The questions every buyer asks before the first call.
What does an agentic transformation cost?
It starts small on purpose. A fixed-price Agentic Readiness Scan is $7,500 and takes about two weeks: we map the workflow, audit the context and data, set a governance baseline, and model the ROI. The scan fee is credited in full against a Lighthouse Workflow build (typically $35,000 to $120,000) if you go ahead within 60 days. Running the fleet afterwards is an Agentic Operations retainer from $4,000 per month. You never buy a multi-year programme up front. You buy one workflow at a time.
Can I pay for outcomes instead of the build?
On Lighthouse Workflow and Agentic Operations, yes. We set a written baseline for the metric that matters (cost per case, deflection rate, cycle time), charge a base fee, and add a bonus above the baseline. We do not do pure outcome-only pricing, because the base fee keeps the incentives honest on both sides, and the performance guarantee already means we eat the downside if the agreed bar is missed.
How much does an AI agent cost?
Ranges vary by agent type and scope. Ready-made agents are $99 per week per role. Sales agents start at $299 per week. Second Brain knowledge agents start at $1,200 per month for teams up to 100 people. Predictive Legal and Server agents are scoped to enterprise needs and quoted per corpus size or fleet. The price estimator above gives you a personalised range in about two minutes.
How long does it take to deploy?
Most agents ship working drafts or live responses inside two weeks. The first week covers intake, retrieval setup, and initial fine-tuning on your material. Week two is evaluation, human review calibration, and handoff. Complex multi-system integrations or regulated deployments such as legal or HR take three to four weeks.
What is included in the price?
Implementation, fine-tuning on your material, integration with your systems, evaluation harness, and the first quarter of maintenance. Model inference costs and third-party API fees such as WhatsApp, SMS, Stripe, or data enrichment are passed through at cost. There is no hidden markup on infrastructure.
Do you offer a pilot before a full contract?
Yes. Most agents can be piloted on a single workflow for four weeks before you commit to a full deployment. The pilot is scoped, priced, and has a written success criterion. If the agent does not hit the criterion, we work at no additional cost until it does.
What does "pass-through" mean in the pricing tables?
It means the cost reaches you at the rate we pay the provider with no Perform Digital markup. WhatsApp template messages, SMS carrier fees, Stripe processing, model inference tokens on usage-billed models, and cloud storage are all pass-through. You see the exact provider invoice.
Is there a minimum contract length?
Weekly-priced agents such as Ready-made and Sales have no minimum beyond the pilot period and cancel any week. Monthly agents such as Second Brain run month-to-month after the pilot. Enterprise agents such as Legal and Server are annual with a 90-day break clause. Nothing auto-renews without written notice.
How is this different from hiring an AI engineer?
A senior AI engineer costs $180,000 to $260,000 per year in the US, plus equity and benefits, with a three to six month ramp time. Our agents are domain-fine-tuned products with evaluation harnesses, compliance controls, and maintenance included. You get a working agent in two weeks for a fraction of the annual engineering cost.
What if the agent does not perform to the agreed standard?
We write a success criterion before we start. If the deployed agent does not meet it at the end of the pilot, we continue working without additional charge until it does.