Process mapping
Before anybody writes code, two days with the people doing the work. You get a map of how it really runs, a costed shortlist of what is worth automating, and a clear list of what is not.
What this is
A lot of companies are told to do something with AI and have no good way to decide what. The pressure is real, the budget is sometimes already approved, and the shortlist that arrives from a vendor is a list of things that vendor happens to sell. What is missing is a clear picture of where the hours actually go.
This is that picture, and it is deliberately not a sales exercise. We sit with the people doing the work, count where the time goes, price each candidate and hand you a ranked list with an estimate and a payback for every item on it. Several items usually come back marked do not automate this, which is worth as much as the ones that do.
Fixed fee, agreed before we start and credited against the build if you go ahead with us. If the honest answer is that nothing here is worth building, you still keep the map and the numbers.
What it does
Five things, and the last one is the one vendors skip.
01
Follows the work, not the process document
We watch the job being done. The written process and the real one are rarely the same, and the gap between them is where the hours hide.
02
Counts the hours
How often each step happens, how long it takes, who does it, and what it costs when it goes wrong and has to be done twice.
03
Prices each candidate
What building it would take, what running it would cost, and what it would save. In the same units, so two candidates can actually be compared.
04
Ranks them honestly
The cheapest useful thing first. The impressive project that pays back in three years goes at the bottom, where it belongs.
05
Says what to leave alone
Work with too much judgement in it, too little volume, or a regulatory tail that makes automation the expensive option.
What you walk away with
Four documents, all short enough that somebody will read them.
A map of the process as it runs
Steps, systems, handovers and waiting time, on one page, in language the people who do the work recognise as their job.
A ranked and costed shortlist
Each item with an estimate to build, a running cost, an expected saving and a payback period.
A risk note under the EU AI Act
Which tier each candidate falls into and what that means in practice, worked out before anything is designed.
A written recommendation
Short enough to take to a board, specific enough to act on, and it names what we would not do and why.
How it runs
Half a day of scoping
Which part of the business, which teams, and what a good outcome would look like. Remote is fine for this part.
Two days with the teams
On site or on a call, with the people who do the work rather than only the people who manage it.
A week of costing
We turn what we saw into estimates and check the assumptions with you as we go, so nothing in the readout is a surprise.
The readout
We walk the room through the map, the shortlist and the recommendation, and answer the hard questions live.
Who this suits
Companies told to do something with AI
The pressure is real and there is no shortlist anybody in the building actually trusts.
Teams with a budget and no plan
The money is approved for this year and the real risk is spending it on the wrong thing well.
Anyone about to sign a large vendor
A second opinion on what the work is worth, from people who will also say buy it rather than build it.
What it costs in time
Two to three weeks end to end. The only thing we need from you is access to the people doing the work.
Scoping and the days with the teams
Half a day of scoping, then two days following the work as it is actually done.
Costing and drafting
We estimate, check the assumptions with you, and write it up.
Readout and decision
You get the map, the shortlist and the recommendation, and a session in which to argue with all three.
Tell us which team is drowning
One department, one process. We will tell you what the mapping would cover and what it would cost before you commit to anything.
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