AI engineering for startups and growing businesses, answered plainly.
Straight answers to the questions businesses ask before hiring a senior engineer to build AI for them - what the different roles mean, when to hire, and what it costs.
Forward Deployed Engineer: what it is, and how to hire one
A forward-deployed engineer is a hands-on engineer who works inside your team and builds real, working software, instead of handing over a strategy document. Cognitiv works this way for startups and established businesses - taking the plan from AI idea through to software running live in your business, usually one to two days a week.
Read the answerFractional AI EngineerFractional AI Engineer for startups
A fractional AI engineer gives a startup or established business senior AI engineering part-time - building AI features and getting them running live in your product, without a full-time hire. Cognitiv works inside your team one to two days a week and takes the work from choosing the right model through to software running live.
Read the answerFractional CTOFractional CTO for startups and growing businesses
A fractional CTO is a part-time senior tech lead - someone who owns the big technical calls for a team, like how the software is put together, hiring, and which vendors to use, and still writes code. Cognitiv offers this from USD $15,000 a month for teams that need a senior engineer on the technical direction without a full-time hire. You can stop any month.
Read the answerShipping AI featuresHow to ship AI features into your product
Shipping AI features means getting working software - a tool that scores things automatically, software that sorts things automatically, search across your own data, or software that does multi-step jobs on its own - running live in your product, not just a prototype. The fastest, lowest-risk path is a fixed-scope project that ends with one feature running live, then improving from there.
Read the answerHiring an AI engineerHire an AI engineer for your startup: full-time, fractional, or agency
A startup that needs AI in its product has three options: a full-time AI hire, a part-time (fractional) AI engineer, or an agency. A full-time hire is slow and expensive to find; an agency rotates teams; a part-time engineer works inside your team and builds. Cognitiv is the part-time option - one senior engineer, in your team, building software that runs live.
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