The EdgeFirm 4-month enterprise AI framework.

Questions before you start

What does an AI development company do?

An AI development company designs, builds, and deploys AI systems on your data and infrastructure. At EdgeFirm that covers four practice areas:

• Custom LLM applications: assistants and RAG systems grounded in your documents and data
• Intelligent process automation: customer service, reporting, and document workflows
• Decision intelligence: analytics your team can query in plain language
• AI agents: systems that plan, use tools, and act across your platforms

The difference from a consultancy is that we write and ship the code ourselves, and you own all of it at the end of the engagement.

How do you keep timelines short?

Three reasons:

• We're technical founders, not a sales team passing requirements to developers. No communication overhead.
• We build for production from day one, not endless pilots. Your MVP is scalable code, not a prototype.
• We use proven frameworks (LangChain, OpenAI, AWS) instead of building everything custom. We innovate on your business logic, not infrastructure.

Typical custom AI builds take 5 to 16 weeks for agents and 3 to 6 months for enterprise systems, per published agency ranges. Our 4 to 5 month timeline sits inside that range because the engineers who scope the work also build it.

What if our project is more complex than 4 to 5 months?

We break it into phases. Example: Instead of one long "AI transformation," we deliver:

• Months 1 to 4: Automate your top pain point and measure the result
• Months 5 to 8: Scale to the next 3 use cases based on what we learn
• Months 9 to 12: Full enterprise deployment

You get value at the end of each phase. If phase 1 does not deliver, you can stop before phase 2.

Do you work with our existing tech stack or force us to rebuild?

We integrate with what you have.

• Your team uses Salesforce, SAP, and custom internal tools? Perfect. We'll connect to them via APIs.
• You have data in 5 different databases? We'll unify it without migrating everything.
• You're on AWS but considering Azure? We're cloud-agnostic.

We only recommend "rip and replace" when your existing system is actively blocking progress. And we'll prove it with data before suggesting it.

What happens after the project is complete?

You own everything: code, data, infrastructure, IP. Three options for ongoing support:

• Full handoff: We train your team, document everything, you manage it internally. (30 days post-launch support included)
• Retainer support: We monitor performance, add features, handle emergencies. (15 to 20% of project cost per year)
• Full managed service: We run it as your outsourced AI team. (Custom pricing)

Most clients start with option 1 and move to option 2 after 6 to 12 months when they want to add features.

How do you handle data security and compliance?

Security and compliance are built in from week one, not added later. Our standard practices:

• Designed with SOC 2 guidance, hosted on AWS or Google Cloud
• Designed for GDPR and CCPA requirements
• HIPAA-aligned safeguards with a signed BAA where PHI is involved
• End-to-end encryption for data in transit and at rest
• Role-based access control (RBAC)
• Audit logging
• Security reviews and penetration testing where scoped

For regulated industries (finance, healthcare), we work with your compliance team from day one to ensure we meet your specific requirements. We also sign NDAs and BAAs as standard practice.

How much does a project cost?

Projects start from $20K, and calls and scoping are free until you get a proposal. The price depends on five things:

• Length of the build
• Features and integrations
• Team size (engineers and a project manager)
• Timeline and priority
• Level of polish (testing, compliance, uptime)

We model payback for your process in discovery. Deloitte's 2025 survey found most firms take 2 to 4 years to see satisfactory AI returns, so we size projects against savings you can verify. Unlike hourly billing, we quote fixed-price for defined scope. You know the total investment upfront. If $20K is more than you can commit right now, tell us. A proof of concept can cost far less, sized to what it needs to prove.

Can you work with our timezone?

Yes. Our team covers business hours from Australia to the US.

• Our team: Karachi, Pakistan (PKT)
• Registered companies: USA, UK and Pakistan
• US Support: Available Monday to Friday in your time zone
• UK/EU: Overlap during business hours
• UAE/Australia: Morning coverage via Pakistan team

For critical projects, we assign a dedicated engineer in your timezone for real-time collaboration. All communication happens via Slack/Teams (your choice), with daily standups and weekly stakeholder reviews.