How we work
Three engagement shapes. One measurement method.
AI Training, Automation & Apps, and AI Strategy all end with automations running in your real work and a Savings Ledger of what they returned. They differ in who does the building and who stays on afterward. Pick by that.
01Side by side
What changes between the three, and what does not.
| Compare | 01AI TrainingCohortYour team learns to build. | 02Automation & AppsCoBuildWe build it with you. | 03AI StrategyAssessment and Fractional CAIOKnow where AI fits, and who owns it. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who builds | Your team, coached | Us, with none to four of your people at the keyboard | We map and rank the work; the builds run as a Cohort or a CoBuild |
| People involved | 4 to 12 | 0 to 4 builders, plus the stakeholders who own the process | Leadership, department leads, and one point person |
| Your time | About 4 hours a week | 2 to 4 hours a week, less when none of your people are building | Interviews in the onsite week and four check-ins; then a monthly session if you keep us on |
| Duration | 12 weeks | A scoping sprint, then 4 to 8 weeks per project | Assessment in 4 to 6 weeks; the Fractional CAIO agreement is month to month |
| Where it runs | Your existing tools | Your existing tools, or a hosted app on accounts you own | On site in your organization, then wherever the work gets built |
| What you own at the end | Live automations, control plans, and a team that can build the next one | The code, the data, the accounts, the documentation, and whoever built alongside us | A systems map, baselined hours, a ranked roadmap, and a monthly Savings Ledger if you keep us on |
| How savings are measured | Baselined in week 3, reported at demo day | Baselined at scoping, logged per run, reported at handover | Baselined in the assessment; logged and reported monthly under the agreement |
Best when
You want the capability to stay in the building after the engagement ends.
Best when
You need it built now, with your people as involved as they have time to be.
Best when
You want to know where AI fits before you spend on it, and someone accountable once you do.
02Where engagements start
Two free doors and one fixed fee.
Most engagements begin with one of these. None of them commits you to a lane.
A · Free, one hour
Lunch & Learn
We come to your team, in person or on a call, and work through what AI and automation can do for your specific work. Questions welcome. No pitch.
B · Fixed fee, 4 to 6 weeks
Systems and workflow assessment
An onsite week and four themed check-ins that map your workflows and systems, baseline the hours, and produce a prioritized opportunity map with a roadmap your leadership can act on.
C · Free, eight questions
Online readiness check
A short self-assessment that scores where your organization stands and suggests which lane fits.
03The Savings Ledger
Baseline, build, log, report.
The Savings Ledger is the deliverable every lane shares. Hours are valued at your staff rate. Revenue counts when it is collected. You can check the arithmetic.
Step 01: Baseline
Before anything is built, we time the process as it runs today: who does it, how often, how long, and what an hour of that person costs your organization.
Step 02: Build
The automation or app goes live against that baseline. Nothing counts until it runs in real work, on real records.
Step 03: Log
Every run is logged. Hours saved are valued at your staff rate, not a national average. Revenue an app generates counts only when it is collected.
Step 04: Report
The Savings Ledger: monthly under the Fractional CAIO agreement, at demo day for a Cohort, at handover for CoBuild. The same arithmetic every time, and you can check it.
04 · How the lanes connect
Most clients use more than one.
The assessment is the usual front door: its roadmap names a lane for each item. A CoBuild project is the usual first build, and the Fractional CAIO agreement is how it keeps running and how the next one gets scoped. Cohort graduates move to CoBuild for a bigger build, or to the agreement for a pacing partner. Every lane shares the Savings Ledger, so switching is a conversation, not a restart.
Nonprofits
If you are a nonprofit, start at 501 Labs.
501 Labs is the 501(c)(3) our founder started to save or generate $1,000,000,000 for nonprofits. Its software is free, funded by donors. Civic Dialog is the paid door for nonprofits that need a build on a deadline.
Not sure where to start?
Book thirty minutes. We will tell you which lane fits, or that none does yet, and what a scoping sprint would cover.
Prefer email? erik@civic-dialog.com