Six ways to work with us — chosen to fit the risk, not the invoice
Scope certainty, direction and pace differ from project to project, so the model does too. Each one below states plainly who does the work — the principal engineer alone, or the principal plus vetted specialists from our network — and we will tell you when a cheaper model suits you better.
Discovery & prototype sprint
Prove the idea before funding the build
A short, fixed-fee engagement run personally by the principal engineer. It turns an ambiguous idea into a validated plan: a working prototype, an architecture, and a delivery estimate you can take to a budget conversation.
- Best for
- New products, AI feasibility questions, unclear scope
- Commitment
- 2–4 weeks, fixed fee
- Commercials
- Fixed price per sprint
Included
- Problem framing and success metrics
- Clickable prototype or thin vertical slice
- Target architecture and integration map
- Delivery plan with estimates and risks
AI product pod
Principal-led delivery, sized to the work
Our most common model. The principal engineer works as your product team on a rolling monthly basis, shipping every week against a shared roadmap — and pulls in vetted specialists from our network (design, mobile, data, security) for the stretches that need them, so you get a team's range without a team's overhead.
- Best for
- Continuous roadmaps and evolving scope
- Commitment
- Monthly, 3-month minimum
- Commercials
- Flat monthly fee, scoped to the pod shape
Included
- Principal engineer owning delivery end to end
- Vetted specialists added as the roadmap demands
- Weekly demos and a public delivery board
- Full DevOps, QA and observability ownership
- Roadmap flexibility without change requests
Fixed-scope build
Defined outcome, milestone billing
When requirements are clear and stable, we take the delivery risk. Scope, acceptance criteria and milestones are agreed up front, the principal engineer builds against them, and you pay only against accepted milestones.
- Best for
- Well-defined projects with firm budgets
- Commitment
- 6–20 weeks, milestone-based
- Commercials
- Fixed price per milestone
Included
- Signed scope and acceptance criteria
- Milestone plan with demo gates
- Defect warranty after each release
- Handover documentation and training
Embedded engineers
Senior capacity inside your team
Senior engineers from our network — the principal, a vetted specialist, or both — join your existing team, your rituals and your codebase. You direct the work; we handle matching, ramp-up and continuity, and every engineer works to the same review and documentation standards.
- Best for
- Teams with capacity gaps and their own process
- Commitment
- Monthly rolling, 30-day notice
- Commercials
- Monthly rate per engineer
Included
- Skill-matched senior engineers, personally vetted
- Overlap with your working hours
- Knowledge transfer and a briefed backup
- Access to our AI tooling and delivery standards
Managed support & reliability
Keep what you shipped healthy
Ongoing operations for live systems: monitoring, incident response, security patching and a steady stream of small improvements. Response windows are set to what a studio can honestly hold — and for round-the-clock cover we bring in an on-call partner rather than pretend otherwise.
- Best for
- Live products needing maintenance and uptime
- Commitment
- Monthly rolling
- Commercials
- Retainer by support tier
Included
- Response targets written into the agreement
- Monitoring, alerting and incident handling
- Security patching and dependency upgrades
- Reserved hours for enhancements
Fractional CTO & AI advisory
Senior technical judgement, part-time
Architecture reviews, hiring plans, vendor decisions and AI strategy from a senior technologist embedded a few days a month — for founders and leaders without a full-time CTO.
- Best for
- Founders and leaders needing technical direction
- Commitment
- Monthly, days-based
- Commercials
- Day-rate block per month
Included
- Architecture and code review
- AI strategy and build-vs-buy calls
- Hiring scorecards and interview support
- Vendor and cloud cost review
Which model fits your situation
A quick way to narrow it down before we talk.
| Model | Scope | Who does the work | Billing | Who directs work | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery sprint | Fixed | Principal only | Fixed fee | Shared | Validate before you commit |
| AI product pod | Evolving | Principal + specialists | Monthly | Pilaka Tech leads | Ship continuously |
| Fixed-scope build | Fixed | Principal, specialists as needed | Per milestone | Pilaka Tech leads | Known requirements |
| Embedded engineers | Your backlog | Principal or network specialist | Per engineer | You lead | Add senior capacity |
| Support & reliability | Operational | Principal, partner out of hours | Retainer | Shared | Run live systems |
| Fractional CTO | Advisory | Principal only | Day block | Shared | Direction and governance |
Still deciding between two models?
Send us the context. We will recommend one, explain the trade-off, and put it in writing before any commitment.