How we work and charge · free audit · signed baseline · you own the code
The bar is signed before a line of code exists, and we work until it clears.
Most AI spending fails. We priced for that. The scope is narrow, the order is measure then build, and we carry the risk until the number moves.
95%
of enterprise AI pilots show no measurable P&L return.
MIT NANDA, The GenAI Divide, 2025
80%+
of AI projects fail, about double the failure rate of other IT projects.
RAND, 2024
93%
of AI budgets go to technology. About 7% goes to the people expected to use it.
Deloitte, 2025
Read those three numbers together and the failure is not the technology.
It is scope set too wide to measure and adoption nobody paid for. Carrying the risk changes how we work: if we are on the hook to keep working until the number moves, we cannot afford a twelve-month platform with a vague benefit. So we scope narrowly, pick the two or three problems with the clearest arithmetic, and measure them the same way before and after.
10 · How we work and charge
Nothing is built before the number is on the page.
Five steps. The bar is agreed in writing before anything is built, the clock starts at deployment, and if the system misses the bar we keep working at no additional cost until it clears.
01 · 30 minutes, free
Talk
You describe the workflow that hurts most. We put your own hours and hourly rate against it while you watch. You leave with the leak map either way.
02 · Before any build
Map
The one or two builds worth doing, with the numbers beside them. Constraints go in here: hosting, data residency, the till that stays where it is.
03 · One page, both names
Sign
The process, the current numbers, the bar, the timeframe and how we will measure it. Nothing is built before this page exists.
04 · Scoped tight on purpose
Build
The two or three things that move the signed number, not a platform. Uniserve's programme runs three months.
05 · Clock starts at deployment
Measure
Same method, same process, arithmetic printed. If the bar has not cleared, we keep working at no additional cost until it does.
The guarantee · six terms, written down before we build
We stay until it pays.
Most AI work is sold on a promise and invoiced on effort. We would rather be invoiced on a number you signed off on. The bar and the timeframe are set per engagement, and nothing here guarantees a particular dollar amount.
- 01
A signed baseline before any build
We measure the process as it runs today and write the numbers down. You sign off on the exact figures we are measured against.
- 02
The clock starts at deployment
Not at signature, not at kickoff. The measurement window opens the day the system is in your team's hands doing real work.
- 03
If it misses the bar, we keep working at no additional cost
Same scope, same team, no new invoice, until the agreed bar clears.
- 04
Cancel at any time
No minimum term and no exit fee. You keep what has been built and delivered to that point.
- 05
A free operations audit up front
Before money changes hands we map where time and money leak and show the arithmetic. You keep that map whether or not you hire us.
- 06
You own the code
The repository, the data and the deployment are yours. No licence to renegotiate, no hostage fee to leave.
Fig. 10 · Run your own numbers
The number we would be measured against.
Put your own headcount, hours and hourly cost in. Whatever this prints is the kind of figure that goes on the signed page, once we have measured it with you rather than guessed it.
1 to 50
1 to 40
$15 to $200
864
Hours recovered per year
$34,560
Dollars recovered per year
3 × 6 hrs/week × 48 weeks = 864 hrs/year
864 hrs/year × $40/hr = $34,560/year
An estimate from numbers you enter, not a promise. 48 working weeks assumed. Your real figure depends on the process we replace, and only the measured version goes on the signed page.
The call · what happens in the 30 minutes
No demo. No slide deck. No requirements questionnaire.
One workflow, then the numbers behind it. Bring the process that hurts most, roughly what it costs today, and whoever else has to say yes.
01
The workflow, out loud
You describe the process that hurts most, step by step. Who touches it, how often, how long each pass takes and where it stalls waiting on one person.
02
The arithmetic, in front of you
Hours a week against a loaded hourly rate, worked out on the call rather than modelled later. If the number turns out to be small, we say the number is small.
03
What is worth building, and what is not
We name the one or two places software or an AI agent pays for itself, and the places it does not. Some workflows cost less left exactly as they are.
04
The map goes with you
Hire us, hire someone else, or build it in house. The leak map and the working behind it are written down either way.
Before you sign
The five questions owners ask us first.
The answers are the same ones we give on the call.
What happens in the free audit?
We map where time and money leak, then show the arithmetic. You keep the map whether or not you hire us. Nothing is built at this stage and nothing is charged for it.
Who owns the code?
You do. It is written into the agreement before anything is built.
What are you measured against, and when does the clock start?
We agree the baseline in writing before anything is built, and you sign off on the exact numbers we are measured against. The clock starts at deployment, not at signature. If the system misses the agreed bar, we keep working at no additional cost until it clears. You can cancel at any time. The bar and the timeframe are agreed per engagement. Nothing guarantees a particular dollar amount.
Can you work inside our data rules?
Constraints come first, because they decide the architecture. Uniserve required every model and every byte hosted in Canada, so that requirement shaped the build before a line of it was written.
Are we too small for this?
Owner-led is the whole point. Our clients run from a multi-venue restaurant group to a Canadian internet and telecom provider. What they share is an owner who can make a decision in one meeting.
Free · 30 minutes · a founder answers
Ready to depart the old way?
Thirty minutes, and you leave with the arithmetic either way. Two founders on the call. You keep the map.