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Ship Something Real: The 90-Day Commercial Sprint

You have an AI mandate, something real to ship this quarter, and a team already underwater.

In ninety days, done with you, your commercial function operates with AI at its core - and one flagship deliverable ships: a bid submitted, a proposition launched, or your AI operating model live. Your team runs the system after I leave.

This page is the full brief - scope, variants, finish lines. It's written so you can forward it to procurement as it stands; the commercial pack with detailed terms is available on request.

Who it's for

The MD, Commercial Director or CCO carrying it

You, and the senior team around you. You have the mandate, something real to ship this quarter - a proposition to launch, a strategy to land, a commercial model to build, a bid to win - and a capable team that is underwater. My heritage is insurance, financial services, and automotive mobility; the method is execution, and it travels.

This is augmentation, not replacement: your team does the work with me, and keeps the capability when I leave.

Variants

One sprint, three variants

The same 90-day shape - three workstreams, three finish lines - anchored to the deliverable you actually own. We pick the variant at kick-off and write it into the statement of work.

Variant one

The bid / RFP sprint

You have a live RFP, bid, or major pitch this quarter. The flagship workstream anchors to it: response strategy, structure, drafting, rehearsal - submitted within the term, to a standard above anything your function has produced before.

Variant two

The proposition sprint

You have a proposition that doesn't yet exist. The flagship workstream builds it: the concept, the commercial model behind it, a working prototype where it helps - taken to its first external meeting within the term.

Variant three

The AI operating system sprint

The mandate is the function itself. The flagship workstream is your commercial operating model: workflows designed and live across the function, the system workstream deepened, your team running it before I leave.

Scope

Three workstreams, each with a defined finish line

Every variant shares this structure. These definitions of done go into the statement of work verbatim - anything not listed in scope is out of scope by default. That discipline is what protects the 90-day finish line.

Diagram: the 90-day sprint as a shipping route - First Ship at day 14, mid-point at day 45, shipped at day 90 - with the story, artefact, and system workstreams running as lanes beneath

1. The story

In scope: one core commercial narrative; one master deck (up to around 25 slides) plus one derivative version for a named audience; the commercial structure and pricing logic behind it, documented; two review cycles with your senior team.

Done when: the master deck and commercial rationale are signed off by your sponsor and have been used in at least one live external meeting.

Not included: brand or visual identity work beyond the deck; multiple propositions; ongoing deck production after sign-off.

2. The flagship deliverable

In scope: one named deliverable, identified at kick-off and written into the SOW - a live RFP, bid, or major pitch; a new proposition with its commercial model and prototype; or the function's AI operating model. Strategy, structure, and drafting or build support; rehearsal and coaching where the timeline includes a presentation stage.

Done when: the deliverable is shipped - submitted, presented, or live - within the sprint term.

Not included: a second deliverable - additional work is additional days, quoted in the commercial pack; a win guarantee - the promise is materially stronger work shipped on time, not the buyer's decision; post-submission negotiation support beyond one advisory session.

3. The system

In scope: AI workflow design for the commercial function across up to four named use cases (bid production, account research, meeting preparation, and outbound are typical); tool selection and configuration guidance within your IT and compliance constraints; three training sessions for the commercial team (up to ten people); one operating playbook documenting the workflows.

Done when: the four use cases are live, your team has run each at least once without me, and the playbook is delivered.

Not included: enterprise IT procurement, security review, or data protection assessments (yours to run - I advise); building custom software; training beyond the named team; ongoing support after the term (available separately - terms in the commercial pack).

Illustration: an overhead flat-lay of the sprint kit - rolled plans banded in orange, a notebook and pencil, coiled rope, a pair of dividers, and a paper boat
Investment

Headline terms

£25,000

Founding engagement. List price £35,000 from the second sprint.

Ninety days from kick-off, my time capped at two days a week, maximum two sprints running at any time. Workstream outputs - decks, bids, models, playbooks - are yours; my methods and frameworks remain mine. I sign your NDA before I see anything.

The commercial pack - payment schedule, change control, additional-day rates, IP and confidentiality terms - is written for procurement and available on request.

Request the commercial pack
The alternative maths

You will resource this mandate one way or another

The realistic options, priced honestly:

A strategy consultancy

c. £400,000

A capable team that has never sold a deal in your market, learning it on your fee.

An AI generalist hire

c. £80,000 a year

Knows the tools. Doesn't know your market, senior buyers, or what a winning bid looks like.

This sprint

£25,000

Someone who has personally shipped the kind of work you're chasing - working with your team, on your flagship deliverable, for ninety days.

One won bid, or one launched proposition, is worth £2M-£15M a year in this market. A six-month contractor at market day rates costs more than this sprint and ships less. The maths isn't close.

Why me

The receipts, briefly

Specific clients and deal names are under NDA and shared, where possible, in conversation.

What I need from you

The sprint fails without these

Questions

What procurement and sponsors ask

Is there a win guarantee?

No, and be wary of anyone who offers one. The promise is materially stronger work, shipped on time - the buyer's decision is theirs. What I can point to is the record above.

How is confidentiality handled?

I sign your NDA before I see anything. All work happens under your data and confidentiality policies, inside your constraints - including which AI tools your IT and compliance teams have approved. I never name clients or deals publicly; that discipline is visible on this site.

What if our deadline moves?

The sprint anchors to one named deliverable at kick-off. If its timeline moves inside the ninety days, we flex the sequencing across the three workstreams - the finish lines don't change. Whichever variant you're running - a bid, a proposition, or the operating model - the anchor is a real external deadline or board date.

What does my team actually have to commit?

The sponsor commits an hour a week plus a fortnightly review. The delivery team commits the time they were already going to spend on the work - the difference is how it gets done, not how much of it there is. The three training sessions in workstream three are 90 minutes each, for up to ten people.

How do we contract?

A short statement of work with the three definitions of done written in. The payment schedule and explicit change control - anything outside the in-scope lists is quoted and agreed in writing before work starts - are set out in the commercial pack, which is written to go straight to procurement.

What happens after day 90?

Your team is trained, the playbook is delivered, and everything I built stays with you. No retainer, no dependency. If you want further days later, they're available - rates are in the commercial pack - but most teams don't need them.

Illustration: a ship leaves the dock, trailing an orange line out past the lighthouse
Next step

A working session, not a sales call

Bring the deliverable - the bid, the proposition, or the mandate. In forty-five minutes we work on it together - if I can't add visible value in that session, we don't proceed, and you keep the notes.

Book a working session