Question 1

What is a Change Leak?

Accepted Answer

A Change Leak is the silent loss of planning accuracy that occurs when a decision made at the global or regional level — a date shift, a target revision, a product cancellation — fails to propagate correctly through the planning chain. The downstream planner acts on stale data. The error compounds. By the time it surfaces, it has already cost money.

Question 2

What is an AI Librarian?

Accepted Answer

An AI Librarian is a trained member of your planning team who operates the Bespoke Library — the planning intelligence layer we build together. They are not a software role. They are a planning role, enhanced. By engagement close, they run the planning chain independently without consultant support.

Question 3

What is a Bespoke Library?

Accepted Answer

A Bespoke Library is a client-specific planning intelligence layer built from your team's own decision logic. It contains the SOPs, Decision Trees, and How-To documents that govern how your planning team makes decisions — authored by your people, validated by your people, maintained by your people.

Question 4

What is a Drift Audit?

Accepted Answer

The Drift Audit is the diagnostic we run in Phase 1. It identifies every Change Leak in your current planning workflow, quantifies the financial exposure, and establishes the build priority sequence for your Bespoke Library. It is the foundation every engagement starts with.

Question 5

What is the difference between Foundation Track and Velocity Track?

Accepted Answer

Foundation Track is for spreadsheet-dependent planning environments — Excel, CSV exports, manual data management. Velocity Track is for ERP-connected environments with Looker, SPS Commerce, and API data feeds. The methodology is the same. The integration path and timeline differ.

Question 6

How long does an engagement take?

Accepted Answer

A standard engagement runs approximately 90 days across three phases: Phase 1 (Drift Audit and data archaeology, Weeks 1–6), Phase 2 (Bespoke Library build and AI Librarian training, Weeks 7–14), and Phase 3 (full planning chain operational and engagement close, Week 15+).

Question 7

What does the planning team need to commit?

Accepted Answer

A named AI Librarian candidate who participates actively from Phase 1. A named Strategic Arbiter — the executive sponsor who makes binding planning decisions at review steps. Data access as specified in the engagement configuration. IT availability for 4–12 hours in Weeks 1–2 depending on the track.

Question 8

What happens after the engagement closes?

Accepted Answer

The Bespoke Library continues running under the AI Librarian's ownership. We provide a structured 30/60/90-day milestone framework and a named escalation contact for the first three engagements. The goal at close is genuine independence — not a dependency on continued consulting.

Question 9

Do you work with companies that don't have clean data?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We do not require a clean data environment as a prerequisite. The validation layer is specifically designed to ingest messy, partially structured data and surface the problems inside it. What we require is an honest inventory of what exists — not a pre-cleaned dataset.

Question 10

What planning functions do you cover?

Accepted Answer

Merchandise Planning, Sales Planning, Demand Planning, Buyers (Ecom and Retail), and Allocators (Retail only). Each function is assessed independently during Phase 1. Scope is set function by function based on your data state, not assumed upfront.

Question 11

What is the Threshold Assessment?

Accepted Answer

The Threshold Assessment is the per-function data readiness evaluation we perform during Phase 1. It determines whether each planning function can produce outputs the team can act on with confidence. Functions below the minimum threshold are excluded from initial scope and added when the data state improves. You are not charged for outputs the system cannot yet produce.

Question 12

What software do clients need?

Accepted Answer

Our platform is built on Google Workspace — Gemini and NotebookLM for the Bespoke Library. Clients need an existing Google Workspace account. No additional software licenses are required. The Bespoke Library lives in your existing environment.

Question 13

How is Basal AI different from planning software like o9 or Anaplan?

Accepted Answer

Planning software automates the calculation. It does not encode the decision logic behind the calculation. Basal AI builds the decision logic layer — the Bespoke Library — that tells the system how your team makes decisions. We work alongside your existing software, or replace spreadsheets entirely. We are not a software license. We are a methodology and a build engagement.

Question 14

What is a Strategic Arbiter?

Accepted Answer

The Strategic Arbiter is the named executive sponsor of the engagement — typically a VP of Planning, CFO, or equivalent. They have the authority to make binding planning decisions at review steps. The Arbiter is not an administrative role. They are the constitutional decision-maker when the planning chain surfaces a question that requires human judgment.

Question 15

What does "advisory" mean for planning outputs?

Accepted Answer

Every planning output Basal AI produces is advisory. No output directs a commercial action without a human review step. The AI Librarian and the Strategic Arbiter are the decision-makers at every review point. The system calculates and surfaces. Humans decide. This is architectural, not a disclaimer.

Question 16

Can we see a demo before committing?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We offer a structured demonstration using a synthetic client dataset that mirrors a real planning environment. The demonstration shows the full planning chain in operation — Drift Audit findings, Bespoke Library queries, and planning output examples — without requiring you to share your own data first.

Question 17

What data do you process?

Accepted Answer

Planning data: seasonal targets, open-to-buy budgets, assortment structures, sell-out data, sell-in order books, and financial targets. We do not process personally identifiable consumer data, payment data, HR data, or any data not directly related to retail planning.

Question 18

What is your liability position on planning outputs?

Accepted Answer

Our maximum obligation for system errors is remediation: identification, correction, re-run of affected outputs, and delivery of corrected outputs at no additional charge. We are not liable for commercial decisions made on advisory outputs. This position is stated clearly in our engagement contract and is not a negotiating stance — it reflects the advisory classification of all outputs.

Question 19

What is your pricing?

Accepted Answer

Engagements are priced by track: Foundation Track for spreadsheet-dependent environments, Velocity Track for ERP-connected environments. Pricing is available on request following a discovery call. All engagements are fixed-fee with a 50/25/25 payment structure.

Question 20

How do we get started?

Accepted Answer

Book a discovery call. We will spend 30–45 minutes understanding your planning environment, your current pain points, and whether the engagement is the right fit. If it is, we will send a proposal within five business days.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to find your Change Leak?

Frequently Asked Questions

01What is a Change Leak?+−

02What is an AI Librarian?+−

03What is a Bespoke Library?+−

04What is a Drift Audit?+−

05What is the difference between Foundation Track and Velocity Track?+−

06How long does an engagement take?+−

07What does the planning team need to commit?+−

08What happens after the engagement closes?+−

09Do you work with companies that don't have clean data?+−

10What planning functions do you cover?+−

11What is the Threshold Assessment?+−

12What software do clients need?+−

13How is Basal AI different from planning software like o9 or Anaplan?+−

14What is a Strategic Arbiter?+−

15What does "advisory" mean for planning outputs?+−

16Can we see a demo before committing?+−

17What data do you process?+−

18What is your liability position on planning outputs?+−

19What is your pricing?+−

20How do we get started?+−

Ready to find your Change Leak?