Read this before booking. The rules say what I will refuse. The rhythm says what your team can hold me to, Monday by Monday. If any rule disqualifies the engagement, the rest of the conversation is shorter, and that is the system working.
Each rule below was broken on an engagement once. The engagement paid for it. They exist so yours does not.
Pilots prove the team can wire a demo. Production proves the architecture. The work I take is the second.
If the architecture does not fit on one page, the engagement is wrong. Your team gets the diagram first; the contract follows.
Day rates reward presence, not output. Every engagement is one fixed price, agreed up front. Three products, no others.
And I will point you at someone who is right. Most discovery calls end here. That is the system working, not breaking.
The 30 minutes is for architecture, not provenance. A whiteboard or a back-of-napkin sketch is enough.
Written analysis your board can read without me in the room. Decks are an output of last resort.
Including yours, if your team needs hands more than it needs an architect. I will say so on the first call.
“No slides. No pitch deck. Bring the architecture diagram.”
See the rhythm ↓Rules are easy to write. The discipline is in the calendar. Three weeks. One artifact each Friday. A go / no-go gate at the end.
Every engagement, regardless of pillar, takes the shape below. The product changes; the cadence does not. Week four is a real choice, never a default.
Stakeholder interviews, org access, agent telemetry review. I learn how the program actually runs, not how the steerco describes it.
Data-access map, security and sharing audit, architecture remediation plan. The week the diagram earns its keep.
Sequenced fixes, build vs. configure calls, dependency graph. Procurement-ready scope and a yes / no decision your CTO can sign.
Direct delivery, or alongside your SI partner as architecture authority. Retainer shape, 30-day notice either way.
Every artifact is a file your team can open, edit, and forward without me in the loop. Same templates across every engagement.
Written analysis your CTO can take to the board. Findings, risks, sequenced fixes. The week-three deliverable.
Every risk surfaced in diagnosis, ranked by cost, time, and political damage. Filterable by your delivery lead.
Drawn in the diagram language used throughout the engagement. Six primitives, one accent, one direction. Fits on a single A3 sheet.
If yours is not here, raise it on the call. The list grows with every engagement.
No slides. No pitch deck. Bring the architecture diagram, or describe the problem in your own words. By the end of the call you will know whether I am the right architect and what the next step costs.