How we run every project.
GIST keeps the short cycles of agile and changes the parts that do not fit data and AI work.
Agile assumes you know what to build and can tell when it works. Data projects rarely start that way. You find out what the data can support as you go. A model gives an estimate, and someone has to measure how good it is. And much of the code is now written by AI, which needs checking like any new hire.
Each piece of work moves through them in order. Trust runs the whole way.
Agree what the work is for, and look at the real data.
We write a one-page Decision Brief. It names the decision the work should improve, the person who owns that decision, how we will measure the result, and what it is worth. At the same time we profile the actual source data, draft data contracts with the people who own each source, and write down the security and compliance rules that apply, so they shape the design from the start.
Build one thin working slice, then the next.
Each cycle has a fixed length and delivers one slice that runs from the source data to the screen where someone makes the decision. AI coding agents draft the code, tests, and documentation. Our engineers set direction and review every change. The cycle ends with an Evidence Review, where we show the slice running, its test results, and what it cost.
Go live early, with a safety net.
We deploy from the first cycle, behind a feature flag, in shadow mode, or to a small group of users. Monitoring and rollback are in place before anything goes live. The Decision Owner sees results inside the tools they already use, and a wider release waits until the targets agreed in Ground are met.
Keep the controls current while you build.
Governance happens in every cycle, and we write controls as code where we can. Every model, prompt, and agent in production gets an Evaluation Card that records its purpose, data, test results, limits, and owner. The Control Register lists each control and the evidence it produces, so when an auditor asks, the answer already exists.
Every meeting ends with a decision or a piece of evidence.
From your side. The business leader whose decision the work improves. Signs the Decision Brief and approves wider releases.
From ours. Runs the cycles, owns the tests, and answers for every slice that goes live.
Ours, often working next to yours. Build each slice with AI agents and review everything the agents produce.
Keeps the Evaluation Cards and Control Register current, and speaks for security, privacy, and compliance in every cycle.
Every agent on our team has an owner, a written scope, the smallest set of permissions it needs, and a log of what it did. Its code goes through the same review as anyone's. It cannot deploy to production, give itself more access, or read data outside its contract. If it fails an evaluation, we take it off the work.
Name one decision you want to improve. We will draft the Decision Brief with you.
