What is an AI Adoption Sprint?

An AI Adoption Sprint is a 4 to 6 week engagement that delivers an AI roadmap, reference architecture, and a buy-versus-build call on each layer. It sits in front of an AI build and behind an AI hire, giving enterprise teams a senior-operator diagnostic before they commit to either a vendor or a full-time AI hire.

How much does an AI Adoption Sprint cost?

AI Adoption Sprints at Innovative Group start at $25,000 for a 4-week scoped engagement. Larger sprints, deeper architecture reviews, and multi-product roadmaps scope from there. Pricing aligns with industry benchmarks for AI readiness assessments and AI strategy consulting, which typically range from $20,000 to $50,000 for a 4-8 week fixed-fee engagement.

How long does an AI Adoption Sprint take?

Most sprints run 4 weeks. Engagements with multi-product scope, regulated-industry constraints, or deeper architecture work scope to 6 weeks. Every sprint ships a fixed deliverable on a fixed date: roadmap, reference architecture, and buy-versus-build call.

What is the difference between an AI Adoption Sprint and AI consulting?

Traditional AI consulting is open-ended advisory billed by the hour. An AI Adoption Sprint is a fixed-scope, fixed-fee engagement with a named deliverable on a named date. It is built for buyers who need a senior operator for a defined window, not a long-running retainer or a full-time hire.

Who runs the AI Adoption Sprint engagements at Innovative Group?

Engagements rotate across the Innovative Group advisor bench based on buyer fit. David Garcia leads applied AI and agentic systems work. Norm deSilva carries strategy and organizational scaling. Sean Mattson covers marketing, martech, and GTM. Michael Sykora covers operating and revenue strategy. Chris Salazar carries the integration layer across all six specialty teams.

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Innovative Group · AI Adoption Sprint

An AI roadmap, on a four-week clock.

A fixed-scope sprint that gives your leadership team the AI roadmap, reference architecture, and buy-versus-build call on each layer. Built for the buyer who needs a senior operator for a defined window, not a full-time hire or an open-ended consulting retainer.

Book a 30-min scoping call → Starting at $25,000 · 4-6 weeks

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The Problem

Every B2B company we know is hiring some version of "AI Advisor."

Anthropic, Zendesk, Genesys, Wolters Kluwer, Hamilton Lane, Decagon, Samsung. The job titles vary, but the shape is the same: a senior operator who can map where AI fits, design the architecture, and call buy-versus-build on each layer.

Buyers post these as full-time hires because the title hasn't standardized yet. What they actually need is a 4-to-6 week sprint with a named senior operator, then either an internal hire or a build team that can ship the work. We built the AI Adoption Sprint for exactly that gap.

What You Get

Three deliverables. One fixed deadline.

Every sprint ships the same shape. Scope can flex, the deliverables don't.

Deliverable 01

AI Roadmap

Where AI fits in your operating model. Prioritized by ROI and risk. 90-day, 180-day, and 12-month phases. The doc your leadership team uses to argue about scope, not whether to start.

Deliverable 02

Reference Architecture

The system diagram for the highest-priority use case. Data layer, model layer, orchestration, governance, FinOps guardrails. Wired to your existing stack, not a greenfield fantasy.

Deliverable 03

Buy vs. Build Call

Layer by layer, with a named recommendation. Vendor shortlists for buy. Hiring profiles for build. The call you'd otherwise pay a Big Four firm $200k to make in six months.

The Four-Week Schedule

How the sprint runs. Same shape every time.

Week 1

Diagnose

Stakeholder interviews, system audit, data inventory. What's already live, what's stuck, what's missing.

Week 2

Prioritize

Use case scoring against ROI, data readiness, and risk. Three to five candidates ranked. One picked for the architecture.

Week 3

Architect

Reference architecture for the top use case. Model selection, orchestration, governance, FinOps. Drafts shared mid-week for feedback.

Week 4

Recommend

Buy-vs-build call per layer. Final readout with leadership. Implementation path with named hiring profiles or vendor shortlists.

Sprints with multi-product scope, regulated-industry constraints, or deeper architecture work scope to 6 weeks. Same deliverable structure.

Pricing

Starting at $25,000.

Fixed scope, fixed fee, fixed timeline. No hourly surprises.

Starter Sprint

$25,000

4-week engagement · one use case

Roadmap for one product or function
Reference architecture for top use case
Buy-vs-build call, layer by layer
One named advisor on the engagement

Extended Sprint

Scoped

6 weeks · multi-product or regulated industry

Roadmap across portfolio or business unit
Reference architectures for two to three use cases
Compliance, FinOps, governance review
Two-advisor pairing · senior + applied operator

Sprints often roll into a build engagement with IG AI Solutions. The sprint fee is credited toward the first 90 days of build if you continue with us.

The Advisor Bench

Engagements rotate. Based on buyer fit.

No single advisor owns every sprint. We match the operator to the problem. AI infrastructure questions route to David. Marketing-AI questions route to Sean. Strategy or scale questions route to Norm. Revenue motion goes to Michael. Cross-functional engagements get Chris in the lead.

Meet the advisor bench →

Frequently Asked

What buyers ask before they book.

How is this different from AI consulting?

Traditional AI consulting is open-ended and billed by the hour. The AI Adoption Sprint is fixed-scope, fixed-fee, with a named deliverable on a named date. Built for buyers who need a senior operator for a defined window, not a long-running retainer.

How is this different from an AI readiness assessment?

Most AI readiness assessments stop at "you're at maturity level 2 of 5." The AI Adoption Sprint ships an actual roadmap, a reference architecture for your top use case, and a buy-vs-build call by layer. You get the diagnostic and the path, not just the score.

What happens after the sprint?

Two paths. Some buyers take the roadmap and hire an internal AI lead against the profile we draft. Others route the build to IG AI Solutions, where the same operators who scoped the sprint ship the system. We're set up to do either. The sprint fee credits toward the first 90 days of build if you continue with us.

Why a sprint instead of hiring a full-time AI Advisor?

Job postings for "AI Advisor" sit at $200k+ base. Most companies don't need the role full-time. They need a senior operator for 4 to 6 weeks, then either an internal hire or a build team. The sprint costs less than a single quarter of an FTE and ships a deliverable an FTE would take six months to produce.

Who is this for?

CEOs, CTOs, CMOs, and chief product officers at companies between $5M and $500M who know AI is now the operating layer, not a side experiment. Particularly strong fit for B2B SaaS, fintech, healthcare, and regulated industries where a wrong architecture call costs more than a right one.

Already past sprint stage?

Need ongoing marketing leadership? Fractional CMO.

The Sprint solves a specific AI problem in 30 days. A fractional CMO carries the broader marketing leadership relationship inside your business. Same operating company. Same senior operators. Different shape of engagement.

See Fractional CMO

Name the AI work before the market does.

Book a 30-minute scoping call. We'll tell you whether the Sprint fits your stage, what the scope would look like, and where it lands on the $25k floor.

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