How a collaboration with us typically looks.
Not an Agency, Not a Consultancy
We don't take briefings and deliver software. And we leave no presentations behind.
We build the AI-powered operating system that supports your daily operations.
This requires a different kind of collaboration.
It Starts with the System Audit
Before we start development, we must understand your company as a system. Not based on a briefing – but through our own analysis. What data flows where? What processes are interconnected? Where is the friction that has become invisible in daily life? And what is truly possible today with the right architecture and AI?
The system audit is the first concrete step in a collaboration – and the foundation for everything that follows.
What We Do in the Audit:
- Conversations with management: strategy, expectations, pain points
- Conversations with key users: screen sharing, showcasing the real workday – Excel lists, workflows, manual handovers
- Analysis of the existing system landscape: What can stay, what needs to be connected, where are the interfaces
- Detailed documentation of core processes What You End Up With:
- Documented current analysis of your operational processes and system landscape
- Identified pain points, prioritized by impact
- Concrete system architecture: data model, modules, interfaces – focusing on Phase 1 and a clear outlook on Phase 2 and 3
- Implementation roadmap with modules, phases, sequence, and a reliable estimate of man-days
- Fixed price offer for the implementation of Phase 1 Framework data: Duration 2-4 weeks, format remote via video call, typically 5-8 interviews lasting 45-90 minutes. Your effort: making the right people available for the conversations – we take care of the rest.
The system audit is a standalone service. The report belongs to you – even if you don’t continue working with us afterward.
You can find everything about the process, content, and scope here: System Audit
Software Development Across the Three Phases
Based on the system audit, development begins – guided by our 3-phase model. Each phase builds on the previous one. This model ensures that you quickly have a productive system – while at the same time creating an architecture that is sustainable and scalable.
Phase 1 – Order
The digital foundation. We build the system described in the audit concept: central data repository, consistent data model, a user interface for your team. Existing systems are connected so that data no longer needs to be transferred manually.
At the end of Phase 1, you have productive software in use – no presentations and no concept papers. Your team will start using it immediately.
What Is Included in Phase 1:
- Own data model, own database, modern user interface
- All modules from the concept in the first productive version
- Existing systems connected
- Key-user training included Typical duration: 3-6 months, depending on the scope.
Phase 2 – Automation
Once the system is in use, we collaboratively identify the biggest leverage points. Processes that become apparent in daily work – manual steps, repetitive tasks, coordination effort – will be automated.
Experience shows that the best ideas for automation and AI deployment emerge when the team is actively using the system.
What Typically Happens in Phase 2:
- Automated workflows for all meaningful processes
- AI for operational tasks: automatic reading and categorization of documents, emails, analyses, text generation
- Connecting additional stakeholders – partners, mobile employees, customers – via app or portal
- Reporting and monitoring structures
- Further integrations as needed
Here you will feel genuine operational relief. The system begins to carry operational burdens.
Phase 3 – Freedom
The system learns and anticipates. AI and machine learning ensure that the software not only reacts but proactively supports.
Not every company needs Phase 3 – but the architecture is designed from the outset to make it possible.
What Can Emerge in Phase 3:
- Predictive models: forecasting needs, identifying bottlenecks before they arise
- AI agents: data analysis via natural language, autonomous sub-processes
- Antifragile software architecture – systems that can handle the unexpected
- Proactive processes instead of reactive management The company becomes manageable without everyone needing to manage everything. Learn more about the antifragile architecture principle: Antifragile Software
The Key Point
Phase 1 delivers immediate added value. Excel is replaced, transparency is created, daily business operates on a system that works. Phases 2 and 3 are options – not obligations. But because we build the architecture correctly from the start, the path to them is open for you. Not every company needs Phase 3. But every company benefits from having the option available.
Fixed Price or Retainer – Depending on the Phase
The three phases have different characteristics. That’s why we work with two billing models:
- Phase 1 is clearly defined after the system audit – scope, architecture, and modules are defined. We implement this phase at a fixed price.
- From Phase 2 onwards, it is not possible to precisely determine what will be developed beforehand. The truly effective ideas arise only from ongoing collaboration. Therefore, we switch to the retainer model: a fixed monthly allocation of developer days, a shared backlog, prioritization by you, and short iteration cycles. Adaptable or cancellable at any time. Details on both models: Retainer vs. Fixed Price
Sample Timeline
| Time Period | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Weeks 1-4 | System Audit: analysis, architecture, concept, and fixed price offer for Phase 1 |
| Month 2-6 | Phase 1: central data repository, user interface, initial integrations, go-live |
| From Month 6 | Phase 2: automation, AI, further integrations, connected stakeholders |
| From Year 1+ | Phase 3 and continuous development: the system grows with the company |
These timeframes are guidelines. The actual progress depends on your individual starting situation. We will establish the timeline including milestones before the collaboration begins.
How We Work
Four things distinguish our working style from what most companies experience with IT service providers:
- Project managers who develop themselves. The person who discusses architecture, processes, and decisions with you also understands the technical implementation. No translation problems between business and development.
- Close collaboration, not order processing. We work with a project team, short development cycles, and quick decisions. The client invests time in interviews, coordination, and directional decisions. System development doesn’t work without this collaboration.
- Training is part of the delivery. We build the software to be self-explanatory – and still thoroughly train your team.
- The system, not the tool. In many cases, a central platform emerges that forms the operational system of the company. Around this, specialized applications, integrations, analysis, and automation services are created.
The goal is not a tool – the goal is a company that operates like a tech company.
Maximum Freedom: A System That Grows With You
An operating system is never finished. Most companies, therefore, work with us in the long term – in the retainer model with a monthly allocation of developer days. The system is continuously maintained, extended, optimized, and adapted to new requirements, market movements, or technical advancements.
At the same time, your company remains independent.
The software belongs to you – source code, data, architecture. We develop with widely used, modern technologies and programming languages. If you ever want to operate the system yourself or continue developing it with another partner, that is of course possible.
The Result
A company that collaborates with us:
- understands its processes,
- possesses an integrated system landscape,
- requires less manual coordination, and
- makes more informed decisions. It can handle increasing complexity instead of being overwhelmed by it.