Engagements are picked, not sold.
§05
Frequently asked questions
A part-time senior AI leader who owns the AI transformation end-to-end: org redesign, production AI build, vendor selection, hiring, and team handoff. Sits in the exec staff, reports into CEO, CTO, or COO. Replaces the gap between hiring an AI strategy consultant (deck only) and hiring a full-time Head of AI ($300-500k base plus 6-9 month ramp).
Six tiers. Fractional retainer: $12-20k per month, 6-month minimum. AI-Native Org Audit: $7-12k, 3 to 4 weeks. Three-Horizon AI portfolio review: $5-15k, 3 to 4 weeks. Scoped AI build: $30-60k, 60 to 90 days. AI workforce training: $10-25k, 4 to 8 weeks. AI Care maintenance retainer: $3-5k per month, 3-month minimum. Quoted in writing within 48 hours of the discovery call.
Three triage questions. If pilots stalled or you haven't started, start with the AI-Native Org Audit. If you need ongoing AI leadership, start with Fractional Head of AI Transformation. If you have one capability ready to ship, start with the Scoped Build. Strategy bottleneck routes to the Three-Horizon review or the Fractional retainer. Team bottleneck routes to workforce training. If you already shipped production AI and just need someone watching it, that's AI Care.
AI Care, the maintenance retainer, is the continuity tier. $3-5k per month, 3-month minimum, 2 to 3 days of work per month: eval monitoring, prompt regression triage, vendor escalations, one small scope addition. Built for the gap between shipping and hiring a full-time AI lead at $300k loaded. Optional. You can also re-engage at any of the active tiers.
Fractional is Director-altitude leadership: org redesign, hiring, board work, new builds, vendor strategy, at $12-20k per month. AI Care is operational maintenance only: eval monitoring, prompt triage, vendor escalations, at $3-5k per month. Different altitude, different price. Care is for clients who already shipped and need continuity, not new strategy.
AI strategy consultants ship decks, not production systems. AI automation agencies ship the agent but skip the org redesign, the eval bar, and the budget defense. This practice does both layers in one operator: Director-altitude org design plus production AI build, anchored in named frameworks (Bain headcount-output, Anthropic manager-IC, McKinsey Three-Horizon, Mollick Leadership-Lab-Crowd).
Operators and founders at mid-market service firms, roughly $5M to $200M+ ARR. CEOs, COOs, CTOs, and VPs of Ops carrying AI pressure without the headcount to hire a full-time Head of AI. Below $5M ARR, a scoped build is usually the better starting point.
Roughly 4 active client commitments at a time across Fractional, Scoped Build, and Audit. Mix depends on what's already booked. Engagements are picked, not sold. Capacity is honest, not theater.
Start the conversation
Send the brief. I quote against your problem in writing within 48 hours.
One door. Tell me what you are trying to ship and which tier you think fits.