What's your challenge
What we solve

What's your challenge?

Nearly every project that walks in our door is one of these four challenges. You don't need to know which one is yours before you call. Bring the challenge as it actually is, and we'll sort it together.

Fixed-bid engagements· 120+ custom systems launched
01 A new build

Build something new.

The system your operation actually needs doesn't exist yet. The spreadsheet is at its limit, the SaaS tool almost fits, and the workaround has grown workarounds. We design that system around how your team works and build it to last. It usually takes the shape of a web application, a mobile app, or a cloud or SaaS platform, tied together by the APIs and integrations your systems need.

Is this you?
01

The spreadsheet is the system

The whole operation leans on one file, one inbox, or one person's memory. It worked at half this size.

02

Off-the-shelf almost fits

Every tool you've tried handles most of the job and breaks on the exact part that makes you money.

03

Your process is your edge

The way you work wins you business. Software that forces someone else's process would trade that away.

You'll know the number

Before a line of code, you'll have seen every screen and approved the number. Requirements by Design puts the whole system on paper first, the fixed bid is committed in the room, and the build arrives in working sprints you can actually use. See the full method →

Proof

We built ScholarTrack new for Indiana's Commission for Higher Education. Today it moves every dollar of the state's financial aid.

02 Replace a legacy system

Retire the system you've outgrown.

The old system earned its keep for years, and now it's the reason you can't move: nobody dares touch it, the vendor is gone, and every new idea dies at the integration. We've been retiring systems like it for as long as we've existed. AS/400s, mainframes, Access databases, spreadsheets held together by one brave person.

Is this you?
01

One person keeps it alive

Everything runs as long as that one developer, consultant, or admin never retires, and they're thinking about it.

02

The vendor moved on

End-of-life notices, no more patches, support tickets into the void. The platform's clock is running out before yours.

03

Every change takes a quarter

Small requests turn into estimates, meetings, and months. The business has stopped asking, and that's the real cost.

The safe switch

How the switch stays safe.

THE SWITCH · 01

The old system stays up. Nothing gets unplugged, and your team keeps working.

02

We build the replacement alongside it, from scratch, in working sprints.

03

Your data moves over, checked against the old system line by line.

04

You switch when it's proven. The old one runs until the day you no longer need it.

Proof

A custom furniture maker ran on paper and memory. The platform we built to replace that once ran three years without a single billable fix.

03 Graduate a prototype

Graduate a vibe-coded prototype.

Vibe coding proved your market fast. That was the point, so take the win. When real customers and real money arrive, the prototype needs to become a system that scales, survives an audit, and earns the valuation.

A vibe-coded prototype at its ceiling is just the modern version of a legacy system. Same buyer psychology, same Counterpart answer: build the enterprise one, migrate safely.

Is this you?
01

Real money moves through it

Payments, payouts, accounts. A refactor that loses a row is now a chargeback, no longer a bug report.

02

A regulator can call you

HIPAA, SOC 2, PCI, state privacy law. Generated code doesn't keep an audit trail, however politely you ask.

03

You have customers now

The first 7am call about missing data changes the speed-versus-stability math for good.

Go deeper

Read the full story.

The four signs you're at the ceiling, our stance on AI tools, and the path from prototype to the system worth real money.

Read Past the Prototype
04 Custom AI

Custom AI that actually fits.

AI built into your workflow, on your data, with the guardrails a real operation needs. We build systems grounded in your own knowledge, so the answers come from how your organization actually works. This is more than process automation.

Is this you?
01

Your knowledge is the asset

Years of history, policies, and know-how that only a few people can navigate, and they're busy.

02

The workflow needs judgment

Steps a rules engine can't handle, but a person shouldn't have to do five hundred times a day.

03

The demo has to become real

You've seen the impressive prototype. Now it needs guardrails, an audit trail, and your data staying yours.

We practice this

We run our own company on an AI knowledge system we built, so we know what it takes to ground one in a real operation. See it in action on our homepage →

Our stance on AI tools

AI is the industrial mixer. The skill is everything around the machine.

Not sure which one is yours?

Most projects are a blend, and picking the right door is our job anyway. Tell us the challenge in a sentence or two, and we'll reply within a business day with how we'd approach it.