A clear AI plan, with the governance to execute it safely.
Compass is the strategy and governance engagement for executive leadership. We turn "what should we be doing about AI?" into a named roadmap, a defensible policy, and the proof your board needs that you are not improvising.
Compass fits if any of these are true.
And if any of the anti-fit signals on the right describe you, we'll point you to the better doorway — including the other Wellforce products.
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You're an ED, CEO, or executive sponsor who needs a credible AI plan in front of your board this fiscal year.
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Your team is using AI ad-hoc and you have no policy, no inventory, and no risk posture.
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You want a written strategy tied to your business plan, not a slide deck of buzzwords.
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You need someone independent who can say "no, not yet" to vendors.
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You already employ a full-time AI strategist or Chief AI Officer.
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You want hands-on agent build-out today — Cultivate is the better doorway.
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Your only AI question is operational ("does my IT do this?") — start with Backbone.
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You haven't decided whether AI matters yet. Compass is for orgs already past that question.
Inside Compass
Productized, scoped, and operated. Every line item below is a deliverable, not a brochure bullet.
- Onboarding + retainer
AI strategy roadmap
12-month plan tied to your business goals. Use cases prioritized by ROI and risk. Quarterly review cadence built in.
- Onboarding deliverable
AI policy + acceptable-use
Customer-tailored policy covering data handling, vendor evaluation, employee use, and disclosure obligations.
- Ongoing
AI risk register
Live register of every AI use case with owner, risk class, and review date. Mapped to your relevant frameworks.
- On-demand within retainer
Vendor + tool evaluation
Independent review of AI vendors before you buy. We say no to bad fits and we say so in writing.
- Quarterly
Board reporting pack
A two-page AI/risk update your ED or CEO can put in front of the board without translation.
- Quarterly
Quarterly executive review
90-minute QBR with your leadership — roadmap status, new use cases, risk movement, recommended decisions.
- Onboarding + on-demand
Stakeholder workshops
Facilitated sessions with department leads to surface real use cases and confirm fit before any build starts.
- Onboarding deliverable
Data readiness assessment
What data you have, where it lives, what's safe to feed an AI, and what to fix before you do.
Concrete deliverables, not vague phases.
The first 90 days have named outputs. If we miss them, you know it — that's the point of writing them down.
- Day 30
Discovery + draft strategy
Stakeholder interviews complete. Use-case inventory built. Draft AI policy circulating with leadership. Data readiness findings on the table.
- Day 60
Roadmap + governance live
12-month roadmap signed. AI policy adopted. Risk register live with named owners. First two prioritized use cases scoped for delivery.
- Day 90
First QBR + board pack
First quarterly executive review delivered. Board-ready reporting pack handed to your ED/CEO. Cadence locked in for the rest of the year.
Named humans. Same humans next quarter.
Continuity is not a feature; it's the whole point of a productized engagement.
- AI Strategist (lead)
Senior strategist who runs the engagement, facilitates leadership sessions, and authors the roadmap and policy.
- vCIO
Wellforce vCIO joins the QBR cadence so AI strategy stays connected to the broader IT roadmap.
- Governance analyst
Maintains the risk register, runs the vendor evaluations, and keeps your evidence audit-ready.
Bands published. No surprises.
The exact number depends on your size and scope. The intake call confirms within 48 hours.
$2,000–$4,000/mo retainer
+ $8,500–$15,000 onboarding
Plus a $8,500–$15,000 onboarding fee covering discovery, the initial roadmap, the AI policy, and the first risk register build. Retainer scales with org size and number of business units.
- Named AI Strategist + vCIO partnership
- Quarterly executive review (90 min)
- Live AI roadmap and risk register
- Tailored AI policy and acceptable-use, reviewed annually
- On-demand vendor evaluations within retainer
- Board reporting pack each quarter
About Compass
How is Compass different from a vCIO?
The vCIO covers all of IT strategy. Compass is a deeper, AI-specific strategy and governance engagement. Most clients run them in parallel — the vCIO sits in the Compass QBR so the broader IT roadmap and the AI roadmap stay connected.
Do we have to be on the IT Partnership to buy Compass?
No. Compass stands alone. Many Compass-only clients have their own internal IT or another MSP — we're the AI strategy layer above that.
What if our team isn't ready to "do AI" yet?
That's exactly when Compass earns its keep. The first deliverable is a data readiness assessment and a policy. You'll know what to fix before you spend money on tools.
Will you tell us not to buy something?
Yes. Independence is the point. We have no resale incentive on AI vendors — we are paid to advise, not to push licenses.
How long is the typical engagement?
Most clients sign a 12-month retainer with quarterly review breakpoints. Some renew annually for years; some graduate to Cultivate once strategy is set and they're ready to build.
Does Compass cover compliance frameworks?
Compass covers AI-specific governance — policy, risk register, vendor handling, disclosure. Framework compliance (HIPAA, SOC 2, FERPA, CMMC) is the IT Partnership's Compliance add-on. They overlap; we coordinate.
Compass starts with a 30-minute intake.
We'll confirm fit, scope the engagement, and have a precise quote in your inbox within 48 hours. If we're not the right doorway, we'll tell you.