Promontory
Let's Talk
Promontory · San Francisco
Frequently · Asked · Questions

Answers we repeat the most.

· 14 questions ·
Editor · Founders
From the editor

We keep this page short on purpose. These are the fourteen questions we get asked the most, answered the way we would answer them on the phone. If yours is not here, send it. We will add it, and we will answer you.

Index ⏵
Engagementmost commonlast updated 04 / 2025·from Founders, COOs

How is a typical engagement scoped?

A.

Two engineers and one operator from our side. Six to eight weeks of calendar time. A single fixed fee, written down before we start.

We do not sell hours. We do not run open-ended retainers. If the work goes past the date we agreed on, that is our problem to absorb, not yours.

+
Engagementlast updated 04 / 2025·from Operators on the fence

Can we stop the engagement partway through?

+
Engagementlast updated 03 / 2025·from Counsel

Do you sign an NDA?

+
Engagementlast updated 04 / 2025·from Solo founders

What is the smallest business you will work with?

+
Pricemost commonlast updated 04 / 2025·from Everyone, eventually

How much does an engagement actually cost?

A.

A workflow audit is free. Ninety minutes, and you leave with a ranked list whether or not we keep talking.

A single-workflow build is fixed-fee, in the low five figures. A department sprint is in the mid five figures. We quote in writing after the audit, and the quote does not move.

+
Pricelast updated 02 / 2025·from CFOs

Do you take a percentage of savings?

+
Pricelast updated 03 / 2025·from Returning clients

What does ongoing monthly tuning cost?

+
Tech & datalast updated 04 / 2025·from IT leads

Whose accounts does the AI run under?

A.

Yours. We do not own a model platform and we do not resell tokens. The systems run on your Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini accounts. Or we can configure any models you may want to use, including local models may use in your company, on infrastructure we hand to you.

If you fire us tomorrow, the systems keep running. You only lose us.

+
Tech & datalast updated 04 / 2025·from Engineering leads

Can we use local AI models instead of Claude or ChatGPT?

+
Tech & datalast updated 03 / 2025·from Privacy-minded operators

Do you train models on our data?

+
Tech & datalast updated 04 / 2025·from Risk officers

What if a model breaks something or hallucinates?

+
Working with uslast updated 02 / 2025·from CEOs, mostly

Who actually works on our engagement?

+
Working with uslast updated 03 / 2025·from Department heads

How much of our time will this take?

+
Working with uslast updated 01 / 2025·from East coast and UK clients

Do you work on site?

+
Mailcall
Question not above? Send it. We will answer you personally and add it to the next edition.
Send your question →
PROMONTORY · FAQ · PAMPHLET N°02SET IN GEIST · NEWSREADER · JETBRAINS MONOPRESS · 04 / 2025