Advisory

Most AI projects do not fail on the model. They fail on everything around it.

The workflow nobody redesigned, the data nobody owns, and the people expected to absorb the change. I design the system that survives contact with all three, and I build enough of it to prove it works.

How engagements are shaped

Four ways in. Most organisations start with a briefing or a diagnostic, and the diagnostic is what usually decides whether there is a bigger piece of work worth doing.

Start here

Board briefing

Half a day with your leadership team. Where AI actually applies to your operation, and where it does not.

Half day · fixed fee
Most common

Diagnostic

A written architecture and a sequenced ninety-day plan, scoped and priced before we begin.

2–3 weeks · fixed fee
Build

Architecture sprint

The design plus a working reference implementation your team can carry forward.

6–10 weeks · scoped
Ongoing

Embedded advisory

Architectural authority inside your organisation while it builds. Capped days, monthly.

Retainer · capped days

Selected work

Anonymised to sector and scale. Each one led with an operational problem, not a technology.

Healthcare R&D · Portugal

Clinical notes written after the shift ends

Replace with the real engagement

Situation, what was designed and built, and what changed as a result. Roughly 150 words. Lead with the operational problem in the client's language.

Municipal social services

Beneficiary data trapped in separate systems

Replace with the real engagement

Situation, what was designed and built, and what changed as a result.

SME advisory · Portugal

Funding calls found too late to answer

Replace with the real engagement

Situation, what was designed and built, and what changed as a result.

Professional services

Month-end reporting that took four people three days

Replace with the real engagement

Situation, what was designed and built, and what changed as a result.

Who this is not for

  • ✕Organisations looking for a proof of concept to show the board. I build things intended to stay in production.
  • ✕Teams who want a tool selected rather than a problem solved. The tool is the last decision, not the first.
  • ✕Anyone who needs the answer to be that AI is the answer.

Start a conversation

Tell me what is actually going wrong and I will tell you whether this is work I can help with. If it is not, I will usually know who can.

Replace this block with the Tally enquiry form. It should ask for: organisation, sector, approximate headcount, what has already been tried, and timeline. Email me directly in the meantime at david@carvalhao.com.

Engagements are contracted through Entropic Ventures Unipessoal Lda, Figueira da Foz, Portugal.