01
ENGAGEMENTS · LIVE
Architecture review · client A
2-week sprint · wk 2
Drafting brief due Fri
FINANCIAL AI STRATEGY
AI Strategy for Institutions
That Cannot Afford a Misstep
Exam risk, fair lending exposure from biased models, third-party vendor due diligence gaps, and staff readiness are not problems a vendor pitch solves. Agaro's consulting practice helps bank and credit union leadership build a sequenced AI strategy before committing budget to tools.
Request a Briefing Consulting
Search modules, runs, intents… ⌘K
Dashboard
Operations summary across every consulting module deployed in your tenant — last 24 hours.
Overview
MODULES LIVE
6
consulting stack
EVENTS · 24H
3.1K
99.7% first-pass
CONTAINMENT
87%
in-band
AUDIT TRAIL
100%
replayable
OPERATIONS · LAST 24H
3,108 events handled
00:0004:0008:0012:0016:0020:00
MODULES · HEALTH
Engagements 4 Live
Architecture reviews 4 Watch
Build-vs-buy 6 Live
Vendor RFP scoring 14 Watch
Operating model design 8 Live
Risk & governance 6 Live
RECENT ACTIVITY
14:45
Engagements DRAFTING Architecture review · client A — 2-week sprint · wk 2
14:38
Architecture reviews RISKS SURFACED RAG architecture · A — Hybrid search · rerank
13:31
Build-vs-buy DELIVERED Customer support agent — Recommend BUY · vendor X
13:24
Vendor RFP scoring SCORED Voice AI vendors · 4 — Twilio · Bland · Vapi · Retell
12:17
Operating model design DRAFTING AI center of excellence · A — Org · governance · RACI
12:10
Risk & governance DELIVERED Eval policy · client A — Release gating · drafted
DELIVERY · ENGAGEMENTS
Engagements
Active 2-6 week fixed-fee engagements — architecture review, build-vs-buy, AI program design, vendor RFP scoring.
Overview
Active engagements
4
2-6 wks each
Avg cycle
14d
on schedule
Briefs delivered
12
this quarter
Independence
100%
no referral fees
02
ENGAGEMENTS · LIVE
Build-vs-buy · client B
4-week sprint · wk 1
Discovery 5 interviews
03
ENGAGEMENTS · LIVE
AI program design · client C
6-week sprint · wk 4
Drafting roadmap
04
ENGAGEMENTS · LIVE
Vendor RFP scoring · client D
2-week sprint · closing
Closeout session Tue
REVIEWS · ARCHITECTURE REVIEWS
Architecture reviews
Deep technical reviews of existing or proposed AI systems — model choices, data plane, costs, failure modes, hidden vendor risks.
Overview
Reviews · 30d
4
across clients
Risks surfaced
24
6 critical
Avg cycle
14d
fixed-fee
Adoption rate
88%
recs implemented
01
REVIEW BACKLOG
RAG architecture · A
Hybrid search · rerank
Risks surfaced 3 critical
02
REVIEW BACKLOG
Inference stack · B
vLLM vs TGI · costs
Drafting wk 1/2
03
REVIEW BACKLOG
Eval harness · C
CI integration · gating
Closeout session Tue
04
REVIEW BACKLOG
Vendor stack · D
Lock-in clauses surfaced
Risks surfaced 2 critical
REVIEWS · BUILD-VS-BUY
Build-vs-buy
Defensible answers on whether a capability should be built in-house, bought, or assembled from open-source — with the math behind it.
Overview
Analyses · 30d
6
fixed-fee
Build recs
2
high stakes
Buy recs
3
commodity fit
OSS recs
1
edge case
01
BUILD-VS-BUY
Customer support agent
Recommend BUY · vendor X
Delivered signed
02
BUILD-VS-BUY
Internal RAG
Recommend BUILD · 3-pod
Delivered signed
03
BUILD-VS-BUY
Model gateway
Recommend OSS · LiteLLM
Delivered signed
04
BUILD-VS-BUY
Eval harness
Recommend BUILD · 1-pod
Drafting wk 3/4
REVIEWS · VENDOR RFP SCORING
Vendor RFP scoring
Independent technical scoring of vendor proposals — side-by-side architectures, cost models, hidden risks surfaced before signature.
Overview
RFPs scored
14
this quarter
Vendors evaluated
38
side-by-side
Hidden lock-in surfaced
12
flagged
Independence
100%
no kickbacks
01
RFP SCORING
Voice AI vendors · 4
Twilio · Bland · Vapi · Retell
Scored 1 recommended
02
RFP SCORING
RAG platforms · 5
Pinecone · Weaviate · Vespa · pgvector · custom
Scored OSS won
03
RFP SCORING
ERP migration · 3
NetSuite · SAP · Acumatica
Scoring wk 2/2
04
RFP SCORING
Observability · 4
Datadog · NewRelic · Honey · OTel
Drafted session Thu
STRATEGIC · OPERATING MODEL DESIGN
Operating model design
Org chart, hiring plan, RACI, and the tooling spine your AI program will need to actually ship — not a slide-deck.
Overview
Designs delivered
8
this quarter
Avg cycle
4 wk
fixed-fee
Hiring plans
6
active
RACI matrices
14
shipped
01
OPERATING MODEL
AI center of excellence · A
Org · governance · RACI
Drafting wk 3/4
02
OPERATING MODEL
Platform team build-out · B
14 engineers · roadmap
Delivered signed
03
OPERATING MODEL
Eval team formation · C
4 engineers · charter
Delivered signed
04
OPERATING MODEL
Governance forum · D
Charter · cadence
Discovery wk 1/4
STRATEGIC · RISK & GOVERNANCE
Risk & governance
How to stand up a defensible AI governance posture for legal, audit, and your accreditor — without grinding delivery to a halt.
Overview
Governance designs
6
this quarter
Audits prepped
4
auditor ready
Policy docs
24
shipped
Cleared engagements
2
on request
01
GOVERNANCE WORK
Eval policy · client A
Release gating · drafted
Delivered signed
02
GOVERNANCE WORK
PII handling · client B
Cross-jurisdiction
Drafting wk 2/4
03
GOVERNANCE WORK
Audit prep · client C
Walkthrough scheduled
Scheduled wk 6
04
GOVERNANCE WORK
Accreditation · client D
GCC High posture
In flight wk 4/6
Engagement · Acme · architecture review Fixed-fee
Draft
Deploy agent
Brief · 3 questions · 2 weeks · single deliverable
E. Adler Reviewing…
Capabilities
What consulting actually does for financial services.
01
AI strategy & roadmap
A clear-eyed read on where AI moves the needle for your organization, where it does not, and what to sequence first.
02
Architecture review
Deep technical review of an existing or proposed AI system — model choices, data plane, costs, failure modes, and the parts the vendor did not tell you about.
03
Build-vs-buy analysis
A defensible answer to whether a capability should be built in-house, bought from a vendor, or assembled from open-source — with the math behind it.
04
Vendor & RFP scoring
Independent technical scoring of vendor proposals, with side-by-side architectures, cost models, and hidden risks surfaced before signature.
05
Operating model design
Org chart, hiring plan, RACI, and the tooling spine your AI program will need to actually ship — not a slide-deck.
06
Risk, governance & accreditation
How to stand up a defensible AI governance posture for legal, audit, and your accreditor — without grinding delivery to a halt.
Specifications
Engineered to a standard, not a slogan.
Engagement
Fixed-fee, scoped
Two-week sprint, six-week deep dive, or recurring advisory retainer. Scope and price agreed before kickoff.
Deliverables
Written + working session
Written brief with executive summary, technical detail, and a prioritized roadmap — paired with a closeout working session.
Cleared personnel
On request
Cleared engineers available for sensitive engagements; remote, on-site, or SCIF-adjacent.
Confidentiality
Mutual NDA standard
Mutual NDA on every engagement. Materials and work product belong to you on delivery.
Independence
No vendor incentives
We do not take referral fees or kickbacks from any vendor we evaluate. Recommendations stand on their merits.
Related Services
Modules that compose with this one.
Frequently Asked Questions · Consulting for Financial Services
What financial services buyers ask about consulting
— before they sign.
Agaro's consulting engagements include an explicit fair lending impact assessment for any AI use case touching credit decisions, marketing targeting, or fee assessment. We map each proposed AI application against ECOA, FHA, and UDAP exposure, identify where disparate impact testing is required, and document the human override controls your examiners will expect. We do not certify regulatory compliance — that determination rests with your compliance and legal teams — but we structure the analysis they need to make it.
A scoped pilot runs about 30 days. Full production cutover is typically 8–12 weeks, including integration with the systems banks, lenders, advisors, and fintech operators already run, plus the handoff and escalation flows your team expects.
Yes. Agaro is SOC 2 Ready and HIPAA Ready, with role-based access controls, encryption at rest and in transit, per-deployment data isolation, and full audit logging — so the deployment meets the security bar banks, lenders, advisors, and fintech operators are held to.
Deploy consulting
for your financial services team.
A 30-day pilot will show you the integration shape, the operator experience, and the audit trail your team will ask about — delivered by a senior engineering team that ships AI to production for banks, lenders, advisors, and fintech operators.
Begin Pilot