AI is cheap.
Bad decisions are not.
Here's the deal: we figure out how your work actually flows, sort out what AI should handle and what your people should keep, and write it all up as a plan you can build from. Two, three weeks. You own it, whether we build it or not.
Fixed price · 2–3 weeks · you own the specs
Think about it like a barrel. A cooper doesn't build one by nailing on an extra plank — every stave gets fitted and bound so the whole thing holds when there's pressure on it. Your operation's the same. Bolt AI onto an org chart you wrote before any of this existed, and you've just bought a subscription nobody opens. Fit it to a workflow you actually redesigned, and it holds. AI is cheap. Bad decisions about it are very costly.
Bolted on
You add a shiny subscription to a workflow nobody touched. The handoffs are still broken, everyone's job is exactly the same, and three months later it's quietly dead. You paid for it. You just didn't get anything.
Fitted & bound
We map the work, call where AI carries the load and where your people keep the judgment, and write a spec so clear the build can't go sideways. The tech lands on something that was actually rebuilt to hold it.
No model names, no buzzwords. Just the stuff you'd actually pay for.
The Audit. We tell you which workflows are actually worth automating and exactly where to start — so you're not guessing.
Build. We make it work, straight from the spec we already wrote. Nobody re-explains anything, nothing gets lost.
Role redesign. Every affected job gets a clear purpose and a simple map of what AI handles and what stays human. Nobody's blindsided.
Most places hand strategy to one vendor and the build to another, and everything important falls in the gap between them. We don't do that. It's one loop, and the spec is the thread running through it — it's what we hand you, and it's what we build from.
We trace how the work really happens — the handoffs, the waiting around, the stuff people retype by hand.
We sort every workflow: what AI takes, what your people keep, and which skills suddenly matter more.
We write the best opportunities up as specs you can actually build from — and they're yours, no matter what.
We build it from that same spec. No starting over. Same hands that diagnosed it are the ones building it.
Fixed scope, fixed price, two to three weeks. By the end you know what to automate, how each job changes, and where to start — written up as specs that are yours to keep.
How your key processes flow today, bottlenecks marked.
Every automation candidate scored on effort, value, readiness — then ranked.
Each affected role: purpose statement + what AI does vs. what stays human.
Your top opportunities, written buildable. The most valuable page — and the hinge into Build.
What to build first, second, third — and the cost of doing nothing. Ends on one move.
"Five hours a week back, per person — and a plan the team could actually run."
The shape of a Cooperage outcome: time returned, roles clarified, one system live. Your named result goes here after the first engagement.
The whole industry splits into strategists who can't build and builders who can't advise. The thing that falls into the gap is the spec. We just don't have that gap.
The translator
I've spent years turning what leaders want into specs an engineer can build from without a dozen follow-up questions. That translation is the whole job — and it's exactly where most projects fall apart.
The builder
A senior engineer who builds from the same spec you got handed. One loop, two sets of hands, and nothing lost in between them.
A flat fee, and I'll tell you the number before we start. No hourly meter, no "discovery" billing that balloons. You'll know the exact price and exactly what you're getting before you spend a dollar.
Totally fine — you still own every spec and the whole roadmap. Take it to any developer you like. There's no lock-in and no pressure. Building with us is a separate decision you make only if you want to.
Two to three weeks, kickoff to walkthrough. Week one we map how things work, week two we sort and score, week three we write the specs and put the whole thing together.
Nope. Figuring out where your data and tools are ready — and where they need a little prep — is part of the job. We take your operation as it actually is, not some ideal version of it.
Any business with manual bottlenecks and the budget to fix them — owners and ops leaders at small-to-mid companies. And if you're not a fit, I'll tell you straight on the first call. No sense wasting either of our time.
One conversation and we'll both know if the Audit's a fit. If it's not, I'll say so. If it is, you'll know exactly what you're getting and what it runs before we start a thing.
Book the AuditFixed price · 2–3 weeks · you own the specs