AI for businesses that already work.
Slipway takes the operation you run today and rebuilds the parts of it that should be running on AI. We scope it, we build it, we hand it over working.
Based in San Francisco. Working with operators, not pilots.
We work with companies between 20 and 2,000 people who have real revenue, real process debt, and no in-house AI team.
The place a working business meets AI.
A slipway is where a ship gets from land into water. That is the job: move a working business into an AI-native way of operating without stopping the business while it happens.
We are not a research lab and we do not sell seats. We come in, find where AI actually changes your unit economics, build it against your real data and systems, and leave your team able to run and extend it.
Six ways we move the work onto AI.
Pick where you are today. Every pillar can stand alone or roll into a full engagement.
AI Opportunity Audit
Two to three weeks mapping your workflows against what AI can currently do well.
- We interview the people who run the process, not just the people who manage it.
- Every opportunity gets a cost estimate and an expected return before it goes on the list.
- You get a ranked list, not a slide deck of possibilities.
AI Opportunity Audit
Two to three weeks mapping your workflows against what AI can currently do well.
- We interview the people who run the process, not just the people who manage it.
- Every opportunity gets a cost estimate and an expected return before it goes on the list.
- You get a ranked list, not a slide deck of possibilities.
Workflow Automation
Rebuild the high-volume, high-cost processes as AI-assisted pipelines.
- We start with the workflow that costs you the most in headcount or turnaround time.
- Automations sit on your existing tools instead of forcing a new system on your team.
- Every step keeps a manual override so someone can step in when it matters.
Custom Agents and Copilots
Internal tools built on your data, your rules, your systems of record.
- Agents read from your actual systems of record, not a copy of them.
- Business rules are encoded explicitly so behavior stays predictable.
- Built for the people who will use it daily, with their workflow in mind first.
Data Readiness
Get your data into a state where AI on top of it produces answers you can trust.
- We map where your data actually lives before we touch a model.
- Gaps and inconsistencies get fixed at the source, not papered over with prompts.
- You end up with a data layer that outlives any single AI project.
Deployment and Governance
Evals, guardrails, access control, audit trails, and a rollback plan.
- Every system ships with evals so you can measure whether it is still working.
- Access is scoped so people and agents only reach what they need.
- A rollback plan exists before launch, not after something goes wrong.
Team Enablement
Your people can operate and extend what we built after we leave.
- We document decisions and tradeoffs, not just how to click through the tool.
- Your team is in the build with us, not handed something at the end.
- Training is scoped to the people who will actually own this day to day.
Why Slipway
We start with the number, not the model.
Every engagement opens with which line item is going to move and by how much.
Named metric. Every project opens with the specific number we expect to move.
Effort estimate before build. You see the expected effort and return before we write anything.
Tied to a line item. We map the work to a line on your P&L, not a vague efficiency gain.
No work without a number. If we cannot name the number, we do not start the engagement.
It runs where your business runs.
We build into your existing systems rather than around them.
Native to your tools. We build inside the CRM, ERP, or ticketing system you already use.
No forced migration. Your team keeps using the tools they already know.
Respects your permissions. Access follows the roles and rules you already have set up.
Works with your data as it is. We adapt to your schema instead of asking you to reshape it for us.
We are designed to leave.
Documentation, evals, and training so your team owns it outright.
Full documentation. Every decision and tradeoff is written down, not left in someone's head.
Evals you can rerun. You can check whether the system still performs after we are gone.
Trained operators. The people who will run this day to day are trained before we leave.
No lock-in. You own the code, the data, and the credentials when the engagement ends.
Four steps from diagnosis to a system your team runs.
- 01
Diagnose.
Two weeks inside your operation. We map processes, costs, and data.
- 02
Prioritise.
A ranked shortlist with effort, expected impact, and risk against each item.
- 03
Build.
Four to twelve weeks, shipping in increments you can use as they land.
- 04
Hand over.
Runbooks, evals, and training. Optional retained support after.
Where this shows up first.
Six places we most often find the number worth chasing.
Support that answers correctly before it answers fast.
We build systems that triage, draft, and resolve tickets against your actual documentation and account data, with a clear handoff to a person whenever the system is not confident.
- Tickets triaged and routed automatically by topic and urgency.
- Draft replies pull from your actual documentation, not a generic script.
- Every automated response includes a path to a person when needed.
Security and data handling.
The same rules we would want if it were our own operation on the line.
Your data stays in your environment.
We build against your infrastructure rather than copying your data into ours.
Access scoped per engagement.
Every team member and system we connect gets the narrowest access the work requires.
No training on client data.
Your data is never used to train a model outside of your own engagement.
Model and vendor choice stays yours.
We recommend a model and vendor for the job, but the final decision and the account are yours.
Full audit logging on everything we build.
Every action a system takes on your behalf is logged and reviewable after the fact.
NDA and DPA before any data moves.
Paperwork is signed before we see a single row of your data, not after.
Frequently asked questions
An agency typically builds to a spec you hand them. We start by finding which part of your operation is worth rebuilding and what it should return before any spec exists. The engagement is scoped around a number on your P&L, not a list of features.
No. Data readiness is part of the work, not a prerequisite for it. We assess what state your data is in during the audit and fix what needs fixing as part of the build.
Generally between 20 and 2,000 people, with real revenue and existing operational processes. If you do not have a process to rebuild yet, we are probably not the right fit.
The audit takes two to three weeks. Build phases run four to twelve weeks depending on scope, shipped in increments rather than one release at the end.
We are based in San Francisco and work with teams in person when it speeds up the diagnose phase. Most build and handover work happens remotely with regular working sessions.
We choose the model and vendor based on the job, your existing stack, and your data handling requirements. The account and the decision stay yours, and we document why we chose what we chose.
You own the code, the data, and the credentials. Retained support is available if you want it, but nothing we build requires an ongoing contract with us to keep running.
Send us one process you think is broken and we will tell you honestly whether AI fixes it. Email us at contact@slipwaysolutions.com.
Tell us what part of your business is slowest.
Send us one process you think is broken. We will tell you honestly whether AI fixes it.
Email us