Deploy a team that ships — with the platform that governs.
A Cortex Pod is a delivery unit you can deploy in weeks: Forward Deployed Engineers, a playbook proven across 14 years and 200+ products, and Cortex governing every Mission they run. You subscribe to an outcome. You see the work the entire time.
You deploy a Pod. The Pod runs Missions. Cortex governs every one of them.
Three layers, one accountable system. You buy an outcome, not a license — and you can watch the whole thing work.
how-it-stacks
Cortex PodDeploy
Forward Deployed Engineers + a proven playbook
MissionsRun
The governed unit of work — plan, build, validate, review, ship
CortexGovern
Enforces planning, validation, approval, and audit
Not a team. Not a tool. A delivery unit.
Most companies sell you people and hope the process works. Others sell you a platform and hope you can run it. A Cortex Pod is both — senior engineers and a working delivery system, scoped to what you're actually trying to build, with the controls built in from day one.
Traditional staffing
You get engineers. You provide the process, the tools, the oversight, and the accountability. When the contract ends, the knowledge walks out.
AI tools
You get a platform. You provide the team, the judgment, the validation, and the governance. Speed goes up; control is your problem.
Cortex Pod
Both
You get both — the engineers and the platform, governed end to end. The work is visible while it happens. The knowledge stays as delivery intelligence. You control the gates.
Choose the Pod. Define the outcome.
Every Pod runs the same governed delivery path. What changes is the playbook, the team composition, and what you're building toward.
New Product Pod
From a validated idea to a shipped, scalable product.
You have an idea, a market, and a deadline. The New Product Pod takes you from intent to a real product — not a demo, not a prototype-that-becomes-production, but software built to scale from day one. The team handles discovery, architecture, and build in one continuous motion.
Blueprint and validation contract defined before the first line of code
Missions you can watch in real time, not status decks delivered weekly
A product built with evidence of what was tested and why it shipped
Modernize an aging system without losing the logic inside it.
Your legacy system works — that's why it's still running. The problem is that nobody can change it safely, nobody fully understands it, and AI tools make it worse, not better, without a map. This Pod starts by understanding what you have before touching anything.
Most AI projects stall between the demo that impressed leadership and the production system that has to survive a security review. This Pod bridges that gap — taking models and agents into real, governed deployment with the controls enterprise buyers actually require.
Validation contracts for model behavior, not just code correctness
The determinism boundary — policy, sandbox, approvals, audit — enforced by the platform
AI that passes your security review, not just your demo
Consumer apps, enterprise tools, progressive web apps — built by engineers who've shipped to app stores and production for 14 years. This Pod handles design, development, and launch as one motion, not three handoffs.
Performance and offline behavior validated before launch, not discovered after
Native, cross-platform, or PWA — the architecture decision made for your context, not the team's comfort
One accountable team from design through store listing or deployment
Forward Deployed Engineers who plug into your team and your workflow.
You don't need a vendor. You need more senior capacity, running your way, with better delivery infrastructure behind it. The Team Extension Pod embeds Forward Deployed Engineers into your existing product team — your tools, your process, your cadence — with Cortex governing the output.
Senior engineers, your workflow, Cortex-governed delivery
Live visibility replaces the weekly status meeting
Knowledge captured as delivery intelligence, not lost when the contract ends
Start here: a concrete read on your codebase, free.
Not sure which Pod fits? Start with an Agent Readiness Assessment — a real scan of your repository by Cortex and a senior engineer, producing a readiness score, a risk map, and a prioritized action list. The report is yours whether or not you engage us.
Read-only access — we never modify your code
Cortex scans; a senior engineer reviews and writes up the findings
Every Pod — regardless of type — runs the same governed delivery path. Open any step to see what you get and what it looks like inside the platform.
Steps marked “Human-control gate” need your sign-off before anything proceeds.
Before we commit to anything, we look at what you have. For existing code, that starts with the Agent Readiness Assessment. For new builds, we pressure-test the goal and constraints.
You get: a clear starting point, not a sales estimate.
Every Cortex Pod is staffed by Forward Deployed Engineers — senior engineers with production delivery experience, embedded in your context, accountable for outcomes. They're not rotated off a bench to fill a seat. They're selected for your problem, your stack, and your domain.
pod-roster
The people, on the record
Selected, not assigned
Pod engineers are matched to your project based on domain, stack, and the specific hard problems in your build — not pulled from whoever's available.
Accountable for delivery, not just hours
FDEs own outcomes, not timesheets. Their work runs through Cortex — visible, validated, and tied to their name in the audit trail.
Knowledge that stays
When the Pod runs Missions on your codebase, Cortex captures what it learns — architecture decisions, validation patterns, risk signatures. That intelligence stays even if the team composition changes.
The clearest way to understand how we work is what we refuse to do. These are written into every engagement — not aspirations, terms.
engagement-terms.md
No invented multipliers.
We won't tell you “7x output” or “50% faster.” We'll show you what was built, what was tested, what passed, and what was approved — and you can judge the speed yourself.
No black-box AI.
You'll never hear “the AI handled it.” Every agent action ties to a human who authorized it, and every change has evidence you can inspect.
No big-bang proposals.
We don't pitch a six-month SOW on the first call. Start with a free assessment. If the fit is there, scope a Pod. Scale when it works, not before.
No knowledge hostage.
When the Pod runs Missions, Cortex captures what it learns as delivery intelligence — architecture decisions, validation patterns, codebase understanding. That knowledge is yours. It doesn't walk out when the contract ends.
Questions, answered.
What is a Cortex Pod?
A Cortex Pod is a productized delivery unit: Forward Deployed Engineers, a playbook proven across 14 years and 200+ products, and the Cortex platform governing every step. You deploy a Pod scoped to an outcome — a new product, a modernization, an AI deployment — and the Pod runs governed Missions to deliver it.
How is a Pod different from staff augmentation?
Staff augmentation gives you people. A Pod gives you people, a delivery system, and a platform. The engineers run inside Cortex — work is visible, validated against explicit contracts, and recorded in an audit trail. When the engagement ends, the delivery intelligence stays.
How fast can a Pod be deployed?
Most Pods are staffed and running within weeks. The fastest way to start is the Agent Readiness Assessment — it gives both sides a concrete read on the codebase and the opportunity before committing to a full engagement.
Can I start small?
Yes. Start with a free Agent Readiness Assessment — no commitment. If the fit is there, scope a single Pod around a defined outcome. Scale when it works.
What does a Pod cost?
Pod pricing is scoped to the outcome, the team composition, and the duration. We don't publish a rate card because every engagement is different — but we'll give you a concrete scope and cost after the first strategy call, not a vague estimate.
Do I need to use Cortex directly?
No. Cortex runs underneath — it governs how your Pod delivers, validates work, and records evidence. You see the outputs (plans, diffs, validation reports, delivery evidence) without operating the platform yourself.
Who owns the code and IP?
You do, completely. Every engagement includes full IP assignment and is covered by an NDA from the first conversation.
Start with a clear-eyed look at your build.
The fastest way to find the right Pod is to start with what you have. An Agent Readiness Assessment gives you a concrete read on your codebase — where AI-assisted delivery is safe, where it's risky, and where the leverage is. The report is yours either way.
