We build. We verify. We sign.
Forward-deployed, in plain words: AI built inside your process
From your need to a capability that stays.
doing digital is an artificial intelligence (AI) agency. We work inside one process of your business, build with your tools and your people, prove it with evidence, and leave when your team runs it alone.
- Digital presence diagnostic The starting point: it scores your digital presence. No cost.
- AI and process diagnostic How the work runs today, and what to build.
- Build and prove Tested before launch, measured after use.
- Transfer and run Your team operates it, with a monthly review.
What forward-deployed means
Forward-deployed engineering, FDE for short, is a way of working. Someone builds inside your process, with your tools and your people, instead of handing over a document and leaving.
At doing digital it has three parts. Before building, we qualify the request, find out how the work runs today and agree the terms in writing. While building, agents do the work, the method verifies and a person signs. After building, we prove the value, transfer the work to your team and run it with you, month by month.
In Portuguese we call it "no terreno", on the ground. It applies to the assistant and automation projects of dd agents. The English name stays here for those who look for it.
Three proofs you can check
Whoever builds does not sign off
The person or agent that builds a system never declares it ready. Independent checks decide, and so does your own team. An agent's word that something works is not evidence.
Four technical tests and one of value
Each is written before we start, and none can make up for another. At the end, one decision is recorded: go, revise, hold or stop. See the five tests.
A transfer you can watch
We close the project when your team has done six hands-on exercises, and not when we say we are done. Whatever stays limited is listed, each item with an owner.
The path and its prices
Every price is the published one, VAT included. It is Portuguese VAT; outside Portugal, the invoice follows the rules of the client's country.
| Step and what you buy | Price |
|---|---|
| Step 0 · Digital presence diagnostic: ten questions, report in 2 business days, read and signed by Ricardo Lourenço | No cost |
| Step 1 · AI and process diagnostic: 60 minutes, map of repeated tasks, three prioritized automations, the starting point written down. Credited against the implementation if you go ahead within the following 30 days | €390 · VAT included |
| Step 2 · Build and prove: start-up of the Essential Assistant | €990 · VAT included |
| Step 2 · Build and prove: start-up of the Multichannel Assistant | €2,490 · VAT included |
| Step 2 · Build and prove: start-up of the Sales Agent | €4,490 · VAT included |
| Step 2 · Build and prove: automation by flow | €490 · VAT included |
| Step 2 · Build and prove: pack of four flows | €1,490 · VAT included |
| Step 3 · Transfer and run: monthly fee of the Essential Assistant | €79 per month · VAT included |
| Step 3 · Transfer and run: monthly fee of the Multichannel Assistant | €149 per month · VAT included |
| Step 3 · Transfer and run: monthly fee of the Sales Agent | €290 per month · VAT included |
| Step 3 · Transfer and run: automation maintenance, minimum of 6 months | €49 per month · VAT included |
| Bespoke · by written proposal after step 1. Work outside the items above, such as connecting several of your systems, with no number on this page. | |
Meta's per-message costs on WhatsApp are charged separately. See the full list of prices.
Seven gates, each with a person who decides
- G0 Qualify. Is there value, an owner and access to what is needed?
- G1 Discover. How the work runs today, and what will tell us it worked.
- G2 Contract. Scope, acceptance and exit in writing.
- G3 Build. Agents do the work, the method verifies, a person signs.
- G4 Prove value. Four technical tests and one of value.
- G5 Transfer. Your team does the exercises.
- G6 Operate. A monthly review, with the decision recorded.
How much an agent may do: four levels
The level is put in writing, task by task. Each step up needs new evidence, someone who authorizes it and a way to undo the effects. Publishing, paying and deleting stay on the side of a person: those actions are blocked for agents by technical permission, wherever the tool allows it.
Observes
It reads and reports. It changes nothing.
Recommends
It proposes, and a person decides.
Acts after approval
It carries out what a person has approved.
Acts within limits
It acts inside written limits and hands exceptions to a person.
Illustrative scenarios
These are examples of how the path would apply. They are not client cases and they promise no result.
Requests by email, retyped into the contact records
The pilot prepares drafts and test records, and sends nothing on its own. It is accepted when the records are complete, duplicates are caught, and time and cost per request are measured with the human review counted. Someone on your side confirms each record at the start.
Administrative work in a clinic or a practice
The assistant works only on texts without patient data, such as the price list, opening hours and preparation instructions the clinic already publishes, and a professional decides. The tests look for leaks between files, and your team revokes one access to show it works. In health, it does not ask for clinical information; if it receives any, it hands the conversation to your team and does not use it.
What we need from you
- A named person on your side, even if it is the owner or an administrator.
- Access to the tools and the data involved.
- Decisions on time.
- Someone who will run it after the transfer.
What we do not do
- Promise results, savings or return. Time freed is not cash saved.
- Call a system ready as if it were a certificate: ready is a statement about one system, on one date, with its evidence.
- Promise daily presence at your premises, or unlimited support inside a fixed price.
- Reuse your data for other clients.
Frequently asked questions
What is forward-deployed engineering?
A way of working in which the builder works inside your process, with your tools and your people, and the work ends when your team can run it. In Portuguese we say "no terreno".
Do I need a technical team?
No. The person who receives the work can be the owner or an administrator. We need a named person, access to the tools and data involved, and decisions on time. The exercises of the transfer are written for that person.
What if a test fails?
We correct within a budget and a number of attempts written beforehand, and repeat the test. If the evidence still falls short, we narrow the scope or stop, and write down why.
How much does it cost?
The prices are in the table above, VAT included. Work outside those items is quoted in a written proposal after step 1.
Who is responsible?
Ricardo Lourenço signs every delivery and answers for the work and for the method.
Text prepared with AI and reviewed by Ricardo Lourenço. Our assistants identify themselves as AI and hand over to a person when needed. The data you send us is used to answer your request and for nothing else, under the Privacy Policy.
Start with the no-cost diagnostic
Ten questions. The report reaches you by email within 2 business days, read and signed by Ricardo Lourenço, and recommends one step.
Prefer to talk before you decide? WhatsApp · dd@doingdigital.me
