The feasibility assessment

You have an idea, and a business that depends on you getting it right. Before you spend a builder's budget, spend a fraction of it finding out whether the idea deserves one.

What it is

A fixed piece of work with one job: to tell you whether your idea is worth building. Some people call it an artificial intelligence feasibility study; I call it the cheapest mistake-prevention either of us can buy.

I come to understand your business. I examine what you already have: your records, your systems, the way a working week actually runs. Then I test the idea against all of it.

You get a straight answer. If the answer is no, I will say so, and you will have spent a fraction of what building the wrong thing costs.

What I examine

• Your records and data: whether what you have collected can actually support what you want to build.
• Your systems: what the new work would have to connect to, and what that connection would cost.
• Your people: who would use the system in an ordinary week, and what would make them trust it — or quietly stop using it.
• The law: what the rules that govern your industry and your customers' information demand of anything we build.
• The economics: what building and running it would cost, against what it would honestly return.

Who asks for this

Owners of resorts, hotel groups and medical practices bring me new ideas. Leaders in finance, retail and technology bring me something different: a project already underway that needs an independent second opinion. Both use the same assessment, because the question is the same — is this worth the budget it is asking for?

What you receive

• A written report, in plain language, that you could hand to your accountant or your business partner.
• A clear verdict: build it, change it, or leave it.
• An honest account of what building it would take, in money, in time, and from your own people.
• A recommended first step, whichever way the verdict falls.
• A conversation at the end to walk through all of it, for as long as you need.

How the weeks unfold

The first week belongs to your business, not the technology: conversations with you and the people who would live with the system, and a look at how an ordinary week actually runs. The second week goes into your records and your systems — what is really there, as opposed to what everyone believes is there. The difference between those two is where most AI projects quietly die, and finding it early is most of what you are paying for.

The remaining time is spent testing the idea against everything the first two weeks surfaced, pricing what a build would honestly cost to create and to run, and writing the report. Then we talk it through, for as long as you need.

How long it takes

Three to four weeks from our first conversation. I do the work myself; nothing is handed to a junior.

What it costs

From €9,500, agreed in full before we begin. The price is fixed for the agreed scope. There is no meter running.

If the verdict is to build, that work is scoped and priced separately as a design and build engagement. You are under no obligation to build with me, and the report is yours either way.

Questions people ask before commissioning one

What is an artificial intelligence feasibility study?

A short, fixed piece of work that answers one question before any building starts: is this idea worth a budget? I examine your records, your systems and the way your business actually runs, then give you a written verdict — build it, change it, or leave it — with the costs and risks spelled out in plain language.

How is this different from a free consultation with a vendor?

A vendor's free assessment is the start of their sales process; the honest answer and the profitable answer are not always the same one. This assessment is the product, paid for and finished in its own right. If the right answer is "do not build this", that is the verdict you receive, and the engagement ends there.

What happens if the verdict is that the idea is not worth building?

You keep the report, and you will have spent a fraction of what building the wrong thing costs. The report also records what would have to change — in your data, your systems or the market — for the answer to become yes, so the work keeps its value even when the verdict is no.

Can you assess a project that is already underway?

Yes. An independent second opinion on a live project — whether it is on track, whether the design will hold, whether the spend is justified — uses the same method and the same fixed fee. It is often the cheapest point at which a struggling project can still change course.

How to start

Write to me about the business you run and the idea you cannot put down. If the assessment is the wrong first step for you, I will say so.

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