Stage 01: Internal Lab Gate: Measurable Internal Saving
Solve the group's own problems first: AI-assisted estimation, code review quality analytics, candidate matching, legacy assessment. Built once and measured against cycle-time improvements.
Stage 02: Co-Innovation Gate: Three Paying Design Partners
Invite selected enterprise clients into paid pilots. The client funds the build, the group keeps the reusable layer, with IP terms agreed transparently up front.
Stage 03: Validation Gate: Recurring Revenue & Retention
Prove a repeatable problem, an identifiable buyer, usage retention, and a defensible advantage in data, workflow or domain expertise.
Stage 04: Spinout Gate: Board Approval & Named Leader
Separate leadership, independent brand, dedicated profit and loss. The new company joins the portfolio page and the group publishes the decision rationale and post-mortems on killed projects.