The tool you need doesn't exist. We build it.

A forward deployed engineer works inside your business instead of from a vendor's office. They sit with your team for the length of the build, map how the work happens today, and build the system in the room where that work gets done. Then they stay until it runs without them. Palantir built the model to get software adopted inside large enterprises; OpenAI now hires for the same role. The difference at Yellow Brick is the contract. There is no seven-figure retainer and no bench of junior developers billing hours. One engineer embeds, the scope is fixed in a signed spec, and you pay at milestones. The engagement runs 6 to 16 weeks across five phases: audit, spec, build and validate, migrate, support. At the end you own the code, the documentation, and the training. Nothing recurring, nothing you rent.

Forward engineering is building new software from a business problem: spec first, then a working system. No off-the-shelf platform to bend into shape. We map the problem, define what done looks like, and engineer the tool from scratch. You own the result.

Dev shops sell headcount and timelines: 6-12 months at $500K+. We sell a working system at fixed scope. Five phases, milestone payments, 6-16 weeks. You pay when deliverables land.

Yellow Brick bills by milestone, not by the hour. The five phases each end in a deliverable: a current state assessment, a signed spec with acceptance criteria, a validated system running parallel to your old one, a completed migration with rollback, and 90 days of support. You pay when each deliverable lands, so the invoice always follows something you can inspect. For commercial clients the build runs a fraction of the SaaS spend it replaces; the target is companies paying $50K to $500K a year for software used at 30% capacity, and the assessment shows the number before anyone commits. For nonprofits, pricing comes in under a part-time hire and replaces a $10K a month agency retainer. Dev shops quote 6 to 12 months at $500K and up. We quote a scope, a timeline of 6 to 16 weeks, and milestones. The 15-minute call produces the figure for your situation.

No. Staffing marketplaces place a contractor on your payroll and charge a margin on the hours. Yellow Brick sells a fixed-scope build: a signed spec, a 6 to 16 week timeline, milestone payments, and a finished system you own. The engineer embeds to build it and leaves when it runs.