For family offices, investment teams and their advisers

Know which changes are worth making.

Our AI & Operations Audit examines repeated preparation, time spent finding information, and work that depends on a few people. We review the systems you use and give you a practical plan: what to change, what it could cost, and what to leave alone.

Discuss the audit See an example

Before you buy another system

Know what is worth changing.

Reports still need preparing. Information needs checking. Someone has to follow up when a review stalls. Buying another tool does not tell you which of those tasks it will actually improve.

We examine the work, the time it takes, where knowledge is held, and the decisions that need a person. You receive a ranked list of changes, with the evidence and assumptions behind each recommendation.

If your existing tools can do the job, we’ll say so. If a task should stay with your team, that belongs in the plan too.

What you receive

A plan you can act on.

Seven parts, delivered together. Enough detail to decide what to do next and ask a provider for a meaningful quote.

A clear picture of the work today

Maps of up to five workflows: who does what, which systems they use, where work passes between people, and where exceptions or approvals slow it down.

Recommendations in order of value

An opportunity register and impact-versus-effort matrix. Each recommendation considers time, cost, data readiness and risk, including simpler changes that do not need AI.

A practical order of implementation

What to do first, what depends on it, who needs to be involved, and what a small test must prove before you expand.

Briefs a delivery team can work from

For each recommended change, up to five: inputs, steps, outputs, owners, human approvals, exceptions, access requirements, handover and maintenance needs, estimated costs and measures of success.

The numbers behind the decision

An editable workbook with your baseline, implementation, internal participation, review, software, and support costs, plus adoption scenarios. Time freed up is shown separately from expenses you can actually remove.

Data and approval requirements

A review of what information each proposed change needs, who can access it and where a person must check the work. We identify questions to resolve before implementation.

A walkthrough with your team

The report, workbook, delivery briefs and source-and-assumption log, followed by a 60-minute discussion. One round of factual corrections is included.

How it works

From recurring work to a clear decision.

We agree the scope, people and delivery date before kickoff. Your team stays involved at the points that matter.

01 / Agree the scope
Choose the work to review.
Confirm one business unit, up to five workflows, the people to interview and the questions you want answered.
02 / Understand the work
Talk to the people doing it.
Up to ten 30-minute interviews, supported by approved examples and information about your current systems.
03 / Evaluate the options
Compare the change with the cost.
Map the work, test the assumptions and rank practical options. Include human review, running costs and reasons not to proceed.
04 / Review the findings
Leave with a usable plan.
Walk through the recommendations and numbers together. Choose whether to implement, investigate further or leave the work as it is.

Inside an audit

See how a recommendation takes shape.

Illustrative example. Fictional inputs, not client results or implementation quotes.

An investment team wants less time spent preparing reports and sorting incoming opportunities. Here is how its options might compare.

Impact versus effort

Higher impact / lower effortStart with reporting preparation

Test whether draft preparation reduces manual assembly while preserving review.

Higher impact / higher effortThen test opportunity preparation

Organize evidence against stated criteria after the source records are ready.

Lower impact / lower effortUse existing tools for reminders

A small improvement may not justify a custom build.

Do not automateKeep investment decisions with people

Do not treat a summary or a model score as authority to invest.

These are qualitative priorities for this example. A real audit uses your workload, systems, constraints and evidence.

Sample delivery brief

Reporting preparation

Inputs: Approved statements, reporting dates and your existing report format.
Work proposed: Organize source records, prepare a draft and flag missing or inconsistent figures.
What you receive: A draft report, source index, and exception list naming who must resolve each item. Handover notes record the reporting steps, source dates, and approval status.
Human control: A named preparer assembles the report; a named reviewer checks it before use. A designated cover person uses the handover notes when either is away. Missing values are flagged. Nothing is sent to clients automatically.
First test: Five approved historical packs, then two monitored reporting cycles. Check source traceability, corrections, total preparation and review time, and whether the cover person can complete the handover.
When to stop: If figures cannot be traced or exceptions cannot be resolved reliably, fix the inputs before expanding.

An example implementation sequence

Establish the baselineConfirm volumes, time spent, source quality and review responsibilities.
Test reporting preparationMeasure the time saved after checking and correcting the draft.
Test opportunity preparationProceed only when criteria and source records are ready.
Expand what worksKeep useful changes, use existing tools for reminders and stop weak ideas.

Check the economics

Time back is valuable. It is not automatically cash saved.

In this example, the first two changes release eight hours a week. At the assumed staff cost rates, that is US$32,400 of annual capacity value. It only becomes cash savings if an actual expense is removed.

Fictional annual workload: 48 weeks
Work	Hours / week before → after	Capacity value / year	Build estimate	Running cost / year
Reporting preparation	10 → 5	US$18,000	US$6,000	US$2,400
Opportunity preparation	6 → 3	US$14,400	US$4,500	US$1,800
Reminders — use existing tools	2 → 1	US$2,880	US$2,400	US$600

Assumed hourly staff costs: US$75 for reporting, US$100 for opportunity preparation and US$60 for reminders. “After” includes review time. Implementation figures are illustrative estimates, separate from the US$5,000 audit fee.

What if the first two changes achieve less of the expected time benefit?

60%

First-year economic cost: US$20,900. This includes US$19,700 for the audit, builds, software and support, plus 12 hours of internal setup and training at an assumed US$100 per hour. No implementation credit assumed.

Modeled first-year capacity value, less costs

−US$1,460

At 60%, the modeled capacity benefit does not cover the first-year economic cost.

Without a reduction in an actual expense, cash savings remain US$0 and the example requires US$19,700 of spending plus 12 hours of existing staff time. Ongoing review time is already included in the reduced hours above; it is not counted twice. These estimates are decision aids, not promised returns.

Download the example inputs

Your information

Start with the work, not access to everything.

Interviews and approved, redacted examples are usually enough to begin. The audit does not require production credentials, custody access or permission to move money.

We agree what information is needed, who may see it, which tools may be used and how material will be retained or deleted before you share it. Confidential material is not put into an AI service without your approval.

The data and control review identifies requirements for the proposed changes. It is not a security certification, penetration test or formal compliance audit.

One defined engagement

The full audit. One fixed fee.

A decision you can make before committing to implementation.

You can use the findings with your internal team or another provider. There is no requirement to buy software or further services from USG.

Put the audit fee toward implementation.

If you agree an implementation engagement with USG within 90 days of receiving the final audit, we credit up to the full US$5,000 against USG’s implementation fees.

The credit cannot exceed those fees, does not cover third-party costs, has no cash value and does not carry forward. We agree the implementation scope and price separately.

AI & Operations Audit

US$5,000

Fixed fee · paid before kickoff · applicable taxes additional

One business unit and up to five workflows
Up to ten 30-minute interviews
Workflow maps and ranked recommendations
Implementation sequence and up to five delivery briefs
Cost-and-benefit workbook with assumptions
Data and human-approval requirements
Final report, editable files and a 60-minute walkthrough
One round of factual corrections

Discuss the audit

We confirm the scope, named lead and reviewer, required inputs and delivery date before payment. Requesting a call does not purchase the audit.

Before you decide

A few practical questions.

Who is this for?

Family offices, private investment teams, venture studios, and the advisory firms, RIAs and OCIOs that support them. It also suits a portfolio company with recurring operating work to review. Start with one business unit and a concrete question about time, cost or capacity.

Can we start with something smaller?

Yes. Our free workflow review looks at one recurring task and gives you a short written recommendation you can use without hiring us. We agree a small input set, such as a redacted example or brief walkthrough. It does not include the full audit’s interviews, cost model or implementation briefs.

Request a free workflow review

How long does it take, and what do you need from us?

We deliver findings within 14 calendar days of kickoff when the agreed inputs and interviews are completed by day five. You nominate a point person, make interviewees available and provide approved examples and available workload data. We confirm the date before booking and agree a revised schedule if inputs or scope change.

Will you recommend AI for everything?

No. The audit compares AI, changes to existing tools, simpler procedures and leaving a task alone. We show where a person still needs to make a decision or check the result.

Does the fee include implementation?

No. You are buying analysis, recommendations and the materials needed to plan the work. Building integrations, changing production systems, migrating data and ongoing delivery need a separate agreement. Estimates in the audit are planning estimates, not binding supplier quotes.

What happens if a promised item is missing?

We complete any missing deliverable within the agreed audit scope at no additional fee. One factual-correction round is included when requested within ten business days of delivery. Any extra workflows or new analysis are scoped and priced before work begins.

Does this include investment, legal or tax advice?

This audit reviews operating workflows. It does not select investments, provide legal or tax advice, certify compliance, or authorize trades or payments. Your team retains investment decisions and approvals.

What happens after the walkthrough?

You keep the report, workbook and briefs. Implement with your own team, ask another provider for a quote, discuss a separate USG engagement, or make no change. There is no ongoing subscription or mandate attached to the audit.

Know what is worth doing next

Turn the work slowing your team down into a practical plan.

Tell us where preparation, missing information, or reliance on one person slows the work. We’ll discuss whether the US$5,000 audit would help and confirm its scope before you commit.