The 40 questions every GCC enterprise asks before signing an AI SoW — answered in writing.

Block 1 of 7 · 6 questions

Pricing

Reviewed quarterly by Reem Saleh, Head of Delivery.

This question doesn't answer your case? Talk to Reem Saleh

• How much does an AI project cost?+

  Published bands by engagement type, in USD, calibrated to UAE / GCC market rates as of Q1 2026: · Discovery (4 weeks): 35,000 - 80,000 · Build (12 - 26 weeks): 180,000 - 950,000 · Run (annual support and managed service): 60,000 - 340,000 · Managed strategic partnership (annual, multi-use-case): 700,000 - 3,200,000 The band depends on data complexity, regulatory scope, named-engineer seniority, and on-site mix. The Procurement Pack PDF lists the assumptions behind every band. Where a use case sits below the band floor, we will say so on the commercial call rather than scope something that will not pay back.

• What is the pricing model — fixed price, time and materials, or outcome-based?+
• Are there hidden fees — licences, cloud passthrough, third-party tools?+
• Do you offer a free pilot or proof-of-concept?+
• How does payment work — milestones, monthly, on completion?+
• Will you respond to RFPs and tenders?+

Block 3 of 7 · 4 questions

Scope

Reviewed quarterly by Reem Saleh, Head of Delivery.

This question doesn't answer your case? Talk to Reem Saleh

• How do you handle scope changes?+

  Change requests under 5 % of the not-to-exceed ceiling are handled inside the steering cadence with a documented note. Above 5 %, we issue a Change Order with the new scope, the schedule impact, and the price impact. Across the last 80 engagements, our average change-order value is 9 % of original SoW — most often driven by scope being correctly expanded once data realities surface, not by re-scoping the original work.

• What is included in a typical SoW?+
• Will the team work with our existing engineers?+
• Can we change priorities mid-engagement?+

Block 5 of 7 · 5 questions

Residency

Reviewed quarterly by Aisha Al Hosani, Head of AI Risk.

This question doesn't answer your case? Talk to Aisha Al Hosani

• Where will our data live during the engagement?+

  Default: UAE-resident infrastructure in the client's tenancy on AWS UAE North, Azure UAE North, OCI Abu Dhabi, G42 Cloud, or on-prem (client-controlled). Where the engagement is for a CBUAE-supervised bank or a federal entity, we default to G42 Cloud or on-prem. Where the engagement is for a non-regulated UAE entity, we usually default to AWS UAE North or Azure UAE North. The decision is recorded in the data-handling annex of the SoW.

• Can Brocode engineers access client data?+
• What about cross-border processing — sub-processors and third parties?+
• How does this map to UAE PDPL, DIFC DP Law, and PDPL in KSA?+
• What if the regulator changes the residency requirements mid-engagement?+

Block 7 of 7 · 8 questions

Hand-over & Exit

Reviewed quarterly by Reem Saleh, Head of Delivery.

This question doesn't answer your case? Talk to Reem Saleh

• What happens when the engagement ends?+

  Three things, in this order: (1) a 90-day hyper-care period where the original engineers remain on-call for hot-fix issues; (2) a 30-day shadow hand-over where the client's chosen run team operates the system while the Brocode team observes and answers; (3) a full documentation pack — architecture records, runbooks, model cards, eval suites, BoM — handed over with sign-off. After the 120 days, the engagement is closed and the system is operating without Brocode dependency.

• Do we get the model weights?+
• Can we run the system without you?+
• What about exit assistance if we move to another vendor?+
• Will the model "phone home" or call our credentials back to you?+
• What is the run-on cost after you leave?+
• What if a key Brocode engineer leaves during the engagement?+
• Can we retain a smaller Brocode footprint after Build — a "lights-on" relationship?+