Can these structures be combined?

Yes. Most engagements blend two — for example, a phased fixed fee for a governance build followed by a monthly subscription for ongoing support, or a portfolio fixed fee alongside capped-fee project work.

Are hourly rates still available?

Yes. Traditional hourly billing remains available for matters that genuinely cannot be scoped in advance, and we will say so plainly when that is the case.

What is not covered by a fixed or subscription fee?

Third-party costs — government and agency filing fees, foreign associate fees, court costs, expert fees, and travel — are passed through at cost and identified before they are incurred.

How do we agree on the right structure?

We start with a short scoping conversation about the work, the timeline, and the budget you need to plan around, then propose one or two structures in writing before any work begins.

Engagement Models

Engagement models. Agreed before the work starts.

Most engagements fall into one of three models. The right one depends on how defined the scope is and how you need to budget — and the price is agreed in writing before anything begins.

Three primary engagement modelsScope agreed in writingNo surprise invoices

Fixed-scope offers

Answer the AI questionnaire. Keep the deal moving.

Healthcare and financial services teams are increasingly asked to complete an AI vendor risk assessment or security questionnaire before a contract is signed. We help you prepare well-documented answers — and keep them current.

AI Deal-Readiness Sprint

$4,500 fixed fee · 3 weeks

A focused three-week engagement to evaluate AI governance readiness and prepare documentation for vendor, customer, and security reviews.

AI use-case and workflow inventory
Governance gap assessment
AI risk prioritization
Policy and oversight recommendations
Actionable remediation roadmap
Readiness documentation package

Discuss a Readiness Sprint

Ongoing AI Governance Advisory

Starting at $2,500 per month

Ongoing advisory supporting governance inventories, policy updates, vendor oversight, and responsible AI adoption — a fractional AI governance function for your team.

AI and agent inventory kept current
Policy updates as tools and rules change
Vendor oversight and support with new reviews
Predictable monthly cost

Explore Ongoing Governance

Final scope and terms are confirmed in a written statement of work. Work outside the agreed scope is quoted separately. Engagements support readiness; they do not guarantee certification, regulatory compliance, or questionnaire outcomes.

How engagements are structured

Projects

One agreed price for a defined piece of work.

Investment

Quoted after scope

Best for: Discrete, well-scoped work: an AI opportunity assessment, a policy build, a vendor evaluation, a workflow deployment.
How it works: We scope the project, agree a fixed price and timeline in writing before work begins, and bill it in one or two installments. Out-of-scope requests are quoted separately rather than silently added.

Written scope and deliverable list
Fixed price agreed in advance
Defined revision rounds
Third-party costs billed at cost

Works best where the scope is stable. Projects that expand materially are re-scoped as a new fixed fee or moved to another structure.

Advisory Retainers

A recurring monthly fee for ongoing access and a set volume of work.

Investment

Quoted after scope

Best for: Teams that need steady advisory support — vendor questions, governance decisions, adoption guidance — without hiring in-house or watching the clock.
How it works: A fixed monthly fee covers an agreed scope: a defined volume of work, response-time commitments, and standing availability for questions. Reviewed quarterly and adjusted as the volume shifts.

Named point of contact
Agreed response times
Defined monthly work allowance
Quarterly scope and usage review

Requires a minimum term (commonly three to six months) so both sides can calibrate volume. Large projects sit outside the retainer and are quoted separately.

Transformation Programs

A larger program broken into separately priced stages.

Investment

Quoted after scope

Best for: Multi-stage programs: an enterprise AI governance build, a company-wide adoption roadmap, an operating-model redesign.
How it works: The engagement is divided into phases — assessment, design, implementation, rollout — each with its own price, deliverable, and go/no-go decision point. You approve each phase before it starts.

Per-phase pricing and deliverables
Decision point between phases
Freedom to pause or stop after any phase
Consolidated program roadmap

The first phase is often priced low because its purpose is to size the rest of the work accurately.

These structures describe how we price work; they are not a fee schedule or an offer of engagement. Every engagement is quoted individually in a written statement of work after a scoping conversation, and third-party costs are passed through at cost.

Questions about pricing

See illustrative engagements Take the AI Program Assessment

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