Example projectWeb appAIOpen-source model
Course tutor on a private model
Hypothetical. Not a client, not a result.
// The problem
A college's first-year students get stuck on coursework at night, and general chatbots hand them answers that skip the learning and ignore the course.
// What we would build
A tutor that works from the course's own materials, asks guiding questions rather than giving answers away, and shows instructors where students struggle. It runs on an open-source model in the college's own cloud account in Canada, so student conversations stay with the institution.
// What is in it
- Grounded in the course's own readings, slides and problem sets
- Guides students step by step instead of handing over answers
- Instructors set the rules per course and per assessment
- Reports on the topics students ask about most
- An evaluation set built with instructors, run before every change
// Stack
- Llama or Qwen (open-source)
- vLLM
- PostgreSQL with pgvector
- Learning platform interface (LTI)
- AWS (Canada region)
// estimate
- Build
- ≈ US$111,000 to US$169,000, delivered within 22 weeksCAD 157,700 to 241,100
- Hosting
- ≈ US$6,710 a monthCAD 9,550 a month
- Support
- ≈ US$2,500 a monthCAD 3,565 a month
Prices in your currency are estimates from today's Bank of Canada rate. All invoicing is in CAD or USD.
- AI route
- Open-source model
- Model running cost
- ≈ US$6,530 a monthCAD 9,300 a month
Timeline by milestone
- Discovery
- 2.9 to 3.4 weeks
- Specification and evaluation plan
- 0.4 weeks
- Design approved
- 2.4 to 4.4 weeks
- Core features
- 1.4 to 1.9 weeks
- Full build
- 0.9 to 1.4 weeks
- Working pilot
- 3.9 to 6.9 weeks
- Testing and fixes
- 0.9 to 1.9 weeks
- Launch
- 0.9 to 1.4 weeks
- Production
- 0.9 to 1.4 weeks
Outside our hands, and added to the calendar
- LMS test access from your IT team
- 1 to 4 weeks
How it is paid
- Deposit 20%
- CAD 31,480 to 48,160
- Discovery 1.8%
- CAD 2,833.20 to 4,334.40
- Specification and evaluation plan 10.5%
- CAD 16,527 to 25,284
- Design approved 1.8%
- CAD 2,833.20 to 4,334.40
- Core features 5.6%
- CAD 8,814.40 to 13,484.80
- Full build 3.7%
- CAD 5,823.80 to 8,909.60
- Working pilot 31.7%
- CAD 49,895.80 to 76,333.60
- Testing and fixes 1.8%
- CAD 2,833.20 to 4,334.40
- Launch 1.8%
- CAD 2,833.20 to 4,334.40
- Production 11.3%
- CAD 17,786.20 to 27,210.40
- Holdback, 30 days after launch (10%)
- CAD 15,740 to 24,080
- GPU time for training and testing, at cost
- CAD 300. Billed up front, at cost, outside the milestones