§How we work
How an engagement runs.
The first stage is a retrieval test on your real documents that ends in a written recommendation. Nothing after it is committed until you have read that.
- 01
Assess
We go through the documents with you: formats, volume, how clean they are, and who is allowed to read what. Then we run a retrieval test on a sample of your real material, so there is a measured accuracy number before anyone commits to a build.
You get
A written recommendation and a go or no-go.
- 02
Architect
The design is written down before anything is built: where the boundary sits, how permissions are enforced, what runs where, how documents get in, how updates get applied. Your security team reviews it while it can still be changed.
You get
An architecture your reviewers can assess.
- 03
Build
We build the system in your environment: ingestion, retrieval, permission-aware access, the citation interface, and an evaluation harness that runs against a test set you have agreed is correct.
You get
A working system with its evaluation suite attached.
- 04
Hand over
Documentation, a walkthrough of how it behaves when things go wrong, and enough time with your people that they can run it without us. Ongoing support after handover is available if you want it.
You get
Your team running it.
Before we start
What we need from you.
Someone who knows the documents
Someone who knows the content: which policies supersede which, which folders have gone stale, who owns what. This person matters more to the result than any technical choice.
A decision on access
Who may read what, written down precisely enough that software can enforce it. Many organizations have never had to pin this down before.
A real test set
Twenty to fifty questions your people actually ask, with answers you agree are correct. Without it there is no way to measure whether the system is any good.
Scope
If your project is bigger than retrieval.
Retrieval is what we do most, so it is what this site describes. Most projects also involve cleaning up the documents, working out the permissions, and connecting the system to the tools your people already use.
If you are looking at any of that, or at something we haven’t covered, get in touch.