AI Launchpad · Fixed fee
Validate your AI strategy in six weeks
A fixed-fee proof of concept built with your data, wherever it lives today. You finish with working software, honest running costs and a route to live, or a clear, documented reason not to proceed.
What you get
Three deliverables, no slideware
We don't build generic chatbots. The Launchpad exists to prove, or disprove, a specific use case with your own data.
A working prototype
Built with your data, on secure cloud infrastructure we set up and run. Your systems stay where they are. Software you can put in front of users, not a slide deck.
Production costings
An executive summary with running-cost projections and ROI analysis, so the decision to proceed (or not) is a financial one, not a hopeful one.
A route to live
A step-by-step roadmap for taking the prototype to a production deployment: architecture, security, and the order to do things in.
On-prem, Microsoft, Google, or nothing fancier than spreadsheets. It doesn't matter. We connect to your data where it is, and you never touch the infrastructure. See working examples →
How it runs
Six weeks, start to finish
The price is fixed before we start, and you see progress every week.
- Week 1
Scope
We pick the use case together, look at your data, and agree exactly what the prototype has to prove.
- Weeks 2–5
Build
We build the proof of concept on AWS with your data, with a demo every week so you can watch it take shape and steer as we go.
- Week 6
Prove
Working prototype, production costings and roadmap, handed over with a session for your team.
The exact split depends on your use case and data.
Pricing
What it costs
£15,000–£25,000
fixed fee, agreed in writing before we start · approximate, we bill in GBP
Where you land in that range depends mostly on data readiness. If what the AI needs lives in one system and exports cleanly, you're at the bottom of it. If it's scattered across five tools and a shared drive, the scoping week earns its keep, and the quote reflects the extra work honestly, before you commit.
The fee covers everything above: the working prototype, production costings, the roadmap, and handover. Once agreed, it doesn't move.
Founding clients
Roughly half the usual fee
We're building our public case-study library and we're open about it: our first three Launchpad clients get the full engagement at roughly half the usual fee, in exchange for a named case study and a reference call. Same scope, same team, same deliverables.
When the three slots are gone, they're gone.
Ask about a founding slotFAQ
Questions we hear a lot
What if you don't find 25% in savings?
Then the review is free.
That's the deal on our Security & Cost Optimisation Blueprint: if we can't find at least 25% in potential cost reductions, you don't pay. We can offer that because 78% of companies overspend on AWS, and the causes are usually the same: no tagging discipline, no Reserved Instance strategy, instances sized for a launch day that never came.
In 20+ reviews so far, we've averaged 30% in savings found.
What do we need to bring to an AI Launchpad?
Three things:
- A problem worth solving. A process that eats hours, questions your data could answer, work that queues up. If you're not sure which one to pick, that's what the first week is for.
- Some of your data. Even a sample is fine. We build the prototype on your data, not a demo dataset, because that's the only way the result means anything.
- Someone who can say yes. A sponsor who'll watch the weekly demos and make the call at the end.
You don't need an AI strategy document. The Launchpad usually replaces one.
What does the AI Launchpad cost?
Typically £15,000–£25,000, fixed (approximate, we bill in GBP). Where you land in that range depends mostly on data readiness, meaning how much work it takes to get your data cleanly in front of the model. The exact figure is agreed in writing before we start, and it doesn't move after that.
We're currently offering our first three Launchpad clients roughly half the usual fee, in exchange for a named case study and a reference call.
The Security & Cost Optimisation Blueprint is priced differently: no upfront cost, and if we don't find at least 25% in potential savings, no fee at all.
We're not on AWS. Does that matter?
Not at all. The AI prototype runs on infrastructure we set up and manage. Your systems stay exactly where they are: on-prem, Microsoft, Google, or nothing more than spreadsheets and email.
We connect to your data through exports or simple integrations, and if the pilot goes to production, we run the infrastructure side. You never need to log into AWS or learn what any of it means. That's the part you're paying us for.
The only offer that requires AWS is the cost-saving Blueprint, for the obvious reason that it reviews an AWS bill.
How long do engagements take?
The Blueprint takes two weeks. The AI Launchpad takes six. Both are fixed-fee, priced before we start.
Blueprint: week one is the audit, covering costs, security and architecture, with an initial findings report. Week two we implement: critical fixes, budget alerts, tagging, tuning. You end with a full Well-Architected report and roadmap.
Launchpad: week one we scope the use case and look at your data. Weeks two to five we build, with a demo every week. Week six you get the working prototype, production costings and a route to live.
Both come with 30 days of support after delivery.
Do you require long-term contracts?
No. Every engagement is fixed-fee with a defined end date, and there's nothing to cancel afterwards.
Plenty of clients take the Blueprint report, implement it themselves, and come back months later with a new project. That suits us fine. We'd rather be invited back than locked in.
What makes you different from other AWS consultancies?
We only do AWS, and we put senior engineers on every engagement.
- The people you meet on the first call are the people who do the work, with no junior staff padding hours
- Fixed fees with named deliverables, not open-ended day rates
- We fix critical issues during a review rather than listing them in a PDF
- If we don't find 25% in savings on a Blueprint, you don't pay
Why should I trust your consultancy?
Fair question. Every consultancy says they're experts. Here's what you can check:
- We're an official AWS Partner, and our consultants hold AWS certifications with 10+ years of enterprise cloud work behind them
- Our case studies name the clients and the numbers: zero-downtime launches, NHS compliance sign-off, 30-second Minecraft deployments
- The Blueprint guarantee is in writing: no 25% savings found, no fee
- The first call is free, and the people on it are engineers
Got a use case in mind?
Bring it to a free 30-minute call. We'll tell you honestly whether a Launchpad would prove it, and what it would cost.