Why Kerf
What we do differently.
The mid-market space is full of vendors who start with their platform and work backward to your problem. We start with your actual workflows.
Process first. Technology second.
Every AI vendor starts with their tool and works backward to your problem. We start with your actual workflows — documented, mapped, measured — and work forward to the right solution. Sometimes that's AI. Sometimes it's a better spreadsheet. Sometimes it's just removing a step nobody questioned for five years.
Vendor-agnostic.
We don't sell software. We don't take vendor referral fees. If a free tool solves your problem better than a €50,000 platform, we'll tell you that. Our revenue comes from the assessment, not the recommendation.
Numbers, not narratives.
Every recommendation comes with estimated cost savings, time savings, implementation cost, and payback period. If we can't estimate the ROI, we flag it as exploratory — not a priority. You'll never see "AI could help here" without a dollar figure next to it.
We tell you what NOT to do.
Our Opportunity Matrix has four quadrants. One of them is "Deprioritise." We've saved clients from six-figure vendor proposals that would have delivered low impact at high cost. Knowing what to skip is as valuable as knowing what to pursue.
Why not McKinsey, Deloitte, Accenture, or PwC?
The Big Four will happily sell you an AI assessment.
Here's why mid-market companies are choosing Kerf instead.
Dimension
McKinsey · Deloitte · Accenture · PwC
Kerf
Who does the work
Junior analysts and associates at $500/hr billing rates. The senior partner who sold the engagement shows up for the kickoff and the final presentation.
Senior-level attention on every engagement. The people who scope the work are the people who do the work.
Timeline
8–16 weeks for an AI readiness assessment. Longer if scope creeps (it always does).
First actionable results within one week. Full organisation audit in 4–6 weeks.
Deliverables
A 200-page slide deck with vague recommendations like "leverage AI to optimise operations" and "build a centre of excellence." Beautiful formatting. Zero specificity.
Process maps you can walk a new hire through. An Opportunity Register with specific tools, costs, and ROI for every recommendation. A financial model you can open in Excel.
Bias
Most Big Four firms have technology implementation arms and vendor partnerships. Their recommendations conveniently point toward their own services.
Vendor-agnostic. We don't implement, resell, or take referral fees. If a free tool beats a €50K platform, we say so.
Overhead
You're paying for office floors, armies of MBAs, and a brand tax. That overhead gets baked into your invoice.
Boutique practice. No overhead structure forcing inflated rates. The savings go to you.
Who does the work
Big Four
Junior analysts and associates at $500/hr billing rates. The senior partner who sold the engagement shows up for the kickoff and the final presentation.
Kerf
Senior-level attention on every engagement. The people who scope the work are the people who do the work.
Timeline
Big Four
8–16 weeks for an AI readiness assessment. Longer if scope creeps (it always does).
Kerf
First actionable results within one week. Full organisation audit in 4–6 weeks.
Deliverables
Big Four
A 200-page slide deck with vague recommendations like "leverage AI to optimise operations" and "build a centre of excellence." Beautiful formatting. Zero specificity.
Kerf
Process maps you can walk a new hire through. An Opportunity Register with specific tools, costs, and ROI for every recommendation. A financial model you can open in Excel.
Bias
Big Four
Most Big Four firms have technology implementation arms and vendor partnerships. Their recommendations conveniently point toward their own services.
Kerf
Vendor-agnostic. We don't implement, resell, or take referral fees. If a free tool beats a €50K platform, we say so.
Overhead
Big Four
You're paying for office floors, armies of MBAs, and a brand tax. That overhead gets baked into your invoice.
Kerf
Boutique practice. No overhead structure forcing inflated rates. The savings go to you.
Your processes won't document themselves.
Every week you wait, the gap between how your company actually runs and how you think it runs gets wider. Tribal knowledge leaves when people leave. Workarounds become permanent. And the AI tools you eventually buy will automate the wrong things. One audit gives you clarity you've never had. Start there.
30 minutes. We'll tell you if we can help — and if we can't, we'll tell you that too.