AI-powered engineering for Engagement models
Four engagement models, each with a defined shape. You pick based on the constraint you actually have — scope clarity, team capacity, or product stage. We are transparent about how each one works because the right model up front saves both sides months later.
Engagementmodels
Fixed-scope project delivery
Best when the deliverable is well-defined and you want price certainty. We agree the scope, milestones and price up front; you pay against milestones. Standard team: one delivery lead, two to three senior engineers, plus a half-time designer when the work is user-facing.
Time-and-materials project delivery
Best when scope is expected to evolve as you learn from users. Same team shape as fixed-scope, monthly billing against a transparent burn-down. Scope adjustments happen in writing at the start of each sprint, not as surprises at the end.
Team augmentation
Best when you have a team but need senior capacity right now. We embed senior engineers into your team in days, working through your process, your repository, your sprints. Standard rate from €50 per hour per engineer, with a two-week trial before commitment.
Equity partnership
For selected high-potential products inside our vibe-code-rescue track, we sometimes work in exchange for equity participation rather than fees. We act as long-term technical partners rather than vendors. Available case-by-case and only after a paid technical audit.
What every engagementincludes
- Senior-only staffing. Every engineer has six or more years of production experience. We do not staff juniors on client work.
- Your repository, your accounts, your infrastructure. We never deliver a tarball at the end — handover starts on day one.
- A delivery lead accountable for outcomes. One person owns the engagement end-to-end, not a rotation of project managers.
- Weekly demo and written progress notes. Same cadence for fixed-scope, T&M and augmentation engagements.
- AI-augmented workflow. Cursor, Claude Code and similar tools are part of how we work — used to ship faster, not to ship lower-quality code.
- EU-timezone, English-fluent team. Synchronous overlap with EU teams in full, with EST teams in the morning, and a managed window for PST teams.
Every engagement starts with a discovery phase — usually one to two weeks. Discovery is fixed-price so you know what you are buying. The output is a written brief covering scope, milestones, risks, team shape and a numeric estimate. If you decide not to proceed at the end of discovery, that is the end of the engagement; no commitment beyond the discovery fee.
Which modelfits when
- We have a clear deliverable and a deadline. — Fixed-scope project delivery.
- We are still finding the product and scope will move. — Time-and-materials project delivery.
- We have a team but they are overloaded. — Team augmentation.
- Our AI-generated codebase has stalled. — Vibe code rescue, starting with a technical audit.
- We cannot fund the work but the product is strong. — Equity partnership, after a paid audit.
Frequently askedquestions
Can we switch engagement models mid-project?
Yes, and we expect to occasionally. A common pattern is a fixed-scope MVP that hands over into team augmentation once the product is live — your team takes ownership, our engineers stay embedded to absorb the load while permanent hires ramp up. Switches happen at sprint or milestone boundaries with a short transition window so neither side carries the cost of two models running in parallel. We will recommend the switch when it is the right call, even when it shortens our own engagement.What if our project runs longer than the original estimate?
We treat estimate misses as a discovery process. If we are wrong about scope, we say so early — usually within the first two sprints — and propose either a re-baselined plan with new milestones or a defined cut-down to fit the original budget. On fixed-scope engagements we absorb our own estimation error; on time-and-materials engagements you see the burn-down weekly so there are no end-of-month surprises. We will not silently let a project drift and then ask for a budget increase at the end.Do you sign NDAs and DPAs?
Yes to both, by default. We sign mutual NDAs at first contact, before any technical discussion. Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) under GDPR are part of the standard engagement paperwork when we touch personal data, alongside the Standard Contractual Clauses where data leaves the EEA. We will also sign vendor security questionnaires, SOC 2 attestations and BAAs where applicable; these usually come up during procurement at larger clients and we plan for the lead time.Where does the IP live during and after the engagement?
All work product belongs to you from the moment it is committed. Code lands in your repository under your accounts; designs land in your Figma. We retain no claim on engagement-specific work, no shared libraries, and no client-specific tooling — the only thing we keep is the generic methodology we apply across engagements. If anonymised case study publication is part of the engagement we will scope and agree it in writing up front, with you holding veto over what goes public.Can we start with a small engagement before committing?
Yes — the discovery phase is designed precisely for this. Discovery is one to two weeks at a fixed price, ending with a written brief covering scope, milestones, risks, team shape and a numeric estimate. If you decide not to proceed after discovery, that is the end of the engagement; no termination clause, no penalty. Most engagements convert from discovery into delivery, but the ones that do not have saved both sides the cost of a misaligned multi-month commitment.Do you work on retainer for ongoing maintenance?
Yes, but only when the work justifies it. After a launch you can stay on a small retainer — a few days a month for incident response and small improvements — scale up into a continuous iteration engagement, or close out and own the codebase yourselves. We are not in the business of manufacturing dependency; the handover phase exists precisely so internal teams can run the product without us, and we will tell you when that is the right move.
Ready
to ship faster?
