Use Cases

Situations where a technical strategy consultant changes the outcome

The common thread: what looks like a technology decision is almost always a business one.

01
Pre-Build

You're about to commit to a major software build

The Situation

The vendor proposal is in front of you. The internal team has a plan. The contract is close to being signed. It looks reasonable to everyone who's reviewed it.

What's at Stake

The architecture assumptions in a software proposal are set by the people who've already decided what they're going to build. Scope is defined based on what's visible in requirements conversations — not based on how your operations will grow. What looks bounded at signing becomes significantly larger when the real complexity surfaces.

The Value

An independent review of the architecture, scope, and assumptions before you commit. You go into the engagement knowing where the real exposure is — and with the specific questions your vendor should answer before work begins.

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02
Internal Tools

Your internal tools are starting to fail under your process

The Situation

The tools your team depends on were built to solve a specific problem at a specific point in time. The business has grown. The process has changed. The tools haven't kept up — and the gaps are now being filled with workarounds that have become their own problem.

What's at Stake

Internal tools fail in a specific pattern: slowly and then suddenly. By the time the breakdowns are visible, a significant amount of institutional process is encoded in systems that weren't designed to carry it. The cost isn't just the technical work — it's understanding what the tool was actually supposed to do versus what it ended up doing.

The Value

A structured assessment of what's broken, why it broke, and what a viable path forward looks like — one that reflects how your business actually operates now, not how the original system was designed.

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03
Build vs. Buy

You need to decide whether to build, buy, or integrate

The Situation

Your team has identified a software problem. You've heard the options: buy a vendor product, build something custom, or integrate an existing tool. Everyone has a strong opinion. Nobody has a clear framework for evaluating them.

What's at Stake

Build vs. buy decisions are almost always evaluated on features and upfront cost. The variables that matter more — total cost of ownership, long-term maintainability, the real scope of customization required — rarely get the same attention. The wrong choice here is expensive in ways that take years to fully surface.

The Value

An evaluation without a stake in the outcome. Which option actually fits your process. What each path costs over time. Where the customization requirements of a "buy" option quietly push you back toward building. A recommendation with reasoning you can take into a board conversation.

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04
AI Strategy

You're evaluating what AI can realistically do for your operations

The Situation

Everyone is telling you that AI will transform your business. You've seen the demonstrations. Your board is asking about your strategy. You're not certain what's real versus what's been optimized to generate excitement.

What's at Stake

The use cases for LLMs and AI tools that actually work in production are narrower, more expensive, and more dependent on your existing data infrastructure than the demos suggest. Organizations that don't understand this going in tend to over-invest early and under-deliver on the actual value — often damaging confidence in the technology before it's been fairly tested.

The Value

An honest assessment from an operator's perspective — not an engineering one. What use case actually fits your business. What your data situation needs to look like for this to work. What a realistic implementation timeline looks like. Whether this is the right time to invest, or a problem to solve in 12 months.

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05
Technical Hiring

You're making a major technical hire or vendor selection

The Situation

You're about to hire a CTO, a lead engineer, or a software development firm. The decision has significant long-term implications. You know what outcome you need — you're less certain how to evaluate whether the people you're talking to can deliver it.

What's at Stake

The first major technical hire sets the trajectory of your technical organization. The first vendor relationship sets the precedent for every one that follows. Evaluating technical candidates and vendors without a technical perspective means optimizing for confidence and communication skills — which matter, but aren't sufficient on their own.

The Value

Preparation and a reference point. What to ask. What good answers look like. Where the gaps in a technical proposal are likely to surface. The confidence to make a decision based on substance rather than on whoever was most fluent in the conversation.

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Recognize your situation?

The next step is a conversation. You'll know within 30 minutes whether this is the right fit.

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