How it would go
From the first call to month six, in five steps.
Pick the kind of business closest to yours. You’ll follow an example firm through the whole engagement: what we ask, what we find, what we build, launch day, and where things stand six months in.
Illustration only. The firm, people and messages are invented, and every figure is an example. Your own numbers come from your assessment.
The five steps of a Ballast Group engagement
The first call (week 0, 30 minutes, free). Both partners join. We ask where your team loses the most hours, how client requests flow today, and which work must never leave a person's hands. You leave with an honest view, even if AI isn't a fit yet. An NDA is in place before you share anything.The assessment (weeks 1 to 3). We interview your team, map how work moves through the business, and put a yearly figure on each gap (for example, staff × hours a week × hourly cost × 50 weeks). You get a written report with what we'd recommend not automating, a ranked plan and a fixed build price. The fee is credited against the build if you go ahead.The build (weeks 4 to 9). A private AI console connected to the tools your team already uses, usually starting with three systems such as a client inbox, document collection or quote drafting. Each system names where a person stays in charge. Built in from day one: a private environment, data never used to train AI models, a full audit trail, approvals for anything that reaches a customer, a usage cap and a pause switch.Launch day (week 10). A request comes in, the system drafts the reply or work order in seconds from your own documents, and a person approves it before anything goes out. Everything is logged.Month six (projected). Results build month by month, which is why every plan runs at least 12 months from launch. We only recommend a plan when it should return at least 2.5 times its yearly cost.
The interactive version shows an example firm for each of five industries: accounting, law, insurance and benefits, property management, and trades. Firms and figures are illustrative.
Want to see this for your business?
A 30-minute call is free. We’ll ask the same questions, give you an honest view of where AI would help, and tell you where it wouldn’t.