AI Managed Pod

Launch AI products faster with a dedicated cross-functional AI Managed pod - from AI agents and automations to predictive systems and SaaS platforms. No overhead.

40-60%Lower Hiring Cost
100%Code Ownership
50+Processes Automated
2 WksSprint Live Demos

Hiring AI engineers sounds simple. It isn't.

The AI talent market is the most competitive in tech right now. Companies that try to build in-house waste months and hundreds of thousands - while their competitors are shipping AI features every sprint.

A single senior AI engineer in the US costs $180K-$250K in salary alone. Add benefits, recruiting fees, and management overhead and you're at $300K+ per hire, per year - before they ship a single feature.

Avg. $300K+ per hire annually

Posting, screening, interviewing, negotiating, onboarding - the full cycle takes 3-6 months per AI hire. By the time your team is assembled, your competitors are 2 product versions ahead.

3-6 months per engineer hire

Individual contractors juggle multiple clients, have no accountability for long-term outcomes, and take their institutional knowledge with them when the engagement ends. No QA. No continuity. No ownership.

No continuity or ownership

Zero continuity between engagements

The AI Managed Pod replaces all of this - a complete, accountable AI team in your Slack by Week 1.

AI Managed Pod Services We Offer

An AI Managed Pod is AI team as a service: one dedicated team that builds, manages, and improves AI across your business. These are the six types of work our pods take on most often.

Agents that answer customers, qualify leads, and run multi-step tasks inside your tools, built and improved sprint by sprint.

You get: Agents working in real workflows

n8n and AI workflows that move data between your CRM, finance, and support tools, with error handling and failure alerts.

You get: Manual work taken off your team

AI search, assistants, and summaries grounded in your documents and data, tested against real questions before release.

You get: Answers grounded in your data

Forecasting, scoring, and recommendation models built on your own data and connected to the systems your team already uses.

You get: Models running in production

New AI products and SaaS platforms built end to end, from architecture and model choice to release and iteration.

You get: A product you fully own

Monitoring, model and prompt updates, and new features for AI systems already in production, so they keep improving.

You get: AI that keeps getting better

Our Prime Projects and Case Studies

Explore how Ciphernutz delivers innovation, solves real-world challenges, and drives measurable outcomes across industries.

View All

SaaS

A SaaS Environment Management Platform Reduces Overspends by 68% & Limits Licence Auto-Renewal

See how Ciphernutz built a SaaS management platform that automated licence governance, renewals, access reviews, and analytics, cutting overspend by 68%.

  • SaaS
  • Enterprise Application Architecture
  • Cloud Identity & API Integration
  • React.js

Telecommunications

UK VoIP Provider Cut Routine Support Inquiries by 75% With a 24/7 Self-Service Portal

  • Telecommunications
  • Custom Software Development
  • CRM Integration
  • Next.js

HR Tech

A Global AI Resume Platform With Real-Time ATS Optimization Enables 65% Faster Resume Creation

  • HR Tech
  • Web Application Development
  • Generative AI Integration
  • Next.js

Real Estate

A Real Estate Sales Engine Handles 5-10 Live Conversations Without Manual CRM Entries

  • Real Estate
  • AI Voice Agent Development
  • Workflow Automation
  • ElevenLabs

AI Managed Pods vs. Staff Augmentation vs. Freelancers

Get dedicated AI execution with fixed sprint delivery, clear ownership, and cross-functional teams.

AI Managed PodStaff AugmentationFreelancers
Team accountabilityComplete team, shared ownershipIndividual hires you manageSolo operators, no accountability
Delivery managementWe own QA, sprints, and deliveryYou govern everythingYou manage everything
Domain knowledgeCompounds over timeHigh turnover, knowledge walks outNo continuity between engagements
Architecture guidanceTech Lead includedNot includedNot included
PricingFixed monthly, no surprisesHourly billing, costs escalateVariable quality and availability
Time to first sprint1-2 Weeks2-4 Weeks1-2 Weeks

Choose the Right AI Pod for Your Growth Stage

Our sprint-based pods provide dedicated engineering teams with transparent monthly pricing and rapid execution.

Starter Pod

$ 8,000

Ideal for single-workstream AI development

  • 1 FullStack Dev Full Time
  • Tech Lead Part Time
  • Product Manager Part Time
Most popular

Growth Pod

$ 12,000

For teams shipping multiple AI features per sprint

  • 2 FullStack Developer/AI Engineer Full Time
  • Tech Lead Part Time
  • Product Manager Full Time

Scale Pod

$ 18,000

Full AI engineering team with DevOps and infra

  • 2 FullStack Developer Full Time
  • 1 AI/ML Engineer
  • Tech Lead Full Time
  • Product Manager Full Time

Our AI Managed Pod Process

Three phases: Discover, Build, Evolve. Every phase has a named deliverable, and you approve the success criteria before we write a line of code.

Discovery & Pod Assembly

We assess your codebase, tech stack, and AI objectives, assemble a pod with the right skill mix, and define your first sprint priorities with you. You decide the pod size and the success criteria for the first sprint.

Onboarding & Sprint Delivery

Your pod reviews documentation, sets up environments, and joins your tools. Every 2-week sprint ends with a live demo of working software and a retrospective. You decide what ships next, at every sprint demo.

Reviews & Optimization

Monthly progress reports, roadmap adjustments, pod performance reviews, and team-size recommendations as your needs change. You decide whether to scale the pod up or down, with 15 days' notice after the initial period.

Your competitors are shipping AI faster. Are you?

Deploy a dedicated AI Managed Pod in 1-2 weeks and start shipping AI workflows, agents, and automations without the overhead of hiring in-house.

Why Choose Ciphernutz as Your Dedicated AI Engineering Team?

When you need AI shipped every sprint without building a team from scratch, here is what you get.

Live in 1 to 2 weeks

From contract to first sprint in 1 to 2 weeks, with no recruiting, screening, or onboarding on your side.

One fixed monthly price

Transparent monthly pricing from $8,000, with no hourly billing and no surprise invoices.

A team that owns delivery

We own sprint planning, QA, and delivery, so you can focus on product direction instead of managing people.

Knowledge that compounds

A fixed team stays on your product, so domain knowledge builds sprint after sprint instead of leaving with a contractor.

Tech Lead included

Architecture reviews, build-vs-buy analysis, and model selection come with every pod, beyond day-to-day task management.

You own everything

All code, documentation, and IP are yours from day one, with structured knowledge transfer if you take development in-house.

Related Services to Explore

Not ready for a full AI Managed Pod yet? Start here.

Not sure what to build first? Start with a 7-day audit that maps your AI opportunities and gives you a costed roadmap to plan your pod around.
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Validate a specific AI agent idea in 4 weeks before committing to ongoing development. The natural on-ramp to a Managed Pod.
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Need live automations fast, without an ongoing commitment? The fixed-price Sprint delivers production workflows in 3 weeks.
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Turn your AI product idea into a working MVP with fixed-price, sprint-based delivery for startups and enterprises.
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Frequently Asked Questions