Four phases. Ninety days to production.

A structured engagement framework refined across 12+ active engagements and a decade of embedded delivery. This is how we work, in detail.

01 · Diagnose 02 · Match 03 · Embed 04 · Retain
1
Phase 01 · Before project start · 2 weeks · $2,500 fixed

Diagnose. Map the gap before anything else.

Most providers want to bill before they understand. We start with a fixed fee, written diagnostic that maps your AI roadmap against your team's actual capability. You leave with a document you can act on, regardless of whether you continue with us.

What we do

  • Five to eight stakeholder interviews (eng, product, exec)
  • Audit of current AI initiatives, attempts, and blockers
  • Capability gap analysis against your 12 month roadmap
  • Effort vs. payoff for the top three moves
  • Written diagnostic delivered in week 2

What you get

  • A 15 to 20 page written diagnostic
  • Prioritized list of AI initiatives by leverage and feasibility
  • Capability gap map (what you have, what you need, where the friction is)
  • 90 day implementation plan you can hand to anyone
  • One follow up call to walk you through the document
The frame

"The diagnostic is yours to keep, regardless of next steps. If we're not the right partner, you have a document you can take to anyone."

2
Phase 02 · 7 to 10 days · From a 2% acceptance pool

Match. Context fit, not just skill.

From an applicant pool with a 2% acceptance rate, we shortlist 2 to 3 engineers per role. We match for context fit (your domain, your stack, your culture), not just resume keywords. You meet them. You decide. We never push.

How we vet

  • Technical assessment specific to your stack and AI use cases
  • System design conversation with a senior Density engineer
  • Communication and async collaboration evaluation
  • Reference checks from at least two prior engagements
  • Internal Density tech lead approval before shortlist

How you decide

  • Receive 2 to 3 candidate profiles within 7 to 10 days of brief
  • Review portfolios, video interviews, and our internal notes
  • Live interviews with the engineers you want to meet
  • Optional paid trial period (10 to 20 hours) before committing
  • Engagement starts only after your formal "yes"
The acceptance funnel

"For every 100 engineers who apply to Density, two make it through. We staff from the top of that pyramid, not the middle."

3
Phase 03 · 90 days · Structured by week

Embed. A 30/60/90 framework refined across 12+ engagements.

Most providers consider the deal closed when the engineer logs into Slack. We consider it just starting. The first 90 days are the highest risk window of any engagement, so we built a structured framework around them. The result: 100% success rate over the last 6 years. Zero forced replacements.

Days 0 to 30
Orientation + context.

Codebase walkthrough. Team introductions. Expectations doc signed by both sides. Access to our internal AI playbook from day one.

Days 30 to 60
Contribution + feedback.

First production commits. Weekly 1:1 with a Density tech lead, separate from the client's standups. Written check ins to surface friction early.

Days 60 to 90
Integration + ownership.

Engineer takes ownership of a feature or surface. Becomes a peer in design discussions. The shape of the engagement past day 90.

The AI playbook

Every engineer we place gets access to our internal playbook covering RAG architectures, agent patterns, MLOps best practices, evals, and the production patterns we've seen work and fail across 12+ engagements. This is institutional knowledge that compounds. Most staff aug providers keep this kind of context internal. We share it with the engineers we place because the alternative is they reinvent the wheel on your time.

The weekly check in

Once a week during the first 90 days, a Density tech lead has a 30 minute private conversation with the engineer. Separate from your team's standups. The goal is to surface friction your team doesn't see and resolve it before it becomes attrition. Most issues that look like "the engineer wasn't a fit" are actually issues your team didn't have visibility into. We do.

⚠ Why we don't disappear after placement

Most providers treat placement as the deal closing. We treat it as the deal starting. The first 90 days are when bad placements show up, and most providers are not paying attention. We are. It is how we maintain our 100% success rate.

Convinced about how we ship? Start with the Roadmap →

4
Phase 04 · Years, not months

Retain. Tenure is the metric that compounds.

96% client retention over a decade. Engineers who stay for years, not months. The Ooma engagement is in its 4th year and counting. Our longest telecom partnership has been going since 2016. This is what density looks like in practice: years on the same codebase. No rotation, no reset, no relearning every quarter.

What we do after day 90

  • Quarterly reviews with you and the engineer
  • Ongoing tech lead access for the engineer
  • Continued access to our AI playbook and internal RFCs on RAG, agents, evals, and postmortems
  • Comp reviews tied to engagement outcomes
  • Career conversations so engineers don't churn out of boredom

How retention compounds

  • Years on the same codebase. No rotation can replace that.
  • Engineers who have shipped through your full release cycles
  • Trust with your team that doesn't reset every quarter
  • Less explaining. More shipping.
  • Real ownership of long arc projects, not just sprints
The metric that matters

"Most staff aug providers brag about how fast they replace. We brag about how rarely we have to. Zero forced replacements over the last 6 years."

Ready to start with the AI Roadmap?

Two weeks. $2,500 fixed. A written diagnostic you keep, regardless of next steps.

Start the Roadmap

Two step form. Pay only after we confirm fit.