Who we work with
Our strongest fit is an organization that:
- already has engineering teams and several data systems;
- is modernizing, migrating to the cloud, integrating an acquisition or starting AI initiatives;
- needs senior architectural leadership for a period, not necessarily a permanent hire;
- wants an independent review of an existing design before a major investment.
We typically work with the CIO, CTO, CDO, VP of Data or head of enterprise architecture, most often in insurance, health tech and general enterprise.
What the architect does — and does not do
We do
- identify the real problem;
- set architecture principles and boundaries;
- evaluate alternatives and make trade-offs explicit;
- design the system and write the blueprint;
- review engineering decisions as you build.
An advisory engagement is not
- another developer on your backlog;
- maintenance of production jobs;
- a vendor pushing one platform;
- an open-ended staffing contract.
When you do want hands-on delivery, our engineering team can build to the blueprint — as a separate, clearly scoped project.
Specialist topics
These come up inside most engagements, and can also be engaged on their own:
| Topic | What we design |
|---|---|
| Data quality & observability | A data-quality operating model: rules, severity, exceptions, ownership, remediation and SLAs — not just a dashboard. |
| Schema evolution & data contracts | A policy that classifies upstream changes as compatible, controlled or breaking — and what happens to each. |
| Master data & identity | Entity resolution, source precedence, survivorship and golden records for customers, products, suppliers and more. |
| Metadata-driven engineering | One reusable processing framework driven by configuration, instead of hundreds of hand-built pipelines. |
| Delivery & CI/CD | Source control, environment promotion, approvals and rollback for data platforms. See Delivery & DevOps. |
How we use AI in our own work
We automate evidence gathering and keep human judgment. Agents help us inventory systems, read repositories and configuration, compare documented architecture with what is actually deployed, and produce first-pass maps. Senior architects interpret the evidence, challenge assumptions, weigh risk and make the decisions. The result: faster engagements, with senior time spent where it counts.