Before you spend on AI, know which workflow is worth it.
Decide where AI will pay off before you commit the budget.
You come out knowing which workflow to move first, what it is worth in dollars, and whether it is a go.
3 weeks · executive-led · fixed fee from $22,500 CAD · ends in a go/no-go decision
Not sure Jumpstart is your first step? Take the 10-minute diagnosticWhy organizations start with a Jumpstart
Most organizations don't fail because of AI. They fail because they chose the wrong starting point. Architech has spent 22 years building the operational systems large organizations run on, and the Jumpstart puts that experience behind your first AI decision.
Avoid the wrong investment
Many AI programs fail because the first project was chosen poorly. A production build runs $50,000 to $150,000; the Jumpstart is protection against pointing that capital at the wrong workflow.
Align leadership early
Workflow redesign crosses organizational boundaries. The Jumpstart creates shared understanding across the leadership team before implementation begins.
Decide on evidence, not opinions
The shortlist is built from watching your people do the work, not from interviews alone. You leave with one workflow chosen, the numbers it will be measured against, and the target it has to hit.
Avoid fragmented pilots
Multiple experiments create noise, not progress. This forces a single, validated starting point.
What the Jumpstart is
The AI Jumpstart is a short, executive-led engagement that picks the first workflow worth redesigning with AI.
It is not a discovery call or a roadmap exercise. In three weeks you get a clear, evidence-backed answer on where to start.
Most AI consulting hands you a strategy deck. A Jumpstart hands you a ranked shortlist built from watching the work, one workflow chosen with its target agreed, and a go or no-go decision with the economics attached.
You are not buying hours of analysis. You are buying the decision: which workflow, what it is worth, and whether to go - with your leadership team signed on to the answer.
How the engagement works
The clock is short and the goal is a decision, not more options to weigh.
Before the clock starts: scope and book
One call with your executive sponsor and an operational leader names the three areas of your operation we will look at closely. Then everything is booked in one pass - the leadership interviews and the working sessions. The call comes before the paid engagement begins, and the three weeks start once the calendar is confirmed.
Weeks 1-2: watch the work
Two tracks run together. We interview your leadership to build the full list of candidate workflows and what each is worth. And we sit with the people who do the work in the three chosen areas - recorded screen-share sessions, two or three people per area - then break what we saw into tasks with AI-assisted analysis. The recordings are your data, access-controlled and used only for this engagement. In week 1 we also check the ground the candidates stand on: an approved AI platform, an AI policy, sanctioned access to your data.
Week 3: the workshop and the shortlist
Your leadership team sees the work as it actually happens, next to how they thought it happened - at task level, from your own operation. Then the shortlist is settled. Two questions are pass or fail: can your systems and data support this workflow today, and is there a leader who will own the change. A workflow that fails either is out, however valuable it looks. The three or four that pass are ranked on value, feasibility, and risk, and each carries an honest read of what it would cost to run after launch, not just to build.
Week 3: the decision
The economics of the leading workflow, the numbers it will be measured against, and enough scope definition to price a Transformation Blueprint - then a go or no-go session with your executive team, with the rationale documented either way. If executive calendars cannot land the readout inside week three, it moves to week four without reopening the analysis.
Small wins first, then the real redesign.
In the first weeks we watch the work and build a couple of small automations from what we see. They prove what is possible and they sharpen the assessment. They are not the answer. Automating tasks inside a process nobody has questioned only makes that process faster. The workflow itself is what has to change.
Your team's involvement: an executive sponsor, the leaders we interview, one or two operational owners per area, and six to ten people who walk us through their work for about an hour each - plan for 15 to 20 hours total. That is more time than most assessments ask for, because the shortlist is built from watching the work, not asking about it.
If the groundwork questions are still open - no approved AI platform, no AI policy, no sanctioned data access - the AI Foundations Blueprint is qualified at the scoping call and runs in parallel, so the decision and the ground it stands on arrive together.
What you leave with
Every Jumpstart ends with a decision, not a recommendation.
Every Jumpstart ends with the same set of outputs, and a clear decision before you commit capital.
Scored workflow shortlist
Three or four candidates, built from watching the work. Two pass-or-fail questions screen them first - can your systems support it, and will a leader own it - then the survivors are ranked on value, feasibility, and risk. Each shows what it would cost to run after launch. Strong ideas we did not get to watch go on a next-cycle list, labelled as such.
Foundations check
Whether an approved AI platform, an AI policy, and sanctioned data access exist, and any obvious gaps on the paths your candidates travel. It is a check, not a design: where something is missing, the AI Foundations Blueprint designs the fix, and it can run in parallel with the Jumpstart.
Economic evaluation
The operational and financial impact of the leading redesign, modeled in terms your leadership team can act on. Projections are labelled as projections - measured results come later, in live operation.
The workflow you will start with
One workflow chosen, the numbers it will be measured against and the target it has to hit, and enough scope definition to price a Transformation Blueprint.
Working examples
Two or three small automations built from the work we watched, on your approved platform, plus one built personally for your executive sponsor. They exist to show what is possible and to sharpen the decision - evidence, not finished deliverables.
Go / no-go decision
A clear go or no-go before capital is committed, signed off by your executive team, with the rationale documented either way.
The Jumpstart leads somewhere real.
The workflows a Jumpstart picks are the same kind we later put to work in your live operation and measure against where you stand today.
The first step in the Work Redesign System
You start where the value is clearest and move one stage at a time, seeing results before you commit to the next.
These stages overlap, but Jumpstart defines where to begin.
When the AI Jumpstart is the right starting point
Start with the AI Jumpstart when
Multiple AI ideas exist but no clear starting point
Workflows cross systems, teams, and data boundaries
Teams are under pressure to move beyond pilots
Leadership needs a single, validated starting point
The first workflow has not been chosen yet
Start somewhere else when
Security or data access concerns are blocking AI work. Start with AI Foundations
An approved AI roadmap needs to go live in your operation. Start with Workflow Transformation
You have a defined plan and validated foundations and are ready to build. Speak with AI Engineering
We chose to work with Architech because of how much of a thought leader they are in all things digital, whether it's looking at retail or at innovation.
What buyers ask before booking an AI Jumpstart
A scored shortlist of three or four workflows built from watching the work: each candidate must pass two pass-or-fail questions - can your systems and data support it today, and is there a leader who will own the change - and the survivors are ranked on value, feasibility, and risk. Alongside it: an economic evaluation, the selected workflow with the numbers it will be measured against, and an executive go or no-go decision. The deliverable is decision-ready. Nothing about it depends on a follow-on engagement with Architech.
An executive sponsor, the leaders we interview, one or two operational owners per area, and six to ten people who walk us through their work for about an hour each. Total time commitment for internal participants is typically 15 to 20 hours across the 3 weeks - more than most assessments ask for, because the shortlist is built from watching the work, not asking about it. Architech leads the analysis and does the synthesis.
Most AI consulting produces a strategy deck. An AI Jumpstart produces a scored workflow shortlist built from watching the work, one workflow selected with the numbers it will be measured against, and a go or no-go decision, all in 3 weeks with a fixed scope. It is built to get you to a confident yes or no with evidence behind it, not to sell you more consulting.
You can if the workflow is already selected, the economics are already modeled, and the acceptance criteria are already agreed with your CFO. If any of those are unresolved, the Jumpstart pays for itself by preventing a build against the wrong workflow.
Define where AI should actually be applied.
A short engagement to find where AI creates real business value, test feasibility, and define the fastest path to a result in your live operation.
Measured in real use: 35% faster resolution, documents and approvals completed 60% faster, 3x faster information retrieval.
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