# Pixelik Studio

> Forward-deployed AI engineering studio. We embed inside your operation, ship
> custom internal software, automations, and AI systems in weeks, and hand over
> everything: code, prompts, infrastructure, evals. No subscriptions, no lock-in. Operated by Pixelik Ltd,
> England & Wales, Company No. 17057272.

## The model

- EMBED: senior engineers work inside the client workflow; discovery on the ground.
- SHIP: the only deliverable is a production system with real users.
- OWN: full handover. Client repos, client cloud, documented prompts and evals.

## Engagements (no public pricing; scope quoted after a 30-minute Workflow Audit)

- Discovery Sprint (7–10 days): embedded discovery de-risked with a working prototype.
- Production Pilot (2–4 weeks): first production system shipped to real users.
- Production Hardening (3–6+ weeks): SSO, RBAC, audit logs, evals, reliability.
- Embedded (ongoing): forward-deployed engineering inside the client team.

## Pages

- https://www.pixelik.com/ : positioning and proof
- https://www.pixelik.com/approach : method, engagements, handover, fit, FAQ
- https://www.pixelik.com/work : live systems (Discovery Agent, Perplica)
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking : field notes on production AI (articles below)
- https://www.pixelik.com/about : the studio
- https://www.pixelik.com/contact : direct line (hello@pixelik.com)

## Thinking · articles by topic

Forward-Deployed (https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/topics/forward-deployed)
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/what-is-forward-deployed-ai-engineering : The working definition of the discipline, where the term comes from, why the largest AI companies adopted it in 2026, and how to buy it well.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/fde-vs-fractional-cto-vs-agency-vs-in-house : Four ways to put senior engineering judgment into your operation, compared by role: who does what, what each hands over, and which gap each one fills.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/the-billion-dollar-validation-of-forward-deployed : In ninety days, OpenAI, AWS, and Anthropic each launched forward-deployed organizations. What the capital influx means if you are not an enterprise.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/forward-deployed-engineers-as-a-service : You cannot hire a lab-grade FDE, and you do not need to. How embedded engineering is bought as a fixed-scope service, and how to judge who sells it.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/fractional-ai-engineer-explained : What a fractional AI engineer is, how the model differs from forward-deployed and fractional CTOs, what it costs in structure, and when each fits.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/is-forward-deployed-engineering-just-consulting-rebranded : The skeptics have a point worth taking seriously. The honest answer, and the one test that separates the discipline from the costume.

Why AI Stalls (https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/topics/why-ai-stalls)
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/why-ai-pilots-fail : MIT found 95 percent of enterprise GenAI initiatives return nothing. The real failure modes behind the number, and what the successful 5 percent do differently.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/ai-pilot-to-production : Most pilots never make it: IDC counted 4 in 33. The six-step crossing that gets an AI system into production, written for operations-scale teams.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/ai-project-failure-statistics : 95%, 88%, 80%, 42%, 40%, 30%: the AI failure statistics quoted everywhere, what each one actually measured, and why they do not contradict each other.

AI Agents (https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/topics/ai-agents)
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/ai-agents-for-business-operations : What an AI agent actually is, where agents pay for themselves in operations, how to spot agent-washing, and what reliability takes. Written by operators of one.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/ai-agent-vs-chatbot-vs-copilot : Three words vendors use interchangeably, three different machines. The comparison, the tells, and the test that exposes what is really being sold.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/build-vs-buy-ai-agents : Buy where your workflow is ordinary, build where it is the business. The signals that decide it, the hybrid that usually wins, and the trap in between.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/ai-agent-for-lead-qualification : Our inbound funnel has no human in it: an agent interviews, briefs, and books. The design choices, the operating lessons, and what transfers to your intake.

Internal Tools (https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/topics/internal-tools)
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/custom-internal-tools-vs-saas : SaaS won the last decade by default because building cost quarters. Building now costs weeks. When each side wins, and the middle trap to avoid.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/when-to-replace-spreadsheets-with-software : The spreadsheet was the right tool until it quietly became the system. The five triggers that mark the crossing, and what the replacement looks like now.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/signs-your-operation-outgrew-spreadsheets : The version-named file, the person who cannot take holiday, the numbers nobody trusts: the signs that a sheet quietly became a system, and what each costs.

Production AI (https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/topics/production-ai)
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/what-production-ai-actually-means : Everyone claims production AI. The term has a checkable definition: six properties that separate a system real users depend on from a demo with traffic.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/vibe-coding-vs-production-grade : AI-assisted development is why software ships in weeks now. It is also generating insecure code at scale. Both are true; the difference is the wrapper.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/the-ownership-handover : Code alone is not ownership. The six-part handover standard for AI systems: code, prompts, infrastructure, evals, credentials, runbooks, and how to demand it.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/llm-evals-for-business-buyers : Evals are how an AI system proves it works. What they are in plain language, why vendors skip them, and exactly what to demand in your handover.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/our-funnel-is-an-ai-agent-it-broke : A field note on running production AI on ourselves: the model retirement that killed our intake chat, and the checklist we now apply to every system we ship.

Automation (https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/topics/automation)
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/ai-workflow-automation-for-operations : What AI adds to classic automation, the queue patterns where it earns its keep, and the honest hierarchy of fixes that starts before any tool.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/what-to-automate-first : Volume times structure times stability: the three-factor score that ranks your queues, the traps that invert it, and the decision path on one page.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/when-no-code-automation-breaks : Zapier-class tools are the right first move and the wrong permanent one. The five walls where visual automation ends, and what graduating actually means.

Choosing a Partner (https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/topics/choosing-a-partner)
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/how-to-choose-an-ai-development-partner : The engagement models compared, the nine questions that expose vendors, the ownership terms that matter, and the red flags. A buyer field guide.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/ai-consultancy-vs-agency-vs-freelancer-vs-in-house : The four classic ways to get AI built, compared on deliverable, cost structure, timeline, and ownership, plus the fifth option the comparison usually omits.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/ai-development-studio-london : The London AI market in three tiers, whether local actually matters, the tests that cut through studio marketing, and where we sit in it, honestly.
- https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/what-is-a-workflow-audit : Thirty minutes, one workflow, real numbers: what happens in a Workflow Audit, what you leave with, and what it deliberately is not.

- RSS: https://www.pixelik.com/thinking/feed.xml

## Actions

- Talk to our agent (recommended entry): https://booking.pixelik.com/intake
- Book a 30-minute Workflow Audit: https://booking.pixelik.com/book
- Machine-readable service data: https://www.pixelik.com/metadata.json
- Operating manual for agents: https://www.pixelik.com/agents.md