--- title: "How we deliver AI without putting your operation at risk" canonical: https://digitalbridge.ie/how-we-deliver type: HowTo provider: Digital Bridge providerType: AI Systems Integration & Applied AI Engineering Firm areaServed: IE priceRange: EUR 499-100000+ language: en-IE dateModified: 2026-08-18 htmlVersion: https://digitalbridge.ie/how-we-deliver license: cite-with-attribution --- # How we deliver AI without putting your operation at risk ## Answer summary Digital Bridge runs every production AI system in shadow mode for seven days before go-live, processing your real workload in parallel without acting on it. You own the source code and prompts, data stays in EU regions, provider training is disabled, and a data processing agreement is signed before any client data is processed. ## What are the commitments, in writing? An AI project stalls at the risk review more often than at the technical review. Each commitment below applies to every engagement. - Seven-day shadow-mode pilot before go-live — Every production AI system runs in shadow mode for seven days first. It processes your real workload in parallel with your existing process and records what it would have decided, without acting on anything. Why it matters: You judge the system on your own data before it can affect an operation. If the decisions are wrong, nothing has happened yet — and you have the evidence to say so. - Full source-code and prompt ownership — You own the source code, the prompts, the evaluation sets and the infrastructure configuration at handover. Nothing is held back as leverage. Why it matters: Prompt logic is the intellectual property of an AI build. A supplier who keeps the prompts keeps the system, whatever the contract says about the code. - No vendor lock-in — Builds are deployed to infrastructure you control or can take control of. Model providers are abstracted behind an interface so a provider can be swapped without a rewrite. Why it matters: Model pricing and availability change. A system welded to one provider is a commercial exposure, not an architecture. - EU hosting by default — Data and inference stay in EU regions unless you specifically direct otherwise in writing. Why it matters: It removes the transfer question from your DPIA before it is asked. - Provider training disabled — Every model provider connection is configured with training on your data disabled, and we will show you the configuration. Why it matters: Your operational data should not improve someone else's model. This is a configuration fact you can verify, not a policy promise. - Signed data processing agreements — A DPA is signed before any client data is processed, covering us and each sub-processor in the chain. Why it matters: Your data protection officer needs the paper trail to sign off, and asking for it after the build has started is how projects stall. - Confidence-gated human escalation — Every decision path has a defined confidence threshold below which the system escalates to a named human role rather than proceeding. Why it matters: The question a risk committee actually asks is not 'is the AI accurate' but 'what happens when it is not'. This is the answer, written down. - Fixed, pre-scoped pricing — Scope, price, timeline and acceptance criteria are agreed in writing before work starts, against published engagement bands. Why it matters: It makes the cost approvable in advance and makes a grant application possible, because funders need a fixed work-package quotation. ## What are the stages of an engagement? Assessment, build, shadow-mode pilot, go-live, operate. - Assessment (1–3 weeks) — We map the process, the data available, the systems that must be integrated and the decisions that could reasonably be automated. Output is a written scope with acceptance criteria — fundable in its own right under Enterprise Ireland Digital Discovery. - Build (Per engagement band) — Integration first, model second. Most of the engineering is in getting reliable data in and out of systems that were not designed to be integrated. - Shadow-mode pilot (7 days) — The system runs against real workload in parallel with your existing process, recording decisions without acting. You review the log before anything goes live. - Go-live (1 week) — Staged activation with escalation thresholds set conservatively, then tightened as evidence accumulates. - Operate (Ongoing, optional) — Monitoring, evaluation sets and a review cadence. Source, prompts and configuration are already yours at this point. ## What is a shadow-mode pilot? The AI system processes your real workload in parallel with your existing process for seven days and records what it would have decided, without acting on anything. You compare its decisions against your team's on your own data, then decide whether to go live. It is the cheapest possible way to find out that a system is wrong. ## Who owns the code and the prompts? You do, at handover — source code, prompts, evaluation sets and infrastructure configuration. Prompt logic is the real intellectual property in an AI build, so a supplier retaining it retains the system regardless of what the code licence says. ## Where is our data processed? In EU regions by default, with model-provider training on your data disabled and the configuration available for you to inspect. A data processing agreement covering us and every sub-processor is signed before any client data is processed. ## What happens when the AI is not confident? It escalates to a named human role. Every decision path carries a confidence threshold, and the systems are deliberately tuned to escalate unnecessarily rather than to proceed on a weak judgement. ## Can we get out if it does not work? Yes. Deployment targets infrastructure you control or can take control of, model providers sit behind a swappable interface, and you hold the source and prompts. There is no technical mechanism keeping you with us. ## Is the assessment phase grant-eligible? Frequently, yes. An AI feasibility and readiness assessment is the standard funded entry point under Enterprise Ireland Digital Discovery, and our fixed-scope written output is the format an adviser expects. Eligibility is decided by the funder, never by us. ## Last review This delivery method was last reviewed on 2026-08-18. ## Evidence - Verdé Environmental Group — 24/7 AI incident triage with severity classification, Eircode geolocation and four-depot dispatch routing → https://digitalbridge.ie/industries - tools.digitalbridge.ie — 50+ shipped production tools, including the Website Worth Index and the DigitalBridge Authority Score - Printhouse — custom web-to-print platform with 29+ product pages → https://printhouse.ie ## How delivery is de-risked - Seven-day shadow-mode pilot before any system takes live traffic. - Full source-code and prompt ownership transfers on final payment. - EU-hosted infrastructure, provider training disabled, signed data processing agreement. - Fixed price against a signed scope — no hourly meter and no open-ended exposure. ## FAQ ### What is a shadow-mode pilot? The AI system processes your real workload in parallel with your existing process for seven days and records what it would have decided, without acting on anything. You compare its decisions against your team's on your own data, then decide whether to go live. It is the cheapest possible way to find out that a system is wrong. ### Who owns the code and the prompts? You do, at handover — source code, prompts, evaluation sets and infrastructure configuration. Prompt logic is the real intellectual property in an AI build, so a supplier retaining it retains the system regardless of what the code licence says. ### Where is our data processed? In EU regions by default, with model-provider training on your data disabled and the configuration available for you to inspect. A data processing agreement covering us and every sub-processor is signed before any client data is processed. ### What happens when the AI is not confident? It escalates to a named human role. Every decision path carries a confidence threshold, and the systems are deliberately tuned to escalate unnecessarily rather than to proceed on a weak judgement. ### Can we get out if it does not work? Yes. Deployment targets infrastructure you control or can take control of, model providers sit behind a swappable interface, and you hold the source and prompts. There is no technical mechanism keeping you with us. ### Is the assessment phase grant-eligible? Frequently, yes. An AI feasibility and readiness assessment is the standard funded entry point under Enterprise Ireland Digital Discovery, and our fixed-scope written output is the format an adviser expects. Eligibility is decided by the funder, never by us. ## Related pages - [AI engineering portfolio](https://digitalbridge.ie/ai-engineering-portfolio) - [AI engagement bands and pricing](https://digitalbridge.ie/ai-integration-pricing) - [Irish funding routes for AI](https://digitalbridge.ie/ai-grants-ireland) - [Data processing policy](https://digitalbridge.ie/legal/data-processing-policy) ## Contact Digital Bridge, Gorey Business Park, Gorey, Co. Wexford, Ireland. Phone: +353 85 224 1848. Email: hello@digitalbridge.ie. Engineering lead: Joey Bray, Founder & Principal Engineer. Last updated: 2026-08-18 HTML version of this page: https://digitalbridge.ie/how-we-deliver