Measurable returns from AI.
Not another pilot that quietly stalls.
Or write directly: nathan-scott-consulting@polsia.app
Why this practice exists
The gap between AI in use and AI that returns money.
Independent research shows roughly two-thirds of AI-using SMBs already report $500–$2,000 in monthly savings — yet the vast majority of generative-AI pilots still fail to deliver measurable return. The gap is not whether to use AI. It is whether the use case is the right one, and whether the team is set up to deliver a measurable outcome within ninety days.
The practice is built to close that gap. Every audit is scoped to surface use cases that can be tied to hours saved, dollars recovered, or revenue added within the first ninety days of implementation. Trust is earned through published case studies with specific before-and-after numbers rather than credentials.
- Fixed scope, not hourly billing
- Outcome anchored to 90 days
- Hands-on delivery, not staff augmentation
- Build-vs-buy recommendation per use case
The engagement
Two phases, priced separately, scoped to outcomes.
The audit is the start. The retainer is the conversion. You keep the audit document whether or not you continue, and the document is written so your team can act on it even without further involvement.
Phase 01
A prioritized set of high-ROI AI use cases for your operation, an implementation roadmap, and a build-versus-buy recommendation — in place of the open-ended discovery that most consultancies bill by the hour.
- Ranked use-case list scoped to hours saved, dollars recovered, or revenue added in the first 90 days
- Implementation roadmap with the sequencing, dependencies, and risks spelled out
- Build-vs-buy recommendation per use case, including vendor candidates where off-the-shelf is the right answer
- A one-page executive summary your leadership team can read in five minutes
Phase 02
For clients who move forward, the audit converts directly into a monthly retainer covering hands-on build, integration, and the ongoing governance the recommended AI workflows require.
- Direct build and integration work on the workflows the audit surfaced
- Prompt, model, and policy governance — kept in version-controlled files, not in someone’s head
- A monthly review of measured outcomes against the 90-day targets from the audit
- Hands-on delivery from the lead consultant — not a sprawling services team
How it works
Four steps from first call to a measured outcome.
The cadence is short by design. The point of an audit is to give your team a written artifact, not to bill a discovery phase.
- 01
Intake call
A 30-minute call to confirm fit: what you operate, where AI is already touching the business, and whether an audit is the right next step. No charge, no follow-up sequence.
- 02
Audit engagement
Two to three weeks of structured interviews, workflow observation, and tooling review. The output is a written document, not a slide deck — easier to act on, easier to share internally.
- 03
Walkthrough & handover
A live read-through of the audit with your leadership team. Every recommendation is anchored to a measurable outcome and a target. You keep the document whether or not you continue.
- 04
Retainer (optional)
If the audit surfaces work worth doing, the engagement converts into a monthly retainer. Capacity is intentionally small — four to six active clients is the steady-state target.
Outcomes the engagement targets
Use-case patterns the audit is built to surface.
The four patterns below are what an audit typically uncovers in a services-heavy SMB. Specific numbers depend on the operation; the expectations below are what to plan around when scoping a retainer.
Intake triage
Routing inbound requests to the right person, surfacing what needs a human reply versus what can wait, and cutting the average response time on the high-value items by half.
typical: 8–14 hrs / month recovered
Drafting
First-pass drafts of the everyday written work — client replies, internal updates, proposals — that an experienced operator can edit in seconds rather than write from scratch.
typical: $1.5K–$2.5K / month recovered
Summarization
Condensing long threads, transcripts, and documents into the brief a decision-maker actually needs to read. Reduces meeting prep and the cost of catching up after time away.
typical: 4–6 hrs / week per lead
Structured data extraction
Turning unstructured documents — contracts, invoices, application forms — into clean structured records without a human retyping every field.
typical: $500–$1.2K / month recovered
Questions?
The five objections answered first.
Cost, ROI timeline, build vs buy, data handling, and retainer scope — answered in priority order, every answer anchored to a ninety-day outcome and the same small hands‑on practice of four to six active clients.
What the audit buys you
Size the upside before you commit to the audit.
A fixed-scope audit costs between $3,000 and $5,000. The widgets on the right let you bracket the size of the opportunity in your operation — hours recovered, dollars saved, revenue added — annualized against a $75/hr fully-loaded rate.
Returns, sized to your operation
What AI could be worth inside ninety days.
Drag the sliders to your operation. The headline shows what those returns would annualize to at a $75/hr fully-loaded rate — well above the cost of the audit that surfaces them.
Estimated annualized value
$187,500/ year
Anchored to a $75/hr fully-loaded professional-services rate. Specifics depend on the operation; the audit is what pins them down.
- 25 hrs/wk × $75/hr × 52 wks$97,500
- $2,500/mo × 12 mo$30,000
- $5,000/mo × 12 mo$60,000
Hours your team gets back from the workflows the audit would automate.
Direct cost recovery — contractor hours avoided, software spend replaced, manual work folded into automation.
New or recovered revenue attributable to faster response, better conversion, or capacity the team previously could not sell.
Estimates only — anchored to a $75/hr fully-loaded rate. Specifics depend on the operation; the audit is what pins them down.
Reserve the audit
Two fixed-scope products. Pick the band that fits the operation.
The audit is paid up front because the deliverable is a written document with a measurable 90-day outcome — not billable discovery. After checkout you land on a short intake form that auto-routes the packet to the audit team.
Most engagements
$3,000
Right-sized for owner-operated and small services-heavy businesses that need a written, ranked use-case list and a clear path to ship the first one inside 90 days.
- Ranked use-case list with quantified 90-day outcomes
- Implementation roadmap + sequencing
- Build-vs-buy recommendation per use case
- One-page executive summary for the leadership team
Larger / AI-active operations
$5,000
For 200+ headcount or teams that have already spent $25k+ on AI and need broader workflow depth, vendor diligence, and the operational review an in-flight AI program requires.
- Everything in Standard, extended to broader workflow depth
- Vendor diligence with a shortlist and trade-offs spelled out
- Governance & policy review (prompts, models, audit trail)
- A second pass on already-installed tooling — keep / revise / replace
Not sure yet? The intake call is the right place to confirm fit. Write nathan-scott-consulting@polsia.app and the call happens within a week.
After checkout the buyer lands on a short intake form that auto-routes the packet to the audit team — every submission emails us the complete business context, tool stack, and top-3 operational pains so the engagement can start the moment a confirmed work order arrives.
Next step
Write a short, specific email. The intake call happens within a week.
Send details of the operation, what is already touching AI, and the outcome you would want measured at the 90-day mark. The intake call costs nothing and is the right place to confirm whether an audit is the next step.
For the fastest reply, include: industry, headcount, and one sentence on what AI is currently doing in the business. The intake call is approximately thirty minutes.