Custom-built AI agents · Fixed-fee engagements

A fixed bearing for your AI decisions.

We build the right agent for your stack — custom-built agents first, off-the-shelf automation tools only when the workload is genuinely the right fit. Plumbline AI helps small and mid-sized operators cut through the noise around artificial intelligence and adopt it with confidence. We start with a fixed-fee Readiness Audit, then move into strategy, custom agent builds, and managed runs — replacing the paralysis of "where do we even start?" with a defensible next step.

Book a Readiness AuditSee how we work
Engagement
Fixed-fee
First deliverable
2 weeks
Tools built on
Custom code first — off-the-shelf tools only when the workload fits

Methodology

Four stages. One reference line.

Every Plumbline engagement runs along the same vertical: a diagnostic that fixes a reading, a roadmap written against it, builds that stand on it, and operating hours that hold it level as the business grows.

  1. Readiness

    A fixed-fee AI Readiness Audit — interviews, toolchain scan, quick wins. Maps where AI lifts productivity, revenue, and risk.

  2. Strategy

    A sequenced 90-day roadmap written for the owner: which deployments move the needle first, what to defer, and what it costs.

  3. Build

    Hands-on engineering of agents and automations — most are custom-built for your stack; off-the-shelf automation tools are used only when the workload is genuinely a better fit for one. Built in your accounts, owned by you.

  4. Operate

    Managed agent services: monitoring, prompt tuning, and capacity additions so the system keeps paying out as you scale.

Engagement shape

What you skip by not hiring the Big 4.

Plumbline is positioned as the accessible alternative to a tier-one strategy engagement — same reference-line thinking, with the price point and responsiveness an owner-led company can actually act on.

Tier-one strategy firm
  • Scope written after the kickoff
  • Charged by hour, billed monthly
  • Junior team writes the deck
  • Roadmap delivered in month four
  • Hands the build to a third party
Plumbline AI
  • Scope, deliverables, and fees fixed on day one
  • Fixed-fee Audit delivers a roadmap in two weeks
  • Partner on the call is partner doing the work
  • Builds the agents in your accounts, on your stack
  • Stays on as managed operations after launch

What you leave with

A sequenced roadmap and a steadier read on the next dollar.

Every Plumbline engagement closes with the same five artifacts. You keep them. You can hand them to a board, a banker, or your next hire and the story still reads.

  • Defensible next step

    A ranked list of where AI pays out first — by hours saved, dollars added, or risk reduced.

  • Costed 90-day roadmap

    Dates, owners, and dollar estimates on the first three deployments. Not a six-month discovery.

  • Stack decision

    A clear call: custom-built agents first; off-the-shelf automation tools only when they are genuinely the right shape for the workload.

  • Working agents

    Where you engage Build, agents ship in your accounts and you own the keys. Sandbox approvals included.

  • Operating cadence

    Where you engage Operate, a monthly rhythm of monitoring, prompt retunes, and capacity additions.

Frequently asked

Honest answers before the call.

If yours isn't here, ask us directly — we answer every message the same day.

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A two-week, fixed-fee diagnostic: stakeholder interviews, toolchain and data scan, a list of ranked high-ROI opportunities, and a sequenced 90-day roadmap. You walk away with a defensible next step — not a 60-page deck.

Next step

Start with a fixed-fee Readiness Audit.

Two weeks, a defensible roadmap, and one decision you didn't have yesterday. No obligations, no proposal track — a scoped diagnostic, on the calendar.

plumbline-ai-5@polsia.appRe-read the approach

Engagement window

Audits book 2–3 weeks ahead.

Limited partner capacity keeps the work honest. If you have a Q-numbered decision to make, mention it in your note.

Privacy

Plumbline AI treats every client conversation and engagement artifact as confidential. Client data never leaves engagement systems without consent, and engagement notes are retained only for as long as the active work requires. We do not run advertising trackers on this site.

Engagement terms

Engagements are governed by a per-client Master Services Agreement. Fixed-fee Audits include a single round of revisions; additional scopes — strategy retainers, custom builds, managed runs — are quoted separately. Email plumbline-ai-5@polsia.app for the current MSA template.