How we work
How an engagement runs.
Art & Tech, Inc. is a company, and an engagement runs like the B2B relationship it is. This is the whole process, laid out plainly, so you know what to expect before you commit.
The first conversation
Every engagement starts with a thirty-minute call, and there is no pitch in it. You tell me about the product and the people it serves, or the decision in front of you. I tell you plainly whether I am the right help and how I would approach the work. If I am not the right fit, I will say so, and point you somewhere better when I can. The first conversation is free.
Confidentiality
Most of this work touches things you would not want shared: unreleased products, research, roadmaps. If we both want to go further, I sign an NDA where confidentiality calls for it, usually before you send anything sensitive, and before I can really assess the work.
Scope, statement of work, and contract
With that in place, I scope the work and give you a real estimate, not a guess: what we are doing, what you get, the timeline you want, and what it costs once I have weighed the work against that timeline. We shape that into a statement of work (SOW) together. I am glad to work under your company’s standard contract, with the SOW referenced for the detail, and any later changes handled as change orders. No billable work starts before that is in place.
The two shapes an engagement takes
Scoped project. A defined piece of work, with agreed activities, deliverables, a timeline, and a fixed or capped budget. Good when you know the outcome you need.
Fractional retainer. Ongoing, part-time senior advisory: a set amount of my time each month. Good when you want a steady hand as things evolve, not a one-off deliverable.
When it is bigger than one person
You always have one senior lead, me, accountable for the whole engagement. When the work is bigger than one person, I bring the specialists it needs and lead them, so you deal with one point of accountability rather than managing a bench. When you would rather build the capability in house, I help you hire for it and get your team to the bar.
Ownership of the work
You are paying for the work, and you should own what you need to use. We set out exactly what transfers to you, and when, in the contract, so there is no ambiguity later.
Billing
No surprises here either. How I price, when I invoice, and the payment terms are all set in the contract before we start, so you always know what is coming.
If this is the way you want to work, the first conversation is where it starts.