When the crux of a build is whether AI can be trusted in production, but the bulk of it is ordinary engineering, Arc holds the architecture, the quality gates, and the acceptance criteria — and supervises the team that builds to them. Technical authority over the build, not labour inside it.
WHAT IT IS
The architecture and the gates stay Arc's.
Some builds have an expensive crux and a commodity bulk. The crux — whether the AI is grounded, evaluated, governed, and production-real — is exactly Arc's work. The bulk — interfaces, integrations, deployment, the day-to-day — is ordinary engineering, well served by your own team or a vendor. Arc does not staff that bulk, and it need not refuse the work because of it.
So Arc holds the load-bearing layer: the architecture, the deterministic/non-deterministic boundary, the evaluation plan, the quality gates, and the acceptance criteria — and supervises whoever builds to them. The build is delivered to Arc's standard without Arc becoming your software department. Closer to a consulting architect than a development shop: Arc supplies judgement, artefacts, review, and acceptance.
WHO IT'S FOR
- You have your own developers, a solution architect, or a delivery vendor
- The AI-critical layer needs Arc's judgement, not more hands
- A build large enough that Arc should not take it end-to-end
- You want Arc's standard enforced on work others do
THE SPLIT
Who holds what.
Arc holds
- Architecture & system design
- The deterministic / non-deterministic boundary
- The evaluation plan
- Quality gates
- Acceptance criteria
- Architecture & code review
Your team or vendor builds
- Implementation
- Interfaces & integration
- Deployment & operations
- The day-to-day delivery
HOW IT RUNS
Arc defines and accepts; others build.
- 01
Architecture & spec
Arc designs the system and the deterministic/non-deterministic boundary, and writes the spec the build follows.
- 02
Gates & criteria
Arc defines what good means — the quality gates and the acceptance criteria the build must pass.
- 03
Build
Your own team or a vendor implements against the spec. Arc does not staff this.
- 04
Review
Arc reviews the work against the gates and flags what must change before it ships.
- 05
Acceptance
Arc signs off the AI-critical layer against the criteria; the system is yours to run.
THE POSITION
Judgement and artefacts, not developer-time.
Supervised delivery is engaged the way you engage a specialist's judgement, not a contractor's hours — as a review, an architecture, ongoing supervision, or a standing governance arrangement. Arc provides no unmanaged ad-hoc engineering; its time is for defined review, architecture, supervision, and governance.
The boundary is the point. Arc keeps your build to its standard and keeps itself a technical authority rather than another pair of hands. When Arc should build the load-bearing layer itself rather than supervise it, that is forward-deployed engineering.
ENQUIRE
Bring the build.
Write to us with the build you are planning, the team or vendor who would deliver it, and where the AI-critical risk sits. ArcSoft Pty Ltd signs and holds the commercial terms.
Should Arc build the load-bearing layer itself? Forward-Deployed Engineering →