Strategic Partnership

AI Advisory Retainer.

AI keeps moving. Monthly advisory and quarterly deliverables to keep your organization's posture current as the landscape does.

60 min/month

structured advisory session, agenda yours to set
Quarterly

AI tool risk tier refresh + AI landscape brief
$1,200/month

3-month minimum commitment

Why this matters.

A one-time governance package or infrastructure assessment has a shelf life. New tools surface, risk tiers shift, policies need updating — and employees start asking questions the original policy didn't anticipate. Most SMBs have no one on staff whose job it is to track this, and the IT lead (if there is one) is already stretched across a dozen other priorities. The organizations most at risk of letting their AI governance work go stale are the ones who did it right the first time. The Advisory Retainer keeps it current.

What we do.

A 60-minute advisory session every month — agenda set by you. Common topics: evaluating a new AI tool your team wants to adopt, working through a policy question that surfaced in practice, a situation with an employee and an AI tool that landed in a gray area, an upcoming decision with AI implications, or a change in the landscape you want a second read on. Between sessions, email access with a one-business-day response target — for questions that can't wait until the monthly session, not as a second advisory channel running in parallel. Every quarter: an updated AI Tool Risk Tier List (reviewed against new tools, notable changes to existing vendors' terms and data handling, and any tools your team has flagged since the last review) and an AI Landscape Brief — a one-page written summary of what changed in the prior quarter that's specifically relevant to your industry, your tool stack, and the decisions you're actually tracking. Not a general AI market recap.

Every month: 60-minute advisory session — scheduled monthly, agenda set by you. Common topics: new AI tool evaluation, policy questions, employee situations that surfaced, upcoming decisions with AI implications, landscape changes worth a response. Structured as a working session, not a status update. Email access — one-business-day response target, fair-use. For questions that can't wait until the next monthly session.

Every quarter: AI Tool Risk Tier refresh — review of your Approved / Conditional / Prohibited list against tools added since the last review, notable changes to existing tools' terms or data handling, and any tools the team is considering. Updated document delivered. AI Landscape Brief — one-page written summary of notable AI developments in the prior quarter relevant to your industry, use case, and current tool stack. Specific to what matters for this client, not a general AI newsletter.

What you walk away with.

A designated AI advisor who tracks the landscape and knows your environment. Monthly advisory time that's yours to direct. Quarterly deliverables that keep your policy and risk framework from going stale. And a clear escalation path when something surfaces that warrants a separate deliverable — an updated policy section, a new tool assessment, a full infrastructure re-evaluation. That work is scoped and billed separately; the retainer covers ongoing advisory, not new deliverable creation.

What's in scope.

Monthly 60-minute advisory session. Email access (one-business-day response, fair-use). Quarterly AI Tool Risk Tier refresh (updated Approved / Conditional / Prohibited list, delivered document). Quarterly AI Landscape Brief (one page, industry- and environment-specific).

What's out of scope.

New deliverable creation — drafting a new policy from scratch, a full infrastructure assessment, an integration map, a new governance package. These are separate engagements, scoped and billed separately. Technical implementation of any recommendation. General IT advisory beyond AI scope — that's vCIO territory. Unlimited email or on-call availability — consistent high-volume use is a signal the engagement shape should convert to something broader. Facilitated employee training or all-hands AI sessions.

This is the right engagement when…

You completed an AI Governance & Policy Package or AI Infrastructure Readiness Assessment and want to keep that work current as the landscape and your tool stack shift.
Your organization is actively using AI tools and questions come in faster than your internal team can research and answer — new tools to evaluate, policy gray areas, vendor term changes, employee situations.
You want a designated AI advisor who already knows your environment — not a consultant who needs three onboarding calls before they can answer the first real question.
You don't need the full scope of a vCIO retainer ($3,500+/month, quarterly business reviews, living IT roadmap) — but you do want a consistent AI advisory relationship rather than ad-hoc conversations every time something changes.
You're fielding AI questions from leadership or your board on a regular cadence and want someone to hand those questions to rather than developing your own AI expertise from scratch.

What you receive across the engagement.

Monthly advisory session 60 minutes, client-directed agenda. Typical topics: new AI tool evaluation, policy questions, employee situations that surfaced, upcoming decisions with AI implications, landscape changes worth a response.
Email access One-business-day response target, fair-use. For questions that can't wait until the next monthly session.
Quarterly AI Tool Risk Tier refresh Updated Approved / Conditional / Prohibited list, reviewed against tools added since the last review and notable changes to existing tools' terms or data handling. Updated document delivered.
Quarterly AI Landscape Brief One page, written, specific to your industry and tool stack. Notable AI developments from the prior quarter relevant to your decisions — not a general AI newsletter.

Here's the kind of question this retainer handles in a monthly session:

The client's procurement manager raises a new AI contract review tool in the monthly session — the vendor is pitching it hard, it processes contracts via API, and the manager wants a gut check before moving it to IT. We pull up the existing Risk Tier List, walk through the vendor's data handling terms, and note that contract data is Conditional under the current policy — external AI systems with client data require case-by-case review. The client needs three things from the vendor before this moves to Approved: SOC 2 Type II, a DPA that prohibits training on client data, and an audit log for API queries. That's the session. The client leaves with a specific checklist for the vendor conversation, and the Risk Tier List gets a new Conditional entry for the tool with the open conditions documented. Total time: 40 minutes of the 60-minute session.

— Illustrative session · the kind of question an AI Advisory Retainer is built to answer

How we're different.

Environment-specific, not generic. The quarterly Landscape Brief is written for your industry, your tool stack, and the decisions you're tracking — not a general AI market summary. The monthly session is built around what's actually in play for your organization.
Continuity. The advisor who ran your governance or infrastructure engagement is the same person on the retainer. No onboarding, no context-rebuilding, no "remind me what tools you're using."
Distinct from vCIO scope. For clients already on a vCIO retainer, AI advisory folds naturally into that engagement — there's no separate AI retainer on top of it. This is for organizations that want AI advisory specifically, without the broader IT leadership scope.
A real escalation path. When something surfaces that warrants new deliverable work — an updated policy section, a new tool assessment, a full re-evaluation — we scope and bill it separately. The retainer covers ongoing advisory; larger deliverables are separate engagements.

Already fielding AI questions? Let's talk about what a monthly advisory relationship looks like for your organization.

Schedule a free discovery call

Indiana · U.S. remote