Wellesley Cove Group · Boston The First 5 Weeks · Engagement terms and schedule
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Your first five weeks, start to working prototype.

A fixed-fee, fixed-scope engagement. We select one high-value workflow, redesign it with your team, and launch a secure AI-supported prototype, with a clear plan for what comes next.

Discuss Your First Workflow → Get the Operator's Guide
§ 01 · What it is

One workflow, taken from idea to working prototype.

Most AI programs stall because they try to do everything at once. We start with a single, high-value workflow where the impact is easy to understand and the risk can be controlled. In five weeks, your team sees AI working on your real data, inside your environment, before committing to a broader rollout.

It is deliberately small in scope and fixed in price: one workflow, five weeks, one fee agreed upfront, and you own everything we build. The First 5 Weeks is how you find out, quickly and cheaply, whether AI belongs in a given process, and exactly what it would take to scale it.

§ 02 · Week by week

What the five weeks look like.

01Select & scopeWe work with your team to choose the one workflow where AI can create measurable value without unnecessary operational, compliance, or data risk. We agree the success measure and confirm scope at a week-one checkpoint before any build begins.Checkpoint memo
02Redesign the workWe map the current process, clarify handoffs and decision rights, define the data needed, and design how AI should support the people doing the work. The redesign comes before the technology, on purpose.Process + data map
03Build the prototypeWe build a working AI-supported workflow using your real documents, data, rules, or examples, on the architecture your data sensitivity requires, and demonstrate it running by the end of the week.Live demo by Friday
04Validate with usersThe people who will operate the workflow review it, test outputs, and identify gaps. We tune the prototype against real use and confirm what broader rollout would require.Tested on real use
05Plan the path forwardYou finish with a working prototype, a documented process and data map, a rollout plan, and a fixed-scope proposal for production buildout if you choose to continue. Everything we built is yours to keep.Yours to keep

Production rollout is the separate, fixed-scope Use Case Buildout (12-16 weeks), proposed at the end of the First 5 Weeks.

Internal memo · End of week one1 of 1
Week-one checkpoint

Scope, success measure, data access, and architecture reviewed with your team before any build effort ramps. The decision is yours, in writing.

Decision
Confirm scope and proceed to build
Rescope to a better workflow
Stop before build work begins
Representative artifact · Every engagement issues one
§ 03 · What we need from you

The five weeks are real. They depend on four things from your side.

All four are confirmed at the week-one checkpoint, before any build effort ramps.

01An executive sponsor
Someone who owns the outcome and can make scope decisions in days, not weeks.
02The people who run the workflow
A workflow owner and the team who do the work today, for a few hours a week of interviews, reviews, and testing.
03Data access, scoped to the workflow
Access to the documents, systems, or extracts the prototype needs, agreed in week one and limited to the chosen workflow.
04An IT or security counterpart
Someone to review the architecture recommendation (private, hybrid, or external) and sign off on access controls.
§ 04 · What you keep

Six deliverables you keep.

01-current-state-map.pdf

Current-state map

Process, data, and sensitivity reviewed and documented before any build begins.

02-architecture-recommendation.pdf

Architecture recommendation

Private, hybrid, or external, matched to your data sensitivity and compliance posture.

03-prototype.running

Working AI prototype

A workflow running on your own data, demonstrated at end of week 3.

04-governance-layer.cfg

Governance layer

Access controls, logging, output review, and usage boundaries configured from day one.

05-enablement-session.ics

Enablement session

A walkthrough for the team who will operate the workflow day to day.

06-rollout-plan.pdf

Rollout plan

Prioritized next 2-3 use cases and a fixed-scope build proposal to carry the work forward.

Everything above is yours. Nothing to license, nothing to return.

§ 05 · At this scope

What five weeks has actually produced.

01Prior-auth draftingSpecialty healthcare
Prior-auth drafting prototype in 5 weeks; ~40% less time per submission.
02Financial-close assistantPE-backed services
Financial-close assistant prototype; targeted 3-5 days off the close.
03Private document reviewRegistered Investment Adviser
Document-review workflow on a private model; client data never left the firewall.

Representative of typical mid-market engagements. Read the case studies →

§ 06 · What comes next

From prototype to production.

The First 5 Weeks stands on its own. You leave with a working prototype and a clear decision, with no obligation to continue. If you do, each next step compounds on the process and data foundation from the first five weeks, sequenced across your roadmap rather than bought all at once.

01Production buildout
A fixed-scope Use Case Buildout (12-16 weeks) that takes the prototype to production, proposed at the end of the First 5 Weeks.
02Additional workflows
Extend the same approach to the next prioritized workflows, built on the foundation stood up in the first five weeks.
03Governance & model monitoring
Ongoing oversight of accuracy, drift, access, and audit trails to keep every deployment compliant and trustworthy.
04Training & adoption
Role-based enablement, playbooks, and change management that turn the prototype into daily habits.
05Managed operations
Hosting, monitoring, and model oversight if you want us to run it, so your team carries less of the operational load.
§ 07 · Terms

Designed to avoid the usual AI failure modes.

1.Fixed fee. One number, agreed before work begins, and it does not move.
2.Focused scope. One workflow, not an enterprise-wide program.
3.Week-one checkpoint. Confirm, rescope, or stop before build effort ramps.
4.No lock-in. Architecture, workflow, and outputs are designed around your environment, and you keep them.
5.A clear next step. Production rollout is scoped separately, only if you choose to continue.
§ 08 · Common questions

Asked by most buyers, answered up front.

01What happens at the week-one checkpoint?
Scope, success measure, data access, and architecture are reviewed with your team, and the decision is put in writing: confirm scope and proceed, rescope to a better workflow, or stop before build effort ramps.
02What does production cost after the five weeks?
Production rollout is the separate, fixed-scope Use Case Buildout (12-16 weeks). It is scoped during week 5 and delivered as a fixed-scope proposal, so you know the full production cost before committing a dollar to it.
03Will this pass our security review?
The architecture is decided in week one and documented in the recommendation: private, hybrid, or external, matched to your data sensitivity and compliance posture. Access controls, logging, output review, and auditability are configured from day one, and we work within your vendor-review process.
04Do we need our data cleaned up first?
No. Putting the data the workflow depends on in order is part of the work: process first, then data, then AI.
05Who actually does the work?
The senior team you see on the About page. The people who scope your engagement are the people who ship it.
06What tools and models do you use?
We are model-agnostic. The workflow is built around your environment and your risk posture, and everything we build is yours: nothing to license, nothing to return.

Discuss your first workflow.

If your team knows AI matters but is not sure where to start, we can help identify the first practical workflow. A senior person reads every note, and you hear back within one business day.

Discuss Your First Workflow → See where AI helps

Not ready to talk? The Operator's Guide to Practical AI covers how to scope, de-risk, and measure a first AI workflow without losing control of your data. Get the guide →

Mete TuzcuFounder & Principal Consultant · Wellesley Cove Group
Wellesley Cove Group