QAi / Pre-Flight AI Check
QAi Pre-Flight AI Check
A pre-signature sanity check that verifies the engagement you're about to commit budget to is scoped correctly, before the money moves. It applies the same independent lens as a full Health Check, compressed to the one decision in front of you: sign, renegotiate, or walk away.
Pre-Flight is the only QAi engagement that runs before anything has been built. There's no live system to test yet: what exists is a proposal, a SOW, a vendor pitch, or an internal plan, and a budget about to be committed against it. The job is to pressure-test that plan against the same standard DNLA would later use to judge the finished system, so the gap between the pitch and the reality gets caught on paper instead of in production.
Most AI projects don't fail because the model was weak. They fail because the problem was never actually well-specified, the proposed architecture couldn't have supported what was promised, or nobody ran the numbers on what it would really cost to operate at scale. Pre-Flight exists to catch exactly that class of mistake, while it's still cheap to fix.
Where it sits in the methodology
Scope of this engagement
Concentrated on Problem Fit and Architecture, read from the proposal rather than a live system, plus an independent TCO pass.
Layers examined
Signs it's time for this
- You're about to sign a SOW or vendor contract and want a second opinion before you do
- A vendor is pushing a specific model, tool, or platform and you can't tell if it's the right fit or just their default answer
- Nobody on your side has the AI engineering depth to evaluate the proposal on its merits
- Your board or CFO is asking whether the spend is justified before it's approved
How it runs
Step by step
- Intake call and document review: the SOW, proposal, or internal plan, plus whatever business goals it's meant to serve
- Structured interview with the proposing team or vendor
- Problem Fit check: does the proposed solution family actually match the business outcome
- Architecture risk scan of the proposed design, read against DNLA's five-layer standard
- Independent TCO modeling, separate from the vendor's own estimate
- A written Go / No-Go recommendation, delivered before you sign
How this compares
Pre-Flight is the only QAi engagement scoped to a proposal instead of a system. Once something is actually built or live, Health Check (or, if it's urgent, Executive Rescue Sprint) is the right engagement. Pre-Flight's value is entirely in catching problems before the contract is signed.
What you receive
- Problem Fit review: does the proposed solution actually match the business outcome
- SOW / proposal review against DNLA's five-layer standard
- Architecture risk scan of the proposed design
- An independent TCO estimate
- A clear Go / No-Go recommendation
Investment
$5,000 – $8,000
Common questions
About this engagement
We've already signed. Is it too late?
Pre-Flight is specifically built for the pre-signature decision. Once a system exists, even an early version, QAi Health Check is the right engagement, and QAi Executive Rescue Sprint if something is actively going wrong.
Will you talk to our vendor directly?
With your permission, yes. A structured interview with the proposing team or vendor is usually part of the review. DNLA isn't there to relitigate the relationship, just to pressure-test the plan.
What if the answer is 'this is fine, sign it'?
That's a valid, common outcome. Pre-Flight isn't built to find a problem; it's built to give you a defensible answer either way, in writing, before the money moves.
Ready to scope it?
Tell us where the project stands and we'll confirm this is the right fit.