AI-NATIVE SYSTEMS CONSULTING
We redesign the work and build the minimum system that fits—custom software, bounded AI, and human judgment working together. AI-native delivery makes this level of fit practical for smaller companies.
01
THE APPROACH
We begin with the job and study the workflow as a system. Then we choose the right intervention: remove work, clarify a decision, redesign a role, build deterministic software, or use AI where its capabilities can be tested against a real outcome.
Read the method and sourcesSee the method applied to itselfIdentify who needs to accomplish what, independent of the current tools.
Agree how people and the business will measure success.
Capture the steps, decisions, systems, handoffs, exceptions, and controls.
Find the delays, errors, uncertainty, and unmet outcomes that matter.
Remove needless work and assign each part to people, deterministic software, or AI.
Test the smallest useful system against the agreed outcomes.
02
CASE STUDY · TINEWORK APPLIED TO ITSELF
We used the Tinework methodology to model the consulting engagement itself. The case study connects the job, workflow, evidence, decisions, controls, pilot, and measures in one traceable example.
A WORKED, PROVISIONAL MODEL
Follow the model from the outcome the client needs through the current and proposed workflow, the pilot decision, and the evidence still needed before the design can become a validated client case study.
Explore the complete case study03
WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER
01
Define the job, desired outcomes, and current workflow as a system. Leave with evidence, priorities, and a clear opportunity.
02
Design a better way to accomplish the job, then build the smallest useful system—without the software bundle you do not need.
03
Implement the workflow with your team, train the people who run it, and keep improving both the design and the software.
THE DECISION RULE
AI where it adds value. Deterministic software where reliability matters. Human judgment where responsibility belongs.
04
THE ECONOMICS
AI changes the economics of custom delivery. It reduces the work required for research, design, engineering, testing, and maintenance, so a smaller company can start with the system its workflow actually needs.
01
You fund a general product built for many customers, then pay to configure and implement it around your work.
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You get a closer fit, but large consulting teams and long software programs put it beyond many smaller companies.
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We redesign the workflow, build only the capabilities it needs, and use AI to make delivery and operation more economical.
MADE TO EVOLVE
The relationship includes ongoing consulting hours, maintenance, and optimization. As the workflow, evidence, or business changes, we adjust the design and software instead of forcing every future edge case into the first release.
The model is designed to lower total cost relative to a broad SaaS implementation or a conventional consulting-and-custom-software program. Actual savings depend on scope, integrations, risk, and the controls the work requires.
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ABOUT TINEWORK
Tinework is an AI-native systems consultancy led by Rick Cerf in Burlingame, California. Rick works directly with business operators from discovery through delivery. Tinework is a practice of Le Cerf, Inc.
The practice combines job-led research, workflow design, product thinking, AI engineering, software delivery, training, and change governance. AI improves how the work is delivered and, where it is the right tool, how the new workflow operates.
View Rick’s background on LinkedInSTART WITH ONE WORKFLOW
Tell us the job and show us the workflow. We’ll help determine what should change.
Show us the workflow