AI you own.
TaoQ AI is an independent AI engineering firm. We design and build AI systems that stay under your control, work with any model, and show what they cost and deliver.
Point of view
Why what you build around the model matters more than the model
Models are becoming a commodity. What you build around them decides whether AI works, stays under control and pays off.
Where AI often sits today
- Bolted onto one vendor's stack
- Agents with unclear authority
- Cost that nobody sees
- Systems you cannot change on your own
AI as an owned system
- One foundation that every team builds on
- Explicit boundaries for every agent
- Cost and value measured
- Models that can be swapped
- A team of your own that can run it
What we do
Every system we design and build is held to the same three outcomes.
Under control
AI acts only within limits you set, and you can prove it to customers, auditors and regulators in any jurisdiction.
How we keep AI under control →Yours to own
Independent of any model vendor. You own the design, the code and the knowledge, your team can run and change it without us, and the model can be swapped.
What you own, and how →Accountable value
What it costs and what it returns, measured in terms the business already uses.
How we measure cost and value →How we work
Three steps, each a complete piece of work with its own quote. The way in is a fixed-fee review, and after each step you decide whether to continue.
Review
A fixed-fee review of the AI you run or plan to run: how it is built, what it can reach, what it costs and where the gaps are.
Fixed fee.
How the review works →Design & build
We design the system and write the code with your engineers. The controls, the measures and the handover are part of the build.
Fixed fee where the scope is defined, milestone-based where it is not yet.
How design and build works →Run & evolve
Once the system is live, we review changes, re-test and keep the system current as models, tools and needs change.
Monthly retainer. 3-month minimum.
How run and evolve works →
Principles
What you can hold us to in every engagement.
- Every system ships with its controls.
- Permissions, approval steps, records of what the AI did, and security tests are built and tested with the system.
- You own what we build: code, decisions and documentation.
- The code is written in your repository, and the reasoning behind each decision is written down next to it.
- No lock-in: the model can be swapped.
- We design so a model can be replaced, and tested against the same bar, without rebuilding the system around it.
- Cost and value are measured from day one.
- We agree with you what each system should cost and return, and measure both from the first release.
- Your team can run it without us.
- Documentation and runbooks are part of every handover, so your engineers can run and change the system.
- We say no when we are not the right fit.
- If another firm would serve you better, we tell you on the first call.
Latest from Labs
TaoQ AI Labs is where we publish our research, open-source tools and writing, so anyone can read and check them.
Creator and maintainer
Ziran: open-source AI agent security testing
Finds vulnerabilities in AI agents: dangerous combinations of tools, side effects of what agents actually execute, and trust exploited over several steps. Apache-2.0.
How to start
Start with a 30-minute call. We ask what AI you run, where it is heading and what worries you about it. If we are the right fit, we usually propose a fixed-fee review and send a quote after the call. If we are not, we say so.
Every engagement is led by our founder, Leone Lage Perdigão.