halcroft/services/AI Operations Audit
£4,750 · two days on-site · written report in five days

Two days, on-site, with the founder.
In person, always.

The AI Operations Audit is a fixed-fee, in-person engagement where halcroft assesses how your firm actually runs, identifies where AI will deliver commercial value, and names what should stay human. Delivered anywhere in the UK, USA, or Western Europe.

01 / why in person

The operational reality is at the desk,
not the boardroom.

Most AI consultancies went remote-only. halcroft didn't. The reason isn't romance — it's that the partner-level narrative of how a firm runs and the actual workflow at the desk of the person doing it are usually two different things. That gap is where AI fits, or doesn't.

Two days on-site catches it. The audit happens with the people who do the work, watching the system as it actually moves, asking the questions you can't ask over a screen-share. The output is sharper because the input is real.

The audit fee includes mainland UK travel. For engagements outside the UK, travel and accommodation are charged at cost and agreed in advance. The audit is the engagement halcroft is willing to fly for. Everything else runs remotely.

02 / what's included

Fixed scope.
Five deliverables.

Everything is scoped before the engagement starts. No open-ended discovery, no scope creep, no “we'll figure it out as we go.”

two days · on-site

Two days on-site with the founder

Mapping the operational reality where it actually happens — sitting with the people who do the work, not the people who manage it. Not a workshop, not a slide review. Working sessions across the workflows that matter.

five-day delivery

A written audit report

Delivered within five working days of the on-site engagement. Specific, named tools, estimated timelines, ballpark implementation costs, and a clear recommendation on sequencing. No filler.

prioritised list

A ranked opportunity list

Every candidate workflow stress-tested against three criteria — commercial impact, implementation difficulty, durability. Ranked, sequenced, with what to build first and what to leave alone.

90-day roadmap

A 90-day roadmap

What to ship first. What to defer. What not to build at all. The audit names what NOT to automate, not just what to. That discipline is the work.

follow-up call

A 60-minute follow-up call

Scheduled after delivery to walk through the findings, answer questions, and discuss next steps. Honest read on whether halcroft is the right fit to build what the audit recommends — or whether you should take it in-house.

03 / how it runs

Before, during, after.

Five touchpoints. None of them are surprises. The audit is designed for partners who don't have time for a six-month discovery process.

before

A scoping questionnaire

Sent before the engagement. Business model, current tech stack, team structure, the operations the firm considers most painful or valuable. Completed before day one so the on-site time is spent on depth, not orientation.

day 01

Workflow mapping

Walking through the firm with the people running each workflow. How work moves through the business, where decisions are made, where time and money are lost. Focus on the real operations — not the org-chart version.

day 02

Opportunity stress-testing

Each candidate workflow tested against commercial impact, implementation difficulty, and durability. Day ends with a verbal debrief covering initial findings. You know the direction before we leave.

within 5 days

Written report delivered

Specific recommendations, named tools, estimated timelines, ballpark costs, and a 90-day roadmap. Sequenced by impact. Honest on what should not be built.

follow-up

Walkthrough call

60 minutes to discuss the findings, answer questions, and decide what — if anything — comes next.

04 / terms

£4,750. Fixed fee.
Plainly stated.

No hidden line items. No “contact us for pricing.” No different number for different firms. The audit costs what it costs, and you decide whether it's worth it.

fee
£4,750

Fixed fee covering two days on-site with the founder, the written report, the 90-day roadmap, and the 60-minute follow-up call.

VAT not currently charged · GBP
payment
50% / 50%

Half on booking, half on delivery of the written report. Paid in GBP via bank transfer or Stripe. USD and EUR equivalents available on request.

Stripe · bank transfer
travel
UK included

Mainland UK travel and accommodation included in the fee. Outside the UK — anywhere in the USA or Western Europe — travel and accommodation are charged at cost and agreed in advance.

No surprises

The audit is designed to stand alone.

You don't have to build with halcroft afterwards. The written report is yours. You can act on it internally, hand it to another vendor, or sit on it. If halcroft is the right fit to build what the audit recommends, the next step is a 14-day implementation project scoped from the findings. If we're not the right fit, the report says so.

05 / common questions

What partners ask.

Because the operational reality is in person. Remote audits get the org-chart version of the firm — the partner-level narrative of how things work. The actual workflow lives at the desk of the person doing it. Two days on-site catches the gap between the two, and that gap is usually where AI fits.

It covers the two days on-site, the written report, the 90-day roadmap, and the 60-minute follow-up call. Travel within mainland UK is included. For engagements outside mainland UK, travel and accommodation are charged at cost, agreed in advance. Payment is 50% on booking, 50% on delivery of the report.

No. The audit is designed to stand alone — you can take the report and act on it internally, hand it to another vendor, or sit on it for six months. If halcroft is the right fit to build what the audit recommends, the next step is an implementation project scoped from the findings. If we are not the right fit, the report says so.

Audits are scheduled four to six weeks ahead, depending on travel logistics. The free AI Readiness Briefing is bookable inside a week — that is the right starting point if timing matters.

Mid-tier accounting practices, law firms, and insurance operations — typically 4 to 40 partners or principals, £2m to £50m equivalent revenue. Smaller firms usually do not need an audit; the briefing is the better fit. Larger firms may need a phased rollout per office, which we discuss during the briefing.

Then we don't sell you one. The briefing is free and exists to assess fit in both directions. If the highest-impact move for your firm is something other than a paid audit — a single workflow build, a vendor decision, or no AI at all yet — the memo will say so.

Start with the briefing.

The audit rarely fits as the first call. The free 45-minute AI Readiness Briefing exists to decide whether a paid audit is the right move for your firm. We'll tell you straight.

Book a briefing →