Discovery & Strategy Typically 5 to 10 working days
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Breathe: AI readiness and TCO analysis for a costed strategy

Most businesses know AI matters, and the question is where it genuinely fits and how to build it in a way that lasts. Breathe is our discovery and strategy sprint: a structured AI readiness assessment that maps your capabilities and gives your leadership team clarity on where AI creates real value in your business.

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What we do

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We work with your leadership team to build a structured capability map of your organisation, overlaying your current technology, data and integration estate. We then score each capability against five dimensions (strategic importance, maturity, data readiness, AI opportunity and effort) to identify where AI creates genuine value, and the result is a prioritised roadmap with quick wins, transformation initiatives and strategic bets, each with a clear business case.

What you get

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You get a capability-led AI strategy document and a scored opportunity matrix showing where AI fits across your business, a three-year total cost of ownership view covering data, integration, governance, change and run costs, alongside a prioritised roadmap with sequenced initiatives, effort estimates and expected outcomes. It comes with a governance framework for responsible AI adoption and a clear recommendation on what to do first.

Who it is for

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Leadership teams in businesses with 100 to 2,000 people who know AI matters but are not sure where to start, or who have started but lack a coherent strategy. Particularly suited to regulated sectors (financial services, insurance, legal, professional services) where getting it wrong has real consequences.

How it works

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Breathe is designed to move fast. Two weeks from first conversation to a roadmap your leadership team can stand behind, working around the diaries you already have rather than asking for a cleared week. Get in touch and we will scope it properly for your business.

What a three-year cost view actually contains

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The licence is the visible cost and rarely the largest, typically 8 to 15 per cent of what a system costs over three years. The view we build covers seven layers: licence and consumption at realistic production volume rather than pilot volume, data readiness, integration and engineering, governance and assurance, people and change, run and maintenance, and AI debt. That last one appears on no invoice, which is exactly why it is worth costing. Boards approve the first layer and meet the other six later.

When Breathe is the wrong answer

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If you already have a clear priority use case, a leadership team that agrees on it and a governance position you can evidence, you do not need a discovery sprint and we will say so. Flow is the better starting point in that case. Breathe also does not suit a business looking for a document to satisfy a board rather than a decision to act on, because the roadmap is only worth the paper if somebody owns the first initiative on it. We would rather tell you that in the first conversation than at the end of one. And if you are not yet sure Breathe is the right size of engagement, a half-day AI strategy workshop is the cheaper way to find out, and it comes off the price if you go on to Breathe.

Also available 07

The other two ways to engage

  1. Flow

    Build something real Typically 4 to 8 weeks

    We take the highest-priority opportunity and build a working AI capability, with governance, measurement and an operating model designed from day one: a real, deployable tool (not a proof of concept).

    Explore Flow →

  2. Grow

    Senior AI leadership, on your terms Ongoing, flexible

    Ongoing fractional Chief AI Officer support, embedded in your business 1-3 days a week and covering strategy, governance, vendor oversight, team mentoring and board-level reporting, without a full-time hire.

    Explore Grow →
Related reading 08

Thinking behind Breathe

All insights →

Questions 09

Questions buyers ask us

  • How long does an AI readiness assessment take?

    Breathe typically runs 5 to 10 working days, working around the diaries you already have rather than asking for a cleared week.

  • What do we get at the end?

    A capability-led AI strategy document, a scored opportunity matrix, a prioritised roadmap with sequenced initiatives and effort estimates, a governance framework and a clear recommendation on what to do first.

  • Who is Breathe for?

    Leadership teams at businesses with 100 to 2,000 people that know AI matters and want clarity on where it fits, particularly in regulated sectors where getting it wrong has real consequences.

  • What is included in an AI TCO analysis?

    A three-year total cost of ownership view across the layers a licence quote leaves out: data readiness, integration, governance and assurance, people and change, and the recurring run cost, with assumptions and a sensitivity check so the number survives contact with reality.

  • How can consulting reduce AI adoption costs?

    By sequencing the spend against value rather than buying everything at once, by scoping data work as a line on each use case rather than an open-ended gate, and by choosing use cases where the economics hold at production volume, not just at pilot scale.

  • How is it priced?

    Breathe is a fixed-scope engagement, and we give you a straight number in the first conversation once we understand your size and sector. There are no day-rate surprises after the fact.

Every engagement is led by Dan Simms, our founder, a technology leader with 30 years in regulated sectors including CTO and CIO roles, and the person you meet is the person who does the work.

Contact 10

Ready to find your starting point?

There's no pitch deck, just a conversation about where AI fits in your business and what it will cost, so tell us where you are and we'll reply within one working day.

Get in touch

We'll respond within one working day. Or email hello@oxygenbubbles.com directly.

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