Essentials
from $2,500
Local AI on a machine you already own. One model, one working workflow — drafting, dictation, or document search — plus training and a written runbook.
Ask about Essentials →services
I install private AI on your hardware, then keep it healthy.
A one-time setup with a fixed scope, plus an optional monthly caretaker plan you can cancel any time. Hardware is yours, bought at cost — I don’t mark it up.
Based in Northern Kentucky, serving the Cincinnati metro on site; remote engagements are available elsewhere.
one-time setup
Start with the smallest system that does the real job.
Practice
from $4,500
A dedicated machine specced for your workload. Two or three workflows, an agent with fail-closed guardrails and action receipts, and a data-custody write-up.
Ask about Practice →Firm
custom
Multiple seats, a shared local server, and integration with existing tools. Scoped after the intake call — no number invented before I understand the work.
Ask about Firm →Setup prices cover the consulting and implementation work. Essentials uses hardware you already own; Practice and Firm hardware is separate. Budget roughly $2,000–$8,000 for a dedicated machine, depending on model size, memory, storage, and support requirements. The exact machine is quoted at cost.
Not sure which fits? That is the first intake question → Use the hardware sizing worksheet before comparing machines.
Every engagement ends with the unplug test.
We pull the network cable and run your actual workflow together. If it does not work offline, I am not done. You leave knowing the privacy claim is something you tested, not something you were asked to trust.
caretaker plan
Keep it healthy without making it dependent on me.
Local AI is an appliance: it needs occasional model updates, health checks, and someone to call. Month to month, cancel any time — the system keeps working without it.
Watch — $150/mo
Updates and model refreshes, health monitoring, backup verification, and async email support.
Care — $250/mo
Everything in Watch, plus live support when something breaks and a quarterly review and tune-up.
A lower setup price for a stronger public receipt.
The first three founding clients receive reduced setup pricing and a locked first-year caretaker rate. In exchange, I need an honest, publishable case study — what worked and what did not — plus a reference call. Client data stays private; the publishable scope is agreed in writing before the work begins.
Ask about a founding slot →how an engagement starts
The intake call: one question at a time.
- →What data must never leave your machine — and who you are protecting it from.
- →What the AI should actually do on day one: real tasks from last week, not science fiction.
- →What hardware you have, and what it can honestly run.
- →Your boundaries: by default the agent drafts and acts on nothing without your approval.
You leave with a one-page plan: your data classes, the models I would use and why, what the agent may and may never do, and a price. It is yours whether or not you hire me.
I will talk you out of this if it is wrong for you. If you need frontier-model quality on a thin laptop, or want an AI acting autonomously on live client data from day one, local-first is not your answer yet.
Start the conversationfrequently asked
The questions a careful buyer should ask.
- Does the caretaker plan give you permanent remote access to my machine?
- No standing access is assumed. We choose and document the maintenance method during scope. If you approve remote access, it is limited to the agreed support path and can be disabled; on-site-only care can be scoped that way.
- What does the machine itself cost?
- Essentials uses a computer you already own. For a dedicated machine, budget roughly $2,000–$8,000 depending on model size, memory, storage, and support requirements. Hardware is quoted separately at cost with no markup.
- Is a local model good enough for my work?
- Often for focused drafting, document search, summarizing, transcription, and repeatable workflows; not always for work that needs the strongest frontier model. The intake plan names the tradeoff before you buy hardware.
- How long does setup take?
- It depends on the workflow, hardware availability, integrations, and review requirements. The free intake ends with a written scope and timeline before you owe a setup fee.
- What happens if you disappear or I cancel care?
- The hardware, local models, configuration, and written runbook are yours. The system keeps working without the caretaker plan; nothing in the processing path depends on an active subscription to me.
- What makes a project cost more than the starting price?
- Additional workflows, shared-server or multi-seat needs, data migration, tool integrations, custom agent permissions, and unusually strict review or on-site requirements. Those variables appear in the written quote, not as surprises later.
Compare local AI and cloud AI, or take the printable data-custody one-pager into your internal review, or run the local AI fit assessment.