Glossary · Mandate
Mandate
A Mandate is a new capability your company didn't have, shipped and owned by you. Not a project you have to run.
How it's de-risked: a fixed-price, fixed-scope, KPI-anchored business outcome, backed by an Outcome SLA. Architects own it end to end. AI agents do the work.
What it is
Each Mandate is a capability your business keeps: a named outcome that ships, then runs as yours. It carries a quantitative KPI and a Time-to-Outcome target. Pricing is fixed per outcome, calibrated by complexity (S, M, L, XL). Not hours. Not access. The outcome itself.
What it isn't
It is not a consulting engagement billed by the hour. It is not a SaaS subscription with seats. It is not a deliverable with a soft commitment. The unit of value is the shipped outcome, not the time spent or the tool used.
The Outcome SLA
Every Mandate ships with an outcome SLA. If we miss the target, we keep working at no additional cost until the named KPI ships. Dev shops collect regardless of outcome. We don't.
Dev shops collect regardless of outcome. We keep working until it ships.
Where it fits
Mandates live inside Engagements. An Engagement is an annual relationship that anchors the Vigilance Layer (standing AI partnership) and the Mandate Catalogue (the menu of named outcomes available to your business). Most customers ship 1 to 4 Mandates per year inside their Engagement. Every Mandate is delivered by Cambrian, the engine that produces the outcome.
How to start one
Mandates are scoped on a Discovery call. We walk through 10 questions, identify the right Mandates for your business, and produce a written proposal within 5 days.