Services & Pricing

Scoped to your needs.
Priced transparently.

Every engagement is quoted in hours after a paid Discovery session. Project delivery is fixed-fee. No surprises.

Billing Rates

How we charge

All work — Discovery, project delivery, and retainer overages — is billed at the following rates. Project quotes are fixed-fee, derived from an agreed hour estimate confirmed before work begins.

AI Architect / Lead
$180/hr

System design, architecture decisions, compliance documentation, client-facing work, complex troubleshooting.

Integration & Deployment
$150/hr

RAG pipeline configuration, API integration, hardware installation, system testing, deployment work.

Training & Documentation
$120/hr

Staff training sessions, user documentation, SOW write-up, compliance documentation drafting.

Step 1

Discovery Engagement

Required before any project contract is signed. No system can be scoped or priced accurately without understanding your actual workflows, data environment, and success criteria.

Free Scoping Call — 1 hour

We determine whether a confidential AI system is the right fit for your organization and identify the appropriate Discovery scope. No charge. No commitment.

Discovery — billed at hourly rates

A fixed hour estimate is agreed before the session begins. Discovery fees are not credited against the project total — Discovery is a billable engagement in its own right. Its output has standalone value whether or not you proceed.


Knowledge Assistant scope 8–12 hrs
Workflow Automation scope 16–24 hrs
Full Deployment scope 32–56 hrs

Discovery deliverable

A written Scope of Work containing:

  • Use-case definitions and priority ranking
  • Hour estimate by workstream
  • Hardware specification (if on-premise)
  • Deployment model recommendation
  • Measurable success criteria
  • Fixed-fee project quote
  • Proposed timeline
Changes to scope during project delivery trigger a written change order before additional work proceeds.
Step 2

Project Delivery

Indicative ranges based on typical engagements. Actual quote is fixed-fee, produced by Discovery.

Knowledge Assistant
$10,000–$16,000

Staff retrieve answers from internal documents in seconds. Knowledge stays accessible when personnel changes.

  • Discovery session + SOW
  • Document ingestion & RAG deployment
  • Plain-English chat interface
  • Full staff training session
  • 60-day post-deployment support
  • Hardware included (on-premise model)
Get a quote
Full Deployment
$45,000–$85,000

AI as an operational layer. Multiple use cases, enterprise integrations, full compliance documentation.

  • All Workflow Automation deliverables
  • Multi-use-case deployment
  • Enterprise platform integration
  • Role-based access & full audit trail
  • HIA/PIPA compliance documentation
  • 6-month dedicated support
Get a quote
These are reference ranges, not catalogue prices. A tightly scoped law firm document retrieval system may close at $11,000. An oil & gas deployment with three integrated use cases and a compliance audit may reach $75,000. The Discovery session produces the real number.
Hardware

On-premise deployments:
hardware included.

For on-premise deployments, AKYB procures, configures, delivers, and installs purpose-built hardware. The client receives a single total price — no separate hardware invoice.

Deployment scope Typical hardware Hardware cost component (CAD)
Knowledge Assistant Workstation GPU server: 24 GB VRAM, 64 GB RAM, 4 TB NVMe $4,200–$7,200
Workflow Automation Mid-range inference server: 48 GB VRAM, 128 GB RAM, 8 TB NVMe $7,500–$14,000
Full Deployment Rack-mount dual-GPU: 96 GB VRAM total, 256 GB RAM, RAID storage $18,000–$32,000

Hardware spec is confirmed during Discovery. Clients with existing compatible infrastructure may apply a hardware credit. Procurement margin: cost + 20%.

Step 3

Managed Operations Retainer

AI systems require ongoing maintenance. Without it, retrieval accuracy degrades as your document library grows and workflows evolve. A retainer keeps the system current — and hardware operations are included at all tiers.

Essential
$3,800/mo

Stable document corpus, low change velocity.

  • 8 hrs/mo service time
  • 50 new documents/mo
  • Monthly health check
  • Next business day support
  • Quarterly performance report
  • Hardware monitoring & ops
Priority
$7,500/mo

Complex integrations, regulatory audits, enterprise operations.

  • 28 hrs/mo service time
  • Unlimited document ingestion
  • 2-hour response, all hours
  • Monthly on-site review session
  • 2 new use-case implementations/quarter
  • Annual compliance documentation refresh
Tier Response time — general Response time — outage Escalation contact
Essential Next business day 4 business hours Direct email to Ben
Standard Same day 4 hours (all hours) Direct email + mobile
Priority 2 hours (all hours) 2 hours (all hours) Direct mobile — named contact
Retainer pricing reflects reserved capacity, guaranteed SLA, and hardware monitoring. Reserved hours cannot be resold or reallocated to other clients.
Overage rate: CAD $180/hr, pre-approved in writing before work begins.
Annual contracts: 10% fee reduction + scheduling priority.
Terms & Insurance

Payment terms and professional coverage.

Payment schedule

Projects are billed on a milestone basis to align payment with delivered value:

1
30% — Engagement start
Upon signed SOW and project kick-off.
2
40% — Integration complete
Upon successful internal testing and client sign-off on integration milestone.
3
30% — Deployment sign-off
Upon full deployment, staff training complete, and written acceptance.
Retainers billed monthly in advance. Net 15 from invoice date. Change orders require written approval before additional work begins.

Professional liability

AKYB Inc. carries professional liability (errors & omissions) insurance. Certificate of insurance available upon request before contract execution.

E&O insurance — professional services coverage
NDA available on request before any scoping discussion
Data Processing Agreement (DPA) included with every engagement
AKYB Inc. is incorporated in Alberta
All engagements begin with an NDA. No confidential information is reviewed without one.

Start with a free scoping call.

1 hour. No charge. We determine whether this is the right fit and what a system would cost for your organization specifically.

Schedule a Confidential Consultation