A 5-business-day AI diagnostic that maps where the work pays for itself, sequenced by ROI.
Built for finance operating leaders at $1B–$50B firms who want a roadmap before a vendor pitch. $5,000–$15,000. Fixed scope, fixed fee.
The problem this service solves
Most finance firms have already been pitched by a dozen AI vendors. The internal pressure to do something with AI is real, the regulatory exposure is real, and the cost of buying the wrong thing is real. The result is a stalemate: nothing gets bought, nothing gets built, and the operations team keeps doing the same manual work. The reason it stays stuck is that nobody on the inside has the time to map the firm's workflows against AI suitability honestly, and every vendor on the outside has a financial reason to recommend their tool. The assessment exists to break that stalemate from a position that does not benefit from selling tools.
What we deliver
Map
The firm's top 20 workflows by AI suitability — a ranked list with effort-and-impact scoring, anchored in your operating reality, not a vendor's product roadmap.
Quantify
Payback for each opportunity in fully-loaded dollars (staff hours, software, integration), not vendor licensing math.
Document
The regulatory framing each opportunity must satisfy before procurement — SR 11-7, OCC bulletins, NAIC model AI bulletin, fiduciary constraints — named by your three lines of defense.
Sequence
A 90-day, 6-month, and 12-month build order, with the constraint that anything in the first 90 days has to pay back inside one fiscal cycle.
Brief
The board or executive committee in a 60-minute readout that explains what to fund, what to defer, and what to actively skip — with the math behind each call.
How we work
Discovery
Days 1-2Stakeholder interviews with the COO, CFO, CCO, head of operations, and one or two front-line operators. We come in with a workflow taxonomy and walk out with current-state friction noted on every workflow your team owns.
Analysis
Days 3-4Workflow scoring against AI suitability, effort, impact, and regulatory framing. We score against published comparables (named vendor benchmarks, public regulator guidance, peer firm case data) and surface the assumptions every score depends on.
Readout
Day 5Written assessment delivered as a 20-page report plus the underlying scoring spreadsheet. 60-minute executive readout scheduled within one week of delivery. No follow-on pitch.
What this is not
- ×We do not build, host, or resell tools. Implementation goes to your team or a chosen build partner.
- ×We do not run vendor selection in this scope. The assessment surfaces vendors honestly but does not score them against each other.
- ×We do not pitch a follow-on engagement at the readout. The report stands on its own.
- ×We do not write production code in this engagement.
Pricing
$5,000 – $15,000
$5,000 covers a single-LOB firm under $1B AUM/assets with one operating region and a small operations team. Fast scope, clean readout.
$15,000 covers a $5B+ multi-LOB firm with regulatory complexity (multi-state, multi-jurisdictional, or carrier-level supervisory load). More stakeholders, more workflows scored.
Fixed fee. Paid 50% on engagement, 50% on delivery. No retainer commitment.
Recent representative work
Engagements anonymized for confidentiality. Marked cases are illustrative composites; unmarked cases are live engagements.
RIA
$3.5B AUM, NortheastSituation: Engaged us after two failed AI pilots ate four months of CCO time. The firm was about to commit to a third vendor when the COO asked for an outside diagnostic.
Delivered: Surfaced four operations workflows with sub-6-month payback. Explicitly rejected three of the vendor pitches the firm had been considering, with the regulatory reason for each rejection.
Outcome: Firm self-implemented the top two opportunities (client onboarding automation and quarterly performance commentary). Saved an estimated $180K in operations cost in the first year, no new headcount.
Community bank
$1.8B in assets, Mid-AtlanticIllustrativeSituation: BSA/AML triage was consuming three FTEs of compliance time and queue depth was growing. Vendor pitches centered on a transaction-monitoring rip-and-replace none of the second-line reviewers trusted.
Delivered: Mapped the firm's existing alert workflow against SR 11-7 documentation requirements. Recommended an AI-assist layer on top of existing TM rather than a replacement, with the model risk paperwork sequenced.
Outcome: Bank reduced SAR triage time from 4 days to 6 hours, kept their existing TM vendor, and avoided a 7-figure RFP cycle the COO had been preparing.
Common questions
Who from our side needs to participate?
Five to seven people for one 60-minute interview each. Typically the COO, CFO, CCO, head of operations, and 1-2 front-line operators. Calendar time for your team across the 5 days is roughly 6-8 hours total.
Is this remote or on-site?
Default is remote. On-site is available for firms that want stakeholder interviews in person — add $3K for travel and 2 additional calendar days. Most firms run remote and find the focus is better that way.
Does the price include access to the scoring spreadsheet?
Yes. You get the 20-page written assessment, the underlying scoring spreadsheet, and the 60-minute executive readout. The spreadsheet is yours to keep and rerun internally as your operation changes.
What if the assessment concludes we are not ready for AI?
That is one of the four standard outcomes. If your operation is not ready, the report says so with the reasons and the prerequisites. We have shipped readouts that say 'do not buy anything for 12 months and here is what to fix first.' That is the engagement working, not failing.
Want to map where AI pays back in your firm?
Send a one-page firm brief to pat@clearhaven.ai or book a 30-minute discovery call. We will respond within one business day with a fit assessment.