‹ How it works

The Diagnostic · Weeks 1 to 4 · Fixed fee

Four weeks. Every hour mapped. A case your board can sign.

The paid first step to going headless. We measure where your team's time goes, price what agents can take on, and hand you a go or no-go. Fixed fee, agreed on the call. Credited against the Build.

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What you get in 4 weeks
4 weeks
To a board-ready case
fixed plan, fixed fee
Every hour
Mapped by function
measured, not estimated
$ case
EBITDA, payback, risk
net of software and running costs
1 decision
Go or no-go
with a 16-week plan if go

01 · Who it is for

Real revenue. Real headcount. A P&L owner who feels the drag.

The Diagnostic pays back when there are enough repeatable hours to move. Below these lines, it rarely does.

Revenue
$10M to $500M
Enough volume for the hours to matter.
Headcount
50 to 1,000
Multi-site, multi-brand or high volume.
Sponsor
CEO, CFO or COO
Or a private equity operating partner who owns the result.
Signals you are ready
✓Margin pressure or a hiring freeze
✓An acquisition to integrate
✓Preparing for sale
✓A founder who wants to step back
✓A failed internal AI pilot
✓Service or finance backlogs
Not a fit
Revenue under $10M
"We just want a chatbot"
No executive sponsor
Buying on price alone

02 · Week by week

Measure in weeks 1 and 2. Decide in week 4.

A fixed plan with one output every week. You see the numbers as they land, not at the end.

Week 1
Kick-off and access
Week 2
Map the hours
Week 3
Design the stack
Week 4
Case and decision
We do
  • Kick-off with the executive sponsor
  • Read-only access to core systems
  • Pull 12 months of volumes: tickets, invoices, orders
  • Agree functions in scope
Output
Scope and baseline plan
Your team's time6 hours
We do
  • Interview every function lead
  • Walk through each process end to end
  • Volume times handle time, per task
  • Cost every hour, fully loaded
Output
Hours heatmap by function
Your team's time8 hours
We do
  • Score each opportunity on value, effort, risk
  • Test shortlisted agents on your data
  • Draft approval rules and spend caps
  • Name a fallback for every agent
Output
Ranked opportunities and stack
Your team's time4 hours
We do
  • Build the EBITDA case with your CFO
  • Sequence a 16-week rollout
  • Sign the baseline for the guarantee
  • Board readout
Output
Board-ready case. Go or no-go.
Your team's time2 hours

03 · What you get

Five deliverables. All yours to keep.

Shown here with an illustrative $40M online retailer. Your Diagnostic replaces every number with your own.

Deliverable 1 · Week 2

Hours heatmap by function

Hours a week on repeatable work. Darker is more.
0
240+ hours a week
1,728 hours a week · 48 FTE · 86,400 hours a year
Deliverable 2 · Week 3

Ranked opportunities, priced

Ranked on net value, effort and risk. Net of software and running costs.
#OpportunityFunctionHours a yearNet a yearEffortLive
1Resolve order status, returns and address changesCustomer service16,200$641KLowWk 8
2Listings, stock sync and wholesale quotesCatalogue and ops12,600$499KMediumWk 11
3Bank recs, bill capture and close prepFinance7,200$285KMediumWk 14
4Daily summary and monthly board packReporting3,600$143KLowWk 13
5Campaign builds and weekly performance readMarketing ops3,600$143KLowWk 16
6Candidate screening and onboardingPeople ops2,700$107KHighPhase 2
In scope for Build, top 543,200$1.71MItem 6 deferred
Deliverable 3 · Week 4

Board-ready business case

Board paper · One pageDraft for approval
Recommendation: proceed to Build for five functions.
Net EBITDA a year
+$1.71M
EBITDA margin
10% → 14.3%
Hours back a year
43,200
Payback
Under 12 months
The case
24 FTE of repeatable work across five functions moves to governed agents. Figures net of software, models and running costs.
Risks and controls
Two weeks in shadow mode per function. Go-live only above 90% accuracy. Refunds, payments and price changes keep a human approval.
People
No role changes before go-live. Team leads keep escalations, judgement and customer relationships.
Decision required
Approve a 12-week Build from week 5, against the signed baseline.
Signed: CFO ________Signed: CEO ________
Deliverable 4 · Week 3

Stack recommendation

Best agent per function, tested on your data. A named fallback for each. Your systems of record stay.

Customer serviceAccuracy on test set 94%
Gorgias AI AgentFallbackZendesk AI agents
Catalogue and opsAccuracy on test set 92%
Shopify FlowCin7FallbackClaude agent on n8n
FinanceAccuracy on test set 97%
Xero JAXDextFallbackHubdoc
ReportingAccuracy on test set 95%
Claude agent on n8nFallbackGPT agent on n8n
Marketing opsAccuracy on test set 91%
Klaviyo AI agentsFallbackHubSpot Breeze
Stays as isShopifyXeroKlaviyoCin7SlackBank feeds
Rules set inside your own tools: approvals, spend caps, audit trail.
Deliverable 5 · Week 4

16-week rollout plan

One function at a time. Two weeks in shadow mode before each go-live.
12345678910111213141516
Diagnostic
Diagnostic
Customer service
Live wk 8
Catalogue and ops
Live wk 11
Reporting
Live wk 13
Finance
Live wk 14
Marketing ops
Live wk 16
DiagnosticShadow modeLive
Gate at week 4: board signs, or we stop

Mock deliverables for an illustrative business. Not a client result. Tools named are examples of what we shortlist today; no paid placements and no vendor affiliation.

04 · What we need from you

About 20 hours of your team's time. Read-only access.

Most of it in weeks 1 and 2. Nobody changes how they work during the Diagnostic.

1 hour a week

An executive sponsor

CEO, CFO or COO. Kick-off, weekly check-in and the week 4 readout.

2 to 3 hours

Each function lead

One interview and one process walkthrough, mostly in week 2.

Read-only

System access

Helpdesk, ERP or accounting, CRM, ecommerce. Revoked at the end of week 4.

12 months

Of exports

Tickets, invoices, orders and rosters. We send the list on day 1.

We never need:Write accessNew softwareChanges to live processesCustomer contact

05 · The guarantee

30% of operating hours removed in scope within 120 days. Or we keep working until it is.

The Diagnostic sets the baseline the guarantee is measured against. Every hour in the heatmap becomes the yardstick for the Build. Terms set out in every Build agreement.

Baseline signed in week 4Measured monthly in BuildIf the case does not stack up, we say so

06 · What happens next

A yes in week 4 starts the Build in week 5.

The scope, the stack and the plan are already agreed. No second sales cycle.

If go

Build starts in week 5

Fixed scope from the Diagnostic. Agents live function by function, under the guarantee. The Diagnostic fee is credited against the Build.

If not yet

Keep the plan

You own the heatmap, the case and the rollout plan. Revisit when the timing is right. The baseline stays valid for planning.

After Build

Operate, 12 months minimum

We run, monitor and upgrade the agents. A daily summary and a quarterly board review.

07 · Questions

Straight answers.

Anything else, ask on the call.

A fixed fee, agreed on the call and set by scope. No hourly billing and no surprises. If you go ahead to Build, the fee is credited against it.

Start with 30 minutes. Decide on the Diagnostic after.

A free executive briefing with our founder. We scope the Diagnostic and agree the fixed fee on the call.

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