---
type: concept
title: The 30/60/90 Pilot
aliases:
  - pilot
  - the ask
  - $50K-$75K pilot
modified: 2026-04-07
tags:
  - pilot
  - decision-path
  - the-ask
  - adoption-case
---

# The 30/60/90 Pilot

> A 3-month, $50K–$75K pilot of SuiteCentral 2.0 with explicit go/no-go evidence gates — preceded by a 30-day evaluation phase that decides whether to run the pilot at all.

## What it is — the two phases

The adoption path is actually **two sequential phases**, not one. This is a refinement that emerged from the [[sources/read-talking-points]] ingest — the earlier sources (01-executive-summary and the role briefs) jumped straight to the 90-day pilot structure without naming the precursor evaluation phase.

**Phase 1: 30-day evaluation** (per [[sources/read-talking-points]] talking point #7 and [[sources/read-elevator-pitch]] Beat 4 — confirmed across two sources):

| Week | Activity |
|---|---|
| **Week 1** | Demo review |
| **Week 2** | Technical deep-dive |
| **Week 3** | Pilot client selection |
| **Week 4** | Decision checkpoint (go / no-go) |

This phase is about **deciding whether to run the 90-day pilot**. No billable work starts; Squire is walking the review experience and selecting which client would be the pilot target. The week-4 decision checkpoint is the commit point for the $50K–$75K ask.

**Phase 2: 90-day pilot** (the original "30/60/90" structure from [[sources/01-executive-summary]] and the role briefs). Runs only if Phase 1's week-4 decision is "go." Structure below.

**Post-pilot**: SuiteApp.AI certification path, pilot with one client, phased rollout (per [[sources/read-talking-points]] talking point #7).

**Year-1 commercial target** (per [[sources/ai-governance-layer-video]] 03:50-04:00):

> "Our roadmap shows we are production ready now. Following the pilot in months 1 to 3, we plan a commercial launch decision in month 4, scaling to **60-plus customers in year 1**."

60+ customers in year 1 is the first formally-ingested scale target in the corpus. Combined with Jonyce's "recurring revenue potential — SaaS licensing for SuiteCentral platform" angle from [[sources/read-talking-points]], this makes the product's commercial ambition explicit: SuiteCentral 2.0 is positioned as a product Squire could license to 60+ external customers in year 1 post-pilot.

**Market window** (per [[sources/ai-governance-layer-video]] 04:05-04:14):

> "The market window is 6 to 12 months. The technology is verified, the market is open, and Squire is positioned to capture this value."

6-12 months is the first time-to-close claim in the corpus. It's consistent with the "world changed last week" framing — the strategic inflection is recent, and the window to establish the governance-layer moat before competitors catch up is measured in months, not years.

**75% cost reduction** (per [[sources/ai-governance-layer-video]] 03:07-03:14):

> "We built MDM into the core and offer an embedded sidecar, all at a projected 75% cost reduction."

This is the first formally-ingested cost-reduction percentage. Context: the 75% is benchmarked against the cost of buying MDM as a separate product (see [[pages/modules/mdm-central]] for the competitive framing) plus implementing an embedded intelligence layer separately. For a CPA firm's client, bundling these reduces the license-plus-implementation cost by ~75% vs the traditional build-it-yourself or buy-multiple-tools approach.

## Why it matters (to the adoption case)

This is the **entire decision framing**. The pitch is not "buy SuiteCentral 2.0" — it's "approve a 30-day evaluation that could lead to a 90-day pilot." That's a smaller, more reversible decision with two off-ramps (the week-4 checkpoint of the evaluation phase, and the day-60/day-90 gates of the pilot), which lowers the political and financial risk for Squire's CFO/CTO/COO. The slide script's last two slides (9 and 10) frame the pilot ask; the talking-points source frames the evaluation phase that precedes it.

## The Phase-2 pilot structure (per [[sources/13-pilot-30-60-90]])

This is the 90-day pilot proper, which runs only after the Phase-1 evaluation's week-4 decision checkpoint is "go." [[sources/13-pilot-30-60-90]] is the definitive source for phase activities and gate metrics.

### Day 1-30: Setup and Baseline

- **Assign sponsor and owner.** Two named roles on the Squire side — a sponsor (executive accountability) and an owner (operational accountability). They may be different people. This resolves the earlier open question about who leads the pilot.
- **Select pilot clients and baseline current metrics.** The 5–10 clients are selected *during* phase 1 (not before). Current metrics are baselined so improvements can be measured against a pre-pilot reference.
- **Run preflight checks and acceptance review.** Formal go/no-ready check before field-mapping deployment begins. Detail not in this source.

### Day 31-60: Controlled Execution

- **Deploy field mapping and sidecar workflows.** This is where the actual SuiteCentral 2.0 functionality turns on in the pilot clients' environments.
- **Track weekly KPI pack.** Weekly cadence with a defined KPI artifact. Confirms the COO brief's "weekly operating cadence" claim from a second source and names the specific artifact ("KPI pack").
- **Run compliance/evidence export checks.** Compliance/evidence exports happen *during* controlled execution, not just at the end. The CTO should see evidence exports weekly, not at Day 90.

### Day 61-90: Scale Decision

- **Compile pilot ROI and case studies.** Finalize the economics and adoption evidence.
- **Hold go/no-go board.** The formal gate meeting.
- **Approve scale only if all gates pass.** All four Gate Metrics (see below) must pass.

## The four Gate Metrics (per [[sources/13-pilot-30-60-90]])

The pilot's formal gate at the end of Day 61-90 has **four specific pass criteria**, each with a named threshold:

| # | Metric | Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | **Time-to-integrate** | ≥ 50% reduction |
| 2 | **Error rate** | ≥ 70% reduction |
| 3 | **Economics** | Trend within approved ROI range (25%-157% 3-year) |
| 4 | **Governance** | Evidence package exported and reviewed |

**Reading the thresholds**: the 50% / 70% reductions are the *floor* the pilot must clear, NOT the aspirational hero numbers. [[sources/ai-governance-layer-video]] claims 15 hours → 30 seconds for field mapping (a ~1,800× reduction), but this pilot gate only requires 50% reduction. That's unusually honest — the pitch leads with the best case and the pilot plan asks for the defensible minimum.

**All four must pass.** This is an AND gate, not an OR gate: the pilot does not clear if even one metric fails.

**"Gate" terminology refinement**: prior sources talked about "day-60 gate" and "day-90 gate" as if both were formal gates. [[sources/13-pilot-30-60-90]] clarifies that the only HARD formal gate is the end-of-phase-3 go/no-go board (Day 61-90). Day 30 and Day 60 are phase transitions (Setup→Execution and Execution→Scale Decision), not pass/fail checkpoints.

## The numbers

- **Pilot investment**: $50,000–$75,000 *(confirmed across four sources: [[sources/01-executive-summary]], [[sources/10-role-brief-cfo]], [[sources/ai-governance-layer-video]], [[sources/16-pilot-decision-memo]])*
- **Pilot scope**: 5–10 clients *(per [[sources/12-role-brief-coo]] and [[sources/16-pilot-decision-memo]])*
- **3-year ROI range (modeled)**: 25% (Conservative) → 75% (Base Case) → 157% (Optimistic) *(from [[sources/04-roi-calculator]] — see [[pages/concepts/roi-scenarios]] for full breakdown)*
- **SaaS pricing**: $2,495/month ($29,940/year) *(per [[sources/04-roi-calculator]] base case)*
- **Base case net annual benefit**: $65,460 *(Labor savings $95,400 − Platform cost $29,940)*
- **Payback signal**: ~6 months in model assumptions *(per [[sources/10-role-brief-cfo]] only)*
- **Pilot duration**: 3 months
- **Decision gates**: end of phase 3 (Day 61-90) *(per [[sources/13-pilot-30-60-90]]; earlier sources used the less precise "day-60 and day-90 gates" phrasing)*

> Note: the 25–157% ROI range is unusually wide. This likely reflects scenario sensitivity (best/worst case across pilot outcomes). The CFO brief notes that "scenario inputs are adjustable and transparent" — implying `04-ROI-CALCULATOR.md` is an interactive parameterized tool rather than a fixed projection. Not yet ingested.

## The Pilot Decision Memo — the terminal artifact (per [[sources/16-pilot-decision-memo]])

Every review path ([[pages/concepts/three-review-paths|A, B, and C]]) terminates in the **Pilot Decision Memo** at `/Squire-Executive-Package-v2/16-PILOT-DECISION-MEMO-STANDALONE.html`. It is a **copy-ready template** that the executive sponsor (or the CEO reconciling all three role views) fills in to formalize the pilot decision.

### The recommended decision (verbatim)

> "Approve a 3-month pilot for SuiteCentral 2.0 at $50K-$75K, limited to 5-10 Squire clients, with day-60 and day-90 go/no-go gates tied to measurable operating and financial outcomes."

### Three decision options

| Option | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| **A: Approve pilot now** | Proceed with full 30/60/90 plan and weekly steering cadence | The "happy path" |
| **B: Conditional approval** | Approve after **one** additional technical check OR budget clarification | The CTO-or-CFO-wants-one-more-thing path |
| **C: Defer** | Revisit after market or internal constraints change | The "not now" path — note: not "no," just "not yet" |

Option B is notable: conditional approvals are framed as requiring **one** additional check, not a list. The two kinds of conditional blockers are technical (CTO-flavored) or financial (CFO-flavored), with the COO implicitly on board if the pilot gets to Option B at all.

### The 6-position pilot org chart (NEW)

The memo template names **six distinct positions** required to run the pilot:

**3 Owner roles** (named in the memo):
1. **Executive sponsor** — ultimate accountability for the pilot's success
2. **Technical owner** — runs the technical integration work
3. **Operating owner** — runs the operational/KPI tracking work

**3 Sign-off roles**:
4. **CFO** — signs off on the budget commitment
5. **CTO** — signs off on the technical approach
6. **COO** — signs off on the operational plan

The **sponsor vs owner distinction** from [[sources/13-pilot-30-60-90]] is now fully resolved: the Executive sponsor is one specific person (typically a C-level or VP); the Technical owner and Operating owner are two other people who run the day-to-day work. The Technical Owner likely reports to the CTO and the Operating Owner to the COO. That's 6 distinct positions total.

### Three conditions of approval (in the copy-ready memo text)

1. **Weekly KPI reporting** to executive sponsor
2. **Governance evidence export and review by Day 90** (this is Gate Metric #4 from [[sources/13-pilot-30-60-90]] — the [[pages/entities/compliance-dashboard|compliance dashboard]] is the tool for generating the export)
3. **Scale-up only if all gate criteria are met** (this is the [[sources/12-role-brief-coo|COO brief]]'s "expansion only on measurable outcome attainment" rule)

## Day-90 gate criteria — resolved

The end-of-pilot go/no-go decision is gated on the **four Gate Metrics above**. Earlier role-brief framings (economics + adoption proof + measurable outcome attainment) were consistent with the four metrics but less specific. The four Gate Metrics are now the canonical gate criteria — they subsume and refine what the role briefs described.

Mapping role brief framings to the four Gate Metrics:
- [[sources/10-role-brief-cfo]] "economics and adoption proof" → Gate Metric 3 (Economics) + Gate Metrics 1 and 2 (time-to-integrate and error rate are only measurable if real adoption is happening)
- [[sources/12-role-brief-coo]] "measurable outcome attainment" → all four metrics being measurable against their thresholds
- [[sources/11-role-brief-cto]] "compliance evidence export" → Gate Metric 4 (Governance)

## Risk controls (per slide 8)

The pitch acknowledges and addresses pilot risks explicitly:
- **Competitive catch-up monitoring** — markets evolve during the pilot
- **AI quality guardrails** — the system is governed, not unsupervised
- **Multi-provider fallback** — no single-vendor dependency
- **Governance and compliance evidence** — auditable from day one

## The decision posture (per slide 10)

> "Approve the 3-month pilot with defined success gates. This keeps the decision evidence-based and reversible while preserving upside if results hold."

Three things to notice in this language:

1. **"defined success gates"** — the pilot is not open-ended; pass/fail criteria exist (presumably in `13-PILOT-30-60-90.md` notebook source, not yet ingested).
2. **"evidence-based and reversible"** — anti-FOMO framing; the pitch is *not* "you'll miss out if you don't."
3. **"preserving upside if results hold"** — leaves room for the bigger ARR story (the $4.4M–$7.4M projection from elsewhere in the notebook) without anchoring on it.

## Open questions

- What does the modeled ROI range break down into (best case / base case / worst case)? Likely in `04-ROI-CALCULATOR.md` — flag for next ingest.
- **Client selection criteria**: Day 1-30 includes "Select pilot clients" but the selection criteria (easy clients vs representative clients) are still unspecified.
- **Additional KPIs beyond the four Gate Metrics**: the "weekly KPI pack" implies more KPIs than just the four gate metrics. Which others? Not specified.
- **Preflight checks and acceptance review**: named as Day 1-30 activities but not defined in this source. Likely in `18-LIVE-DEMO-SETUP-STANDALONE` or `17-PERSONAL-WALKTHROUGH-SCRIPT`.
- **Sponsor vs owner distinction**: Day 1-30 assigns both, but the source doesn't say whether they are the same person or how the roles differ. Sponsor likely means executive accountability; owner likely means operational accountability.
- **Who leads the pilot approval decision?** Partially resolved: the pilot has a named sponsor and owner, assigned in phase 1. The ultimate approval gate at the go/no-go board still requires all three role-brief concerns (cost / correctness / throughput) to clear — see [[pages/synthesis/three-role-decision-frame]] for the reconciliation view.

## Sources

- [[sources/01-executive-summary]] — claims 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 (pilot ask, ROI range, pilot structure, risk controls, decision posture)
- [[sources/10-role-brief-cfo]] — payback signal, day-90 gate criteria, second-source confirmation of $50-75K and 25-157%
- [[sources/11-role-brief-cto]] — referenced for the technical-validation gating (not the pilot structure itself)
- [[sources/12-role-brief-coo]] — pilot scope (5-10 clients), day-60 gate, expansion-only-on-outcome-attainment rule
- [[sources/read-talking-points]] — claims 10, 11 (30-day evaluation phase, post-pilot SuiteApp.AI certification path)
- [[sources/read-elevator-pitch]] — claim 12 (second-source confirmation of 30-day evaluation phase)
- [[sources/ai-governance-layer-video]] — claims 21, 23, 24, 25, 27 (75% cost reduction, ROI confirmation, pilot confirmation, year-1 60+ customer target, 6-12 month market window)
- [[sources/13-pilot-30-60-90]] — claims 1-12 (phase-by-phase activity list, four Gate Metrics with thresholds, sponsor/owner assignment, pilot client selection timing, weekly KPI pack, compliance evidence export checks during execution)
- [[sources/04-roi-calculator]] — three ROI scenarios (Conservative 25%, Base 75%, Optimistic 157%), $2,495/month SaaS pricing, base-case financial impact, adjustable baseline inputs
- [[sources/16-pilot-decision-memo]] — the terminal decision artifact, three decision options (A/B/C), six-position pilot org chart (Executive sponsor, Technical owner, Operating owner + CFO/CTO/COO sign-off), three conditions of approval