We've worked with enough operators in Oakland to know that the brief that arrives in our inbox is rarely the brief that ends up shipped. The first thing we do on any AI strategy project is sit with your team for a day before we propose anything.
Built and supported here - the way an Oakland business would actually use it.
Our goal is to give Oakland businesses a three-day weekend, so people can spend more time with their families and the people they love :)
What AI strategy actually does
A clear-eyed AI roadmap built for your business - not a generic deck. We sit with your team, map the high-value plays, and write the build order. You leave with a plan you could actually start tomorrow.
- 01 On-site discovery with the people doing the work
- 02 Ranked initiatives with ROI, effort, and risk
- 03 Tool selection - not married to any vendor
- 04 Phased 90-day plan you can execute or hand off
Built on: Claude Notion Miro Linear
Without Kiwi Dynamics
With Kiwi Dynamics
What you actually get
Every engagement is scoped and quoted up front. This is what is in the box.
- A working pilot, in productionNot a prototype on someone's laptop. The first slice of AI strategy runs against real work within weeks.
- Your data stays yoursIt runs on your accounts and your tools. If we part ways you keep the system and everything in it.
- The workflow mapped before codeWe write down what good looks like for Oakland businesses first, so nobody is guessing at handover.
- Support after it landsThe people who built it stay reachable when the business changes shape around it.
How AI strategy compares
The two things most businesses do instead, and where each one runs out.
| Hiring for it | An off-the-shelf tool | Kiwi Dynamics | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fit to how you work | Fits perfectly, costs a salary | You bend your process to suit the tool | Built around the workflow you already run |
| Time to something useful | Immediate, and permanent | Quick to switch on, slow to make fit | A working slice in weeks, then hardened |
| Who owns the data | You do | The vendor, on the vendor's terms | You do, in your own accounts |
| When it breaks | That person sorts it, if they are in | A support queue and a ticket number | The people who built it |
| What it costs | A salary, every year, forever | Per seat, forever, used or not | Scoped and quoted up front |
The Oakland context, plainly.
- Oakland runs on logistics, healthcare and a wave of businesses priced out of San Francisco - AI here means Bay Area capability without Bay Area rent.
- One of the busiest container ports on the West Coast, a major hospital network, and a growing tech and creative scene that moved across the bay for the rent. Oakland businesses want the same AI rigor as San Francisco without the San Francisco price tag.
We work with teams across Oakland: Downtown Oakland · Jack London Square · Temescal · Fruitvale · Rockridge · West Oakland.
Talk to us about this →
How we build AI strategy for an Oakland team.
We scope narrow, ship a working pilot, then harden it into production. The first slice is the highest-leverage workflow for your Oakland business, so value lands before the build is finished. AI roadmap + plan.
Talk to usHow the work runs
- Find the one workflowWe look for the job costing Oakland businesses the most hours or the most leads, and deliberately ignore the rest for now.
- Ship a working sliceA narrow version goes into production in weeks, against real work, so the value shows up before the build is finished.
- Prove it, then widenWe measure it against what the work cost before. If it does not pay for itself, we say so rather than scaling it.
- Harden and hand overLogging, fallbacks and a real handover, so it keeps running when we are not in the room.
The outcome for Oakland teams
The shape of the result for Oakland teams: Most plans pay for themselves in the first build. Built on Claude, hardened with the rest of the stack as it scales.
Not your typical AI agency.
Honest about what AI can and cannot do
Ships the one workflow that pays for itself
Hours given back, never the size of the invoice
*Every engagement is scoped and quoted up front. Results vary by workflow and business.
FAQ
What's a typical engagement length for Oakland businesses?
Six to twelve weeks for the build, then a short managed-services month while the system goes from "shipped" to "owned by your team". After that you keep us on retainer if you want, or take it from there yourself.
Do you do hourly billing or fixed price?
Fixed price for the pilot, every time. After that it's your call - fixed price per milestone or a small monthly retainer for ongoing iteration. We don't run open-ended T&M because it disincentivises us from finishing.
Anyone else in this space using AI strategy?
Plenty. Most plans pay for themselves in the first build. The interesting question is rarely "does it work" - it's "is your team ready to use the output." That's what we'd scope on the call.
Can you work with our existing systems?
Yes. The default AI strategy stack we reach for is Claude, Notion, Miro, Linear, but we'll bend it around whatever you already run - Xero, HubSpot, Shopify, Cin7, your own in-house apps. The discovery week maps every data source before any build starts.
Talk to us about this
Tell us what you're trying to do and we'll reply with how we'd build it - no obligation.