Questions We Get Asked

Rates depend on the engagement type and complexity. We quote per-project with a clear line-item breakdown before you commit. Every line item has a story point estimate, acceptance criteria, and a fixed price. No surprises.

Yes. We track estimated vs. delivered SP on every project. Our contracts include line-item-level scoping, and once signed, delivery progress is visible on the contract itself. We can walk you through anonymized examples during scoping.

The short version: our estimates are tight because we often build a working demo before quoting. We're not guessing at complexity. We've already solved the hardest parts.

Hourly billing creates a conflict of interest. The slower the work, the higher the bill. We use AI-accelerated tools that let us deliver faster than traditional teams. Under hourly billing, that speed would reduce our revenue. Under story point pricing, speed is a shared advantage: you get results faster, we have capacity for more clients.

You pay for what you get, not how long it takes to build.

Scope changes are normal. When requirements evolve, we add a new line item to the contract at the agreed rate. No renegotiation, no change-order drama. The original scope stays fixed. New work is new work.

For retainer engagements, scope flexibility is built in. You allocate story points monthly and direct them where needed.

We absorb estimation risk. If a 5 SP feature takes more effort than expected, the price does not change. That's the point of fixed-price scoping. We mitigate this by building demos before quoting, so we've already encountered the hard parts before the estimate is final.

If something is genuinely unknowable upfront (API access, third-party limitations), we scope a discovery phase with a go/no-go gate. You pay for discovery. If the answer is "this won't work," you stop there.

1. Conversation. You describe what you need. We ask questions.

2. Demo. For most projects, we build a working prototype before you sign anything. You validate the approach with your team.

3. Proposal. Scope document with line items, acceptance criteria, and pricing. Contract with terms. BAA if healthcare. All linked from one URL.

4. Build. Production code ships incrementally. You see commits in real time. Release pages document what shipped.

5. Deliver. Deployed, tested, documented. Delivery progress visible on your signed contract page.

Three ways, all async:

Contract page: Once signed, your contract shows live delivery status. Which line items are complete, in progress, or upcoming.

Release pages: Each significant delivery gets a shareable page documenting what shipped, with screenshots and technical details.

Code commits: Every change is committed with a descriptive message. You can follow along in real time if you want, or check in weekly.

We are available for calls when you need them. But you should never have to schedule a meeting just to find out where things stand.

Our total output is 20-35 story points per day across all clients. On a dedicated retainer, delivery speed depends on complexity and how quickly your team can review and approve work.

For context: a typical "new feature" is 3-5 SP. A retainer client usually sees multiple features ship per week, not per month.

Today, ATH is Bert Carroll plus AI-accelerated tooling. This is intentional, not a limitation. One experienced architect with full context makes better decisions than a team of three passing context through tickets and standup meetings.

For larger engagements that genuinely need parallel execution, we bring in trusted specialists. But most projects in our range (up to ~$50K) are faster and higher quality with one focused builder than with a distributed team.

Yes. We provide Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) for healthcare engagements. Our infrastructure choices (Azure HIPAA-eligible services, encrypted SFTP, audit logging) are designed for regulated environments.

We have production experience with HIPAA-compliant platforms including clinical documentation systems, patient portals, and EHR integrations.

Our default architecture is passthrough. We build the software that processes PHI, but the data lives on your infrastructure (typically Azure or your existing systems). We do not independently store, maintain, or retain PHI.

This is documented in our BAA for each engagement.

We use AI tools throughout the development lifecycle, not just for writing code. Architecture documentation, compliance frameworks, testing, stakeholder communication, and project management are all AI-assisted.

The result is that work that would take a traditional team weeks ships in days. This is not a marketing claim. It is the reason we can offer fixed-price scoping at competitive rates while delivering faster than agencies charging more.

AI assists. A human architect makes every design decision, reviews every output, and owns every deployment. AI does not commit code autonomously. Every change goes through the same quality process as traditionally written code.

Our track record includes production HIPAA-compliant systems, complex EHR integrations, and platforms handling real clinical data. The quality bar is the same regardless of how the code was produced.