# Selected engagements — AI transformation, in practice.

> Emblematic Catalyst·Wayfare engagements, anonymized. Two multi-phase AI transformations:
> a founder-led professional services firm and a PE-backed portfolio company.

Canonical page: https://www.catalystwayfare.ai/work

## 01 — Founder-led professional services firm. Multi-phase AI transformation from scratch.

**The company.** A ~$500M+ enterprise-value, mission-driven professional services firm. No
internal IT team. Forward-thinking CEO, with active encouragement from a board eager to
modernize.

**The engagement.** Multi-phase. Full Navigation followed by deployment of priority AI
capabilities, with governance and culture work running in parallel.

### Phase 1 — Navigate.

- Full C·W AI360 deep dive across all six workstreams: AI-readiness analysis, sector
  intelligence, workforce culture assessment, data architecture review, governance framework
  development, and functional prototyping.
- 100+ hours of structured interviews engaging 40+ teammates across every business unit.
  Quantitative survey covering more than half the workforce, benchmarked against industry
  data.
- Two business-critical workflows prototyped before Phase 1 close, de-risking the
  highest-priority Phase 2 builds.
- Delivered: AI360 Readiness Report, Governance Toolkit, and a multi-year AI Transformation
  Roadmap with prioritized capabilities and cost transparency.

### Phase 2 — Evolve.

- Deploying AI capabilities across business development, sales acceleration, contracting, and
  internal knowledge management.
- Governance Toolkit operationalized: data-handling policies, approved-tool catalog,
  escalation pathways, and a quarterly review cycle.
- Adoption program running in parallel: leadership communication, employee guidance, and
  role-specific training pathways.
- Managed pilots running with usage telemetry and ROI tracking, feeding back into roadmap
  prioritization.

### What changed: from AI experimentation to embedded business capability.

- AI is embedded as a business capability, not an IT project.
- The CEO has clear visibility into AI ROI, measured against revenue rather than utilization.
- The firm is operating with structured AI governance for the first time, ready for the next
  phase of growth.

## 02 — PE-backed portfolio company. Phase 1 through Phase 3, with a vertical AI build.

**The company.** A PE-backed company in a technical, regulated sector with a board-level AI
mandate. Small internal IT helpdesk and a growing software team. The CEO recognized AI as a
competitive necessity from the outset, treated as a business investment rather than a cost
center.

**The engagement.** Phase 1 through Phase 3, including bespoke vertical AI capabilities
aligned to the PE value-creation plan.

### Entry — board-level sponsorship.

- Engagement began within weeks of first contact, with no procurement delay.
- Scoping aligned to the PE hold-period value-creation plan from the first conversation.

### Phase 1 — Navigate.

- Accelerated C·W AI360 Navigation. The hold window shaped which capabilities to prioritize:
  bias toward measurable impact within the relevant timeframe.
- Highest-ROI use cases identified across operational throughput, revenue acceleration, and
  back-office automation.
- Two functional prototypes delivered before Phase 1 close, with go/no-go decisions framed
  for leadership.

### Phase 2 — Evolve.

- Six-month engagement covering architecture, governance, and adoption support, running
  alongside design-build of bespoke AI capabilities.
- Managed pilots of enterprise productivity tools deployed across the workforce, with
  structured telemetry and ROI tracking.
- Multiple proof-of-concept builds for revenue and operational tools, taken to go/no-go
  decision with leadership.

### Phase 3 — Transform.

- Vertical AI build targeting the binding constraint on the company's revenue: domain-expert
  throughput that the labor market cannot supply at scale.
- Multi-agent system operating alongside the client's senior practitioners in a tiger-team
  model, with structured pilot loops and review gates tied to measurable throughput.
- Architecture designed for replication across additional lines of business as the engagement
  matures.
- Knowledge transfer woven through the build: documentation, agent architecture guides, and
  training delivered so the client's team can extend the work independently.

### What changed: AI transformation, embedded into the value creation plan.

- AI transformation embedded into the hold-period value creation plan.
- The PE firm has full board-level visibility into AI ROI, with KPIs tracked at the same
  cadence as financial reporting.
- The PE firm now views Catalyst·Wayfare as the portfolio AI partner for future acquisitions
  in the sector.

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