AI Modules · How we work

AI that earns
its keep.

A clear engagement model for building AI modules that pay for themselves before you commit to the next one. One module at a time.

You only pay in full for a module that works.

01 / The premise

The biggest AI budget doesn't win. The best-placed module does.

No long-term contract. No retainer until you have seen results in your own business.

The companies pulling ahead over the next 24 months won't be the ones with the biggest AI budgets, but the ones who deploy a few well-designed agentic systems where they matter most: where senior judgment bottlenecks the work, where repeatable tasks consume human hours, and where speed and consistency compound.

Done right, each module pays back faster than any hire. Most AI projects stall because they start too big. We start by mapping where your time and money actually go, build the one fix that matters most, prove it, then decide together whether the next one is worth doing.

02 / The model

Four stages. Zero leaps of faith.

How an engagement runs, from the first conversation to a module working in your business.

Stage 01

Discovery

A flat-fee engagement sized to your team. We talk with the people doing the work and map your key processes. You get a ranked plan plus the first module's specification and written success criteria. Proceed, and the fee is credited in full toward the build. If not, the plan is yours to keep.

Stage 02

Build

A fixed price for each module, paid in two parts. The first half is due at kickoff. The second half is due only when the module meets the success criteria we agreed in writing. If it does not, it is never owed.

Stage 03

Activate

We test and refine the module in your real environment, side by side with the people who will use it, until it fits the way your team actually works. Nothing goes live at full scale until you sign off.

Stage 04

Optimize

An optional month-to-month retainer keeps the module running, monitored and improving as your business and tools change. No minimum term and no long-term commitment. Cancel with 30 days' notice.

03 / Trust

AI drafts. People decide.

Six guardrails, enforced by configuration, not policy. Built into every module from day one.

Rule 01

AI drafts, people decide

No agent sends an email, message, price or commitment to a client or vendor on its own. A person on your team reviews and sends.

Rule 02

Limited access

Each agent sees only the data its job needs. Private inboxes and notes stay private.

Rule 03

No guessed numbers

Any figure an agent cannot trace to your own records is flagged, never filled in.

Rule 04

Approval on anything irreversible

Anything touching a client, a price, a contract or money requires a human decision.

Rule 05

Autonomy is earned

The first version of every module runs in review mode. More autonomy comes later, only with your written approval.

Rule 06

None of this rules out automation

Once your team trusts the system and its trial outputs, it can run on its own.

04 / Terms

Who owns what, what we support.

Ownership

What you own. Your data, your configured module, its instructions and its documentation. It runs in accounts you control, and you keep it whether or not we keep working together.

Framework

What we keep. The underlying framework and methods we reuse across clients. That reuse is what keeps your build price down.

Warranty

60 days, no charge. If a delivered module breaks within 60 days of acceptance, we fix it at no charge.

Costs

Billed at cost. Software subscriptions and AI usage are billed to you directly, at cost, so you always see what the system costs to run.

05 / What we need from you

Three things we'll need.

All three are set up during Discovery. None of them requires a technical team on your side.

System access

Access to the systems the module connects to, set up together during Discovery.

Time with your team

A conversation with each person who will use it during Discovery, then brief check-ins while their module is built and tested.

One decision-maker

Someone who signs off on success criteria and acceptance.

Start with Discovery.

Keep the plan either way. We map your business and hand you a ranked plan. You pick the first module; its success criteria are already written. Then you decide whether to build. If not, the plan is yours.

Todd@ToddHenderson.com 949.751.8628