Definition
A fixed-price project answers a bounded question: how sound is our technology, where can AI help us, does this idea work, can we put it in front of real users. Scope, deliverable, timeline, and price are written down before work starts, and don’t change along the way without both sides agreeing.
A fixed-price project isn’t a CTO role. It doesn’t lead the team or make the day-to-day calls: it delivers a result, then ends. If you need someone to lead technology over time, that’s a fractional CTO or interim CTO role.
Four formats
Technology assessment
The question: how sound is our technology, and where are the risks?
An independent assessment of architecture, code, team, security, and costs, in 2 to 8 weeks depending on scope.
When: before a fundraise or a sale, before hiring a CTO, after a serious incident, or for a second opinion on a team or a vendor.
Deliverable: a written report, risks ranked by severity, a prioritized action plan, a debrief with leadership.
AI exploration
The question: where can AI really help our company?
Interviews and observation in the teams concerned, an inventory of use cases, first tests on your data. The exploration starts from the teams’ real work, not from a tool catalog.
When: AI is on the leadership agenda, a few people use it on their own, and no one knows what it would really bring.
Deliverable: use cases ranked by gain, risk, and feasibility, and an adoption plan built with the teams.
POC
The question: does this idea work on our data?
A prototype on your real data, tested by the people who will use it, with a success criterion set at the start. A POC that fails fast is a good outcome: it costs less than a project that fails slowly.
When: an idea looks promising, but the investment needed to build it for real calls for proof.
Deliverable: a working prototype, measured results, a clear go or no-go recommendation.
MVP
The question: can we put a first version into production?
A first version used by real users, on a deliberately narrow scope: an internal product, a business tool, an AI feature, or a new service. Built with AI agents to move fast, reviewed and tested to hold up in production.
When: the idea has proven itself, and the company doesn’t have the team, or the bandwidth, to build it.
Deliverable: a product in production, the code, the documentation, and a team able to evolve it.
How a project runs
Fixed-price or CTO role?
A fixed-price project fits when the question is specific and the answer fits in a deliverable. If you need someone to decide, lead the team, and drive the AI transformation over time, that’s a CTO role.
The two sometimes follow each other: an assessment shows technical leadership is missing, an AI exploration calls for someone to drive adoption. A fixed-price project can come before a CTO role, but never requires one.
The rules
- one senior point of contact, from the first call to the handover
- a written scope: what’s included, what isn’t
- a firm price, with no overruns
- deliverables your team can take over
- no commissions from software vendors, integrators, or AI providers
Why Monolithic Lab
Every project is led by a CTO who has held the role: 25+ years in growing companies, including MeilleursAgents, from its first days to market leader, and Prose, cofounded in 2017. An assessment reads differently when it comes from someone who has had to live with the result, and a POC is judged on what it will take to put it into production.
Nicolas Mussat builds hands-on, driving AI agents: prototypes and MVPs ship in weeks, not quarters, and the code is still reviewed and tested.