KENNY CHIEN / CONSULTING / AI APPLICATION LAUNCH
AI Application Launch
One use case, taken seriously — from board-level thesis to software running in production.
Most enterprise AI initiatives die in pilot purgatory: a promising demo, an enthusiastic steering committee, and no path to production. The cause is rarely the model. It is unowned risk — unanswered questions about data boundaries, evaluation, security review, and who carries the pager when the agent is wrong.
A Launch engagement is designed as the opposite of a pilot. We pick one use case with measurable economics, define what "working" means before writing a line of code, and drive it through the full gauntlet — legal, security, evaluation, rollout — so your organization learns the entire path, not just the demo.
“The goal is not a demo. The goal is the organizational muscle to ship the next ten applications without me.”
Operating principles
Economics before architecture
We model the value of the use case first — minutes saved, revenue unlocked, risk retired — and let that number discipline every technical decision.
Evaluation is the product
Before the first prompt, we build the eval set: golden tasks, failure taxonomies, acceptance thresholds. A system you cannot score is a system you cannot ship.
Smallest deployable loop
We ship a thin, end-to-end slice to real users in weeks, then widen it — never a six-month build toward a big-bang reveal.
Your team writes the code
My job is leverage, not dependence. Your engineers pair on every component and own the system from day one of production.
Engagement structure
Frame
Use-case selection, value model, data and risk audit, definition of done. Output: a launch memo your CFO and CISO both sign.
Build
Evals first, then the application: retrieval, tools, agent loops, human-in-the-loop checkpoints. Weekly demos against the eval set.
Harden
Red-teaming, security review, observability, cost envelopes, rollback paths. The unglamorous work that separates demos from systems.
Launch & transfer
Production rollout to a real cohort, runbooks, and a trained team. I leave; the system stays.
What you walk away with
A production application with measured impact against the value model
An evaluation harness your team reruns on every model upgrade
A security and governance template reusable for the next launch
Engineers who have shipped agentic software, not watched it
Frequently asked questions
How long does an AI Application Launch take?
Six to twelve weeks depending on scope, structured in four phases: frame, build, harden, and launch and transfer. A thin end-to-end slice reaches real users within weeks — never a six-month build toward a big-bang reveal.
Who from our side needs to be involved?
A leadership sponsor who owns the value model, plus a small delivery team who will own the system. Your engineers pair on every component and write the code; my job is leverage, not dependence. If building capability across a whole team is the deeper goal, forward deployed engineering may be the better fit.
What does a Launch engagement cost?
Pricing is outcome-based and scoped per engagement against the value model built in the first phase — there is no rate card. Send one paragraph on the workflow to kenny.chien@gmail.com and I will reply with an honest read on whether it is launchable, and what it would take.
Have a use case in mind?
Send one paragraph on the workflow and what it costs you today. I will reply with an honest read on whether it is launchable.