Applied AI
AI integration with the systems you already run
When an off-the-shelf AI tool does most of a job and then stops, we connect AI to the systems where the work happens, with a person approving anything that matters.
Who it is for
Organisations whose staff re-key orders from email, copy data between systems that do not talk to each other, or find that the AI tool they bought stops at the edge of their own applications. Usually the workflow is specific to the business, or its value depends on reaching the business's own data.
What you get
AI inside the workflow: inbound email read into orders or tickets, two systems joined so nobody types the same thing twice, drafts prepared in the application your team already uses. A written record says what the AI may do on its own and what a person approves, and a named owner in your business answers for it.
The problem
A bought AI tool can draft and summarise, but it cannot reach your own order, customer or job systems, so people still carry the results across by hand.
Much of the time AI can recover sits in the joins between systems: the order that arrives by email and is typed into the order system, the customer record kept in two places, the summary written from notes that already exist somewhere else. A general-purpose assistant cannot reach those systems, so the work stays manual.
We build those joins. Each starts with a written specification: the workflow, the data the AI may reach, what it may do on its own, what needs a person's approval, and the measures that decide whether it worked. The build is tested, every change is reviewed by a person before release, and a security review comes before go-live. The documentation includes how to switch it off, and acceptance is against the measures agreed at the start.
We did this for our own operation first. We built the integration between our phone system and our service desk, and AI drafts notes in that service desk for an engineer to use, edit or reject. Odyssey employees build it and support it, through the service desk you already call.
What Odyssey provides
- A written specification of the workflow, the data the AI may reach and the approvals it needs
- A data and permissions design checked against your policies and ours
- The build, tested, with every change reviewed by a person before release
- A security review before go-live
- Documentation and a runbook, including how to switch it off
- Acceptance against the measures agreed at the start
- A signed handover naming who owns it in your business
What is included
| Included | Detail |
|---|---|
| Specification | The workflow, the data the AI may reach, what it may do alone, what needs approval, and the measures |
| Design | Data flows and permissions, reviewed against your policies and ours |
| Build | The integration or tool, tested, with every change reviewed by a person before release |
| Security review | A security review of the build before it goes live |
| Documentation | How it works, how to switch it off, and what to do when it gets something wrong |
| Acceptance | Tested against the measures agreed in the specification |
| Handover | A signed handover naming the owner in your business, with the runbook |
Not included, or sold separately
- Action without approval
- Anything acting on customer-facing or financial systems has an approval step or a defined limit
- Automated decisions about people
- No recruitment, credit, disciplinary or eligibility decisions
- Training foundation models
- We connect and configure models, and do not train or fine-tune them
- Systems without a supported way in
- A system with no API, or whose vendor does not permit access, cannot be built on
- Call transcription and analytics
- Part of the call reporting and recording service, not a custom build
How it is delivered
-
Specify
The workflow written down with the person who owns it: the data involved, what the AI may do alone, what needs approval, and how we will know it worked.
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Design
How data moves between the systems and who can see what, checked against your policies and ours before anything is built.
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Build and review
The integration built and tested, with every change reviewed by a person before release and a security review before go-live.
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Accept
Tested with you against the measures agreed in the specification, on real work, before it is relied on.
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Hand over
A signed handover naming its owner in your business, the runbook that says how to switch it off, and support through our service desk.
How you would buy it
Every hour we work falls under one of four engagement models. These are the ones that fit this service; How we work compares all four.
-
01
Consumed
Ad hoc work, no commitment
A minor build or change that an engineer can deliver without a project manager is charged for the time it takes.
-
02
Fixed price
A defined piece of work or project
Anything that needs a project manager, because of its risk, its complexity or the number of systems involved, is specified and priced before we start.
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03
Retainer
The way most of our clients work with us
Clients on a retainer can draw minor builds and changes from their retained hours.
Why trust Odyssey with this
-
ISO
ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certified by NQA
-
In-house
All work done by Odyssey employees, never subcontracted
- We built the integration between our own phone system and our service desk
- Every change to our own business systems is reviewed by a named person before it goes live
Questions people ask
What is AI integration?
AI integration connects an AI model to the systems where your work already happens, so it can read, draft or act inside them instead of in a separate chat window. The limits on what it may do alone are written down first, and a person approves anything that matters.
Does a person approve what the AI does?
Yes, for anything that matters. The specification lists what the AI may do on its own and what needs approval, and anything acting on customer-facing or financial systems always has an approval step or a defined limit.
Have you built integrations like this before?
Yes, for our own operation. We built the integration between our phone system and our service desk, and AI drafts notes in that service desk for an engineer to use, edit or reject. Client work follows the same method.
Who owns what you build?
Ownership of the configuration, the data and anything reusable is set out in the proposal before any work starts, so it is agreed in writing.
What happens once it is live?
At handover a person in your business is named as its owner and receives the runbook that says how it works and how to switch it off. Odyssey employees support it through our service desk.
What will you not build?
Anything that makes decisions about people, such as recruitment, credit or discipline, and anything that acts on customer-facing or financial systems without an approval step or a defined limit. We also do not train foundation models.
Related services
Ask about custom AI and integrations
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