Question 1

Do you work with pre-revenue companies, or only startups already generating revenue?

Accepted Answer

Pre-revenue is fine. The AI-native startup profile runs from pre-revenue up to $20M ARR — what matters more than revenue stage is whether you're past a working prototype and need the engineering (tool permissions, evaluation, reliability) to take it into production.

Question 2

We're a 5-person team. Are we too small to work with?

Accepted Answer

The typical engineering team in this segment is 5-50 people. Below that, you may be better served shipping the prototype first — production engineering work assumes there's a system and a team to hand it back to.

Question 3

Do you replace our engineers or work alongside them?

Accepted Answer

Alongside. AI-native startups in this segment are already fluent in AI — the gap is usually production engineering, not AI knowledge. We build with your team, not instead of it.

Question 4

Where do engagements in this segment usually start?

Accepted Answer

Most start with AI Systems Engineering or Agent Engineering, depending on whether the system makes a prediction or takes autonomous action. AI Platform Engineering and AI Reliability Engineering typically follow once the first system is live.

Question 5

Who from our side should be in the room for these conversations?

Accepted Answer

Usually the CTO, VP Engineering, Head of AI, or founding engineer for buying decisions, and staff, AI, or platform engineers on the technical side. Small teams often have the same person in both roles.

AI-Native Startups

The profile.

What they need.

Who's in the room.

Where we usually start.

AI Systems Engineering

Agent Engineering

AI Platform Engineering

AI Reliability Engineering

Common questions.

Bring us the system that worked in the demo.