Engagement Philosophy

Outcome-driven leverage for executives who execute.

The Principles

  • 1. Outcome-First We don't sell hours. We sell validated business outcomes supported by governance. Engagement starts with a KPI-bound contract.
  • 2. Governance-Locked AI execution must be governed from day one. If the outcome can't be governed, audited, and provably controlled, we don't build it.
  • 3. Operator-Led Advice comes from building and running $1B+ platforms. No junior associates. Every conversation is founder-led.
  • 4. Sovereign Control You own the outcome, the data, the infrastructure, and the evidence. No vendor lock-in. No "black box" intelligence.

The 4-Phase Engagement Model

1

Outcome Discovery & Qualification

2-4 Weeks

What Happens:

  • Validate organizational readiness and executive sponsorship
  • Define outcome targets with measurable KPIs
  • Map regulatory constraints and compliance requirements
  • Identify governance gaps before investment
  • Determine platform and technology approach

Deliverables:

  • Signed outcome contract (KPI-bound agreement)
  • Technical and regulatory gap analysis
  • Governance framework outline
  • Architecture decision record
Risk Eliminated:
  • → No more undefined success criteria
  • → No more post-investment discovery of blockers
  • → No more misalignment between strategy and execution

Next Step: Decision to proceed to architecture or pause

2

Governance Architecture & Design

4-8 Weeks

What Happens:

  • Design policy-as-code framework
  • Define what AI can and cannot do (governance rules)
  • Map human authority checkpoints and escalation
  • Create evidence and audit requirements
  • Build execution architecture (platform-agnostic)

Deliverables:

  • Complete governance architecture
  • Policy-as-code implementation specification
  • Outcome contract with enforcement rules
  • Evidence and auditability framework
  • Platform selection (if applicable)
Risk Eliminated:
  • → No more ungoverned AI execution
  • → No more missing evidence when auditors arrive
  • → No more platforms that can't meet compliance

Platform Handoff: If client elects ArkAI platform execution, this blueprint becomes the implementation specification under separate commercial terms. If client uses alternative technology, governance framework is portable and technology-agnostic.

3

90-Day Governed Execution Sprint

8-12 Weeks

What Happens:

  • Implement execution system (Revenue, Logistics, Compliance, Legal)
  • Configure governance with client policies
  • Deploy in controlled environment with monitoring
  • Validate KPIs under real operational load
  • Train client team on governance operations
  • Document evidence and audit trail

Deliverables:

  • Operational execution system
  • Cryptographically notarized execution proof
  • KPI validation report (did we hit targets?)
  • Runbook for ongoing operations
  • Training and knowledge transfer
Risk Eliminated:
  • → No more pilots that don't scale
  • → No more post-deployment governance failures
  • → No more "successful POC, failed production"

Success Metric: KPIs achieved in production-live environment with zero policy violations and full audit trail.

4

Scale & Ownership Transfer

12+ Weeks

What Happens:

  • Expand to additional use cases or departments
  • Transfer operational ownership to client team
  • Establish ongoing governance monitoring
  • Option: Platform licensing (client owns infrastructure)
  • Option: Air-gapped sovereign deployment

Deliverables:

  • Full platform ownership (if applicable)
  • Complete governance documentation
  • Operational playbooks
  • Evidence archive and audit trail
  • Independence from vendor dependency
Risk Eliminated:
  • → No more vendor lock-in
  • → No more dependency on external teams
  • → No more loss of institutional knowledge

Outcome: Client owns execution infrastructure, governance model, and evidence chain. ArkAI Advisors engagement complete.

Engagement Structure

Who Does the Work?

Surya Sagi leads every engagement as your fractional Operating CTO. Depending on scope and timeline, engagements may include:

Role Who Responsibility
Engagement Lead Surya Sagi Strategy, architecture, client interface
Technical Specialist Advisor Team Execution, implementation support
Domain Expert Advisor Team Industry or functional expertise

All team members are bound by NDA and operate under ArkAI Advisors' direction and quality standards.

System Access

To be effective, we typically need access to:

  • Communication tools (Slack, Teams)
  • Project management (Jira, Asana, Linear)
  • Documentation (Confluence, Notion, SharePoint)
  • Relevant technical systems (as scoped)

Access is limited to what's necessary, and we comply with your security policies. Background checks available upon request.

Confidentiality

Everything we see stays confidential. Our MSA includes:

  • Mutual NDA provisions
  • Subcontractor confidentiality flow-down
  • Clear IP boundaries (we don't claim ownership of your work)

Capacity Constraints

Because every engagement is personally led by the founder to ensure architectural integrity and governance quality, we only accept 3-5 strategic engagements per quarter.

This selectivity allows us to act as strategic leverage for executives, rather than a delivery vendor.