Forward-deployed AI means the AI gets installed in your actual business, on your actual repeated work, and someone stays responsible for it until it works without supervision. For a 10-person business, that does not mean an AI strategy. It means one repeated workflow that works every single time, with a number attached that says how reliable it is.

The big AI companies invented a job title for this: forward deployed engineer. The person goes to where the work happens and makes the AI work there, then stays accountable for it. That is the standard PuenteWorks brings down to small-business size, and this note explains it in plain language, including real prices.

What it looks like at 10-person scale

Not a robot running your company. One of these, done properly:

  • Client intake notes that arrive organized, every time, without someone re-typing them.
  • A document search that answers from your own files instead of the open internet.
  • Draft product listings or follow-up emails prepared for your review under the owner approval rule.
  • Bilingual handoffs where English and Spanish work share one path, not two translations.

The pattern is the same in every case: pick one repeated task, make it reliable, measure it, then decide if the next one is worth doing.

What it costs

These are the actual published PuenteWorks prices, so you can plan without a discovery call first:

  • Owner AI Setup Hour: $175. One focused hour. You leave with a recommendation: local, cloud, hybrid, or stop. Best when you want confidence before spending more.
  • Local AI Starter Setup: $450 beta / $650 standard. One person, one machine, a working local AI app, one safe workflow example, seven days of async setup support.
  • Private AI Workbench: $1,250. The setup connected to real repeated work, with workflow templates, a model and use-case matrix, and a walkthrough.
  • Small Team Local AI Kit: $2,500 to $4,500. A shared local AI surface for 2 to 5 people, with a written scope, a named admin, and thirty days of setup support.
  • AI operations readiness (consulting path): $950 to $1,500, or $175 for the first hour, before any larger build.

Hardware is separate and stays yours. A capable dedicated machine can cost around $1,400 one time; many setups also run on the computer you already own. The Setup Hour tells you which situation you are in before you spend anything on hardware.

The part most sellers skip: the number

Before any work gets handed to AI, it gets tested. The test method we use is public: delegation-bench, an open-source benchmark that asks one question, which jobs can you safely hand over and walk away from. It ran 495 trials across 29 job types with certified reliability floors, including a sabotage test where the AI is supposed to refuse a bad instruction. You can read the method and the numbers yourself. That is the standard: measured, published, checkable.

If someone proposes AI work for your business and cannot say how they will know it is working, that is your signal to slow down.

When you do not need this

If your work with AI is occasional writing help and quick questions, a normal subscription is fine and cheaper. Forward-deployed work pays off when a task repeats every week, eats real hours, and has a clear definition of done. If nothing in your week fits that shape yet, wait. The Setup Hour exists exactly so you can hear that answer for $175 instead of learning it for $4,500.

FAQ

Is forward-deployed AI the same as an AI strategy?

No. A strategy is a document. Forward-deployed AI is a working system inside one of your real workflows, with someone accountable for it staying working.

Do we need to buy a server?

Usually no. Many setups run on a machine you already own. A dedicated mini-PC in the $1,400 range is the top of the normal small-business range, and only some workflows need it.

What is the first step?

The Owner AI Setup Hour. One hour, one recommendation in writing: local, cloud, hybrid, or stop.