Prove it small

One real problem. One small working system. A measured answer in weeks.

AI Prototypes & Pilots takes a single operational problem and rapidly builds a small working system around it before the company commits to a larger implementation. The pilot exists to answer one question with a number: does this actually save time, improve decisions or increase output?

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The right first step when you already know which workflow hurts and want proof before a full build.

By Theodoros Ampas Last updated Sep 13, 2026

In one sentence

AI Prototypes & Pilots is a time-boxed engagement in which Theodoros Ampas builds a small working AI system around one real operational problem inside a company’s own tools, runs it on real volume with the team, and measures the result against a baseline so the company can decide on a larger implementation with evidence.

The demo always works. The pilot is where you find out.

A slide deck cannot tell you whether an AI system survives your real data, your real edge cases and your real team on a Thursday afternoon. Only running it can.

The expensive mistake is committing to a six-month build on the strength of a demo. The cheap one is spending a few weeks proving, or disproving, the idea on one workflow with a number attached.

A pilot here is not a toy. It is built inside your tools, on your data, with the same guardrails as a full system, just scoped to one problem and one measurable outcome.

What a pilot is.

One problem, tightly scoped

A single workflow with a clear start and end, a baseline the team accepts, and one number that decides whether it worked.

A real system, not a mock-up

Built in your accounts and tools, with logging, approvals and the same access discipline as a production build. Small in scope, not in rigour.

A decision at the end

A written result: the number before, the number after, what broke, what the team changed, and whether a larger build is justified.

Four weeks to a number.

Week 1

Scope and baseline

Pick the problem, agree the number, record how it runs today. Design the smallest system that could move that number.
Weeks 2 to 3

Build and run

The pilot goes live on real volume with the team. Every exception is logged. Every edit is feedback.
Week 4

Measure and decide

The number is measured again. The report says what worked, what did not, and what a full build would need. The decision is yours.

Small scope. Full discipline.

Runs in your accounts with scoped access, never on a vendor sandbox with your data copied in.
Human approval on every action that touches a customer or a system of record.
A baseline recorded before the build, so the result cannot be argued into existence afterwards.
If the pilot fails, the report says why, and the company keeps everything that was built.

What you leave with.

A working system on one real workflow, running in your tools.
A before-and-after number the team agrees is honest.
A written account of what broke and what the team changed.
A clear recommendation: extend, rebuild or stop.

This is for you if

You already know which workflow hurts and want proof before committing budget to a full build.
Someone on the team is sceptical, and a number would settle it.
You want to see how working with me feels before a longer engagement.

Questions founders ask

How long is a pilot?

Four weeks, time-boxed. Extending it is a decision made with the numbers at the end, not a drift.

What happens to the pilot if we do not continue?

It is yours. It runs in your accounts and the code is in your repository. The report tells the next engineer what they need to know.

Can a pilot become the production system?

Often. Because it is built with the same discipline as a full system, extending it is usually cheaper than starting again. The report says whether that is the case.

Is a pilot cheaper than discovery?

They answer different questions. Discovery finds the right workflow. A pilot proves a workflow you have already chosen. Many companies do only one of the two.

Prove it on one workflow.

Tell me the workflow and the number you would want to move. That is the whole brief for a pilot.