AI Workflow Audit · $999, credited forward
What is an AI workflow audit?
An AI workflow audit is a paid diagnostic engagement that examines the AI agents, workflows, and automations a business has already deployed and determines whether they are still doing what they were built to do. The Phronimos version — sold as the Agent Reliability Review — answers one question in writing: is what you already built actually working?
$999 flat. Two weeks from kickoff. About 90 minutes of your time. A written report you keep whether or not you build anything.
The review fee is credited in full toward an Agent Implementation Sprint or the first month of a Fractional AI Officer retainer.
What does the review check?
Every finding is mapped to one of four silent-failure modes. These are the ways an AI workflow fails without setting off any alarm — the failures nobody catches until a customer does. If a finding does not map to one of these four modes, it is not in this report; it is filed for a different engagement.
- SFM-1
Bad or empty output on a green status code.
The workflow executes successfully — the API returned 200, the log line says complete — and the output is wrong, blank, malformed, or nonsense. Downstream systems accept it because the status was fine. Nobody catches it until a human notices the consequence days later.
Caught by Per-workflow output-shape validation on every run — required sections non-empty, field types correct, size within band.
- SFM-2
Webhook silently stops receiving events.
The listener is up. The sender changed. Auth token expired, endpoint URL rotated, source API deprecated the event, rate limit tripped and the sender gave up. The workflow keeps polling a queue that stays empty and reports "nothing to do" indefinitely.
Caught by Per-source webhook delivery-rate alert against a rolling baseline.
- SFM-3
Workflow hasn't executed in an unusually long time.
The trigger stopped firing. A cron was disabled during a deploy and never re-enabled. Zapier task limit hit and the client didn't get the email. Scheduled job's parent workflow was deleted. Absence-of-runs looks the same as no-work-to-do, so nobody notices.
Caught by Per-workflow "last successful run" freshness alert with an SLA window per workflow class.
- SFM-4
Downstream system stops receiving expected data.
The workflow runs. The output looks fine on our side. The downstream system doesn't see it. API contract changed, destination account was suspended, integration credential rotated on the receiving side, spam filter ate the email, folder permission removed write access.
Caught by Per-destination downstream-received confirmation loop closing the round trip.
A redacted example of a real incident report — the same shape every retainer client gets — is at sample incident report.
What does the review include?
A working call, a diagnostic run against the four modes, per-workflow findings with evidence, a remediation plan with hours-of-effort per fix, a monitoring posture recommendation, and a live review call. Two weeks from kickoff.
45-minute working call
Whoever owns the workflows walks through what is running, what it is supposed to do, and where it has hurt recently.
Diagnostic against the four modes
Every workflow in scope is run against the four silent-failure modes above, with evidence pulled from logs, run history, and downstream systems.
Per-workflow findings
Each finding cites its failure mode, its blast radius in dollars or hours, and its evidence. 3–7 findings per report; no filler.
Remediation plan
Every finding gets a fix with an hours-of-effort estimate. Some fixes are free (config change). Some are sprint-shaped (rebuild).
Monitoring posture
A one-page recommendation for what to instrument on each workflow so the next failure trips an alert on your side, or ours, before your customer sees it.
30-minute review call
The report walked through live, with questions answered and the next decision named.
What happens after the review?
Findings sort into four remediation paths. The report says which is which per finding, with the hours-of-effort called out so the decision is a business decision, not a technical one.
Configuration only
A wrong field, a missing validator, a stale credential. Fixed inside the review window at no extra cost, or handed to your team as a change ticket.
Instrumentation
The workflow is fine; the monitoring is not. Ships as part of the monitoring posture recommendation. Implementable by your team or scoped as a small sprint.
Sprint-shaped rebuild
The workflow has a design problem the monitoring cannot mask. Scoped as an Agent Implementation Sprint from $3,500, with the review fee credited toward it.
Retire
The workflow is not worth fixing. Named plainly in the report, with the alternative — a manual SOP, a different tool, no automation at all — set out for you.
The $999 review fee is credited in full toward an Agent Implementation Sprint or the first month of a Fractional AI Officer retainer. If the findings point nowhere, the report is still yours to use — the review has already paid for itself by preventing a build that would have failed.
Review, free consultation, or straight to a build?
Three ways to start. The review is the right first step when you have agents running and cannot yet answer whether they still work — or when you are about to sink money into rebuilding something that only needs monitoring.
| Starting point | Cost | What you get | When it is right |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free consultation | $0 | A conversation and a list of ideas. | You already know the workflow and want to test whether a vendor is credible. |
| Agent Reliability Review | $999credited forward | A written diagnosis mapped to the four failure modes, a remediation plan with hours, and a monitoring posture. | You have AI running and cannot yet say whether it works, or a rebuild is on the table and you want to know if it is warranted. |
| Straight to a build | From $3,500 | One workflow built into a production agent. | Workflow is scoped, inputs identified, escalation path agreed. No diagnosis needed. |
Because the review fee is credited forward, starting with the diagnosis costs nothing extra for anyone who goes on to build. It only stays a cost if the findings tell you to stop or retire, which is the case where it has already paid for itself.
Not sure if you're ready?
A one-page readiness scorecard runs the same four-mode logic against your current setup in about five minutes. Free, no email gate, results on-screen. If the score suggests a review is not yet the right step, it tells you what to do instead.
AI workflow audit questions
What is an AI workflow audit?
An AI workflow audit is a paid diagnostic engagement that examines the AI agents, workflows, and automations a business has already deployed and determines whether they are still doing what they were built to do. The Phronimos version — sold as the Agent Reliability Review — maps every finding to one of four silent-failure modes and ends in a written report: findings with evidence, remediation with hours-of-effort per fix, and a monitoring posture so the next failure gets caught before your customer sees it.
How much does an AI workflow audit cost?
The Phronimos AI Workflow Audit — sold as the Agent Reliability Review — costs $999 as a flat fee, agreed before the work starts and not dependent on how many systems are in scope. The fee is credited in full toward an Agent Implementation Sprint or the first month of a Fractional AI Officer retainer, so for anyone who goes on to build, the diagnosis is effectively free.
How long does an AI workflow audit take?
About two weeks from kickoff to the review call. Your time in: a 45-minute working call at the start, credential access handoff, and a 30-minute review call at the end — roughly 90 minutes total. The review itself happens on our side.
What do I get at the end of an AI workflow audit?
A written findings report with 3–7 findings mapped to the four silent-failure modes, evidence per finding, blast-radius numbers, a remediation plan with hours-of-effort per fix, and a monitoring posture recommendation. Plus a redacted sample so you know the shape before you commit — see the sample incident report on the reliability page.
What happens after the review?
Findings sort into four buckets: configuration-only fixes, instrumentation (added monitoring), sprint-shaped rebuilds, and retirements. Configuration fixes usually land inside the review window at no extra cost. Sprint-shaped work is scoped as an Agent Implementation Sprint from From $3,500, with the $999 review fee credited toward it. Some findings are best fixed by your team with the monitoring posture in hand — the report is yours to use either way.
Why pay for a review instead of taking a free consultation?
A free consultation ends in a conversation. A paid review ends in a diagnosis with evidence, a remediation plan with hours, and a monitoring posture. The $999 fee is credited forward, so it functions as a deposit on the work rather than a separate cost. Should the findings point nowhere, the report is still yours to use.
Do I have to buy anything after the review?
No. The review is a standalone engagement with its own deliverable. It is designed to make the next decision obvious, including the decision to stop.
Start with the diagnosis.
Ninety minutes of your time, a fixed fee agreed up front, and a written verdict you keep whichever way the decision goes.