Skip to content
Comonad

Selective engagements

Selective AI engineering and governance work

Alongside our own R&D and products, we take on a small number of AI engineering and AI governance engagements, each agreed individually and led by Alex Vakhitov.
How we choose engagements

Who we take on

  • AI in large production systems, operated like any other change
  • UK enterprises and regulated organisations running AI
  • Problems that match our R&D: agents, AI in delivery or governance
Book an introductory call

Two services, three areas of work

AI governance decides what your AI agents and AI systems may do and writes the controls that show they do it; legal sign-off stays with your counsel. AI engineering builds agent harnesses and automation into the systems you already run, and brings AI into the software development lifecycle (SDLC) with a quality gate at each step, so the AI-assisted SDLC shares the AI engineering page.

Which service do you need?

  • Choose AI engineering if you need an AI feature, agent or automated workflow built into a system that already has users, audit logs and a release process.
  • Choose AI governance if you need your AI agents governed (their identity, permissions, delegated authority and audit trail), or need to know how an AI system is classified, what controls it needs, and how those controls map to the EU AI Act, UK regulatory guidance, ISO/IEC 42001 or the NIST AI RMF.
  • Choose both if you are building or changing an AI feature and need the build and the control set to agree. Governance defines what the system must satisfy; engineering implements it.

  • AI agents · ISO/IEC 42001

    AI governance

    Written controls for your AI agents and AI systems that your risk team can evidence.

    • Agent identity, delegated authority
    • Accountability, audit and security
    • EU AI Act, UK regulatory guidance
    • ISO/IEC 42001, NIST AI RMF
    • Classification of each AI system

    For risk, security and compliance leads governing AI agents and systems.

  • Agent harnesses · Automation

    AI engineering

    Agents and automation built into the systems and release process you already run.

    • Orchestration and tool permissions
    • Evaluation, guardrails and logging
    • Tested switch-off and rollback
    • Automation behind existing interfaces
    • Delivery via your release process

    For platform and engineering leads putting AI into an existing estate.

  • AI engineering · CI/CD

    AI-assisted SDLC

    AI in each stage of delivery, with a quality gate before generated work moves on.

    • Specification agreed up front
    • Review and tests on generated code
    • Record of every AI-assisted change
    • Release checks on every change
    • Gates that suit any coding assistant

    For engineering leads bringing AI into delivery, as part of AI engineering.

How engagements are scoped

  • Every engagement starts from the system you already operate, or the one you are about to release.
  • Scope is written down first: for engineering, the model, the tools it may call, the evaluation it must pass and what is out of bounds; for governance, the systems in scope and the frameworks that apply.
  • Governance work ends at a written control set and a review of the running system, unless implementation is agreed separately as AI engineering.
  • Your team keeps the tests, runbooks, control lists and the ability to switch the AI feature off.
  • Alex Vakhitov, Comonad's founder, leads every engagement and does the work personally.
Alex Vakhitov, founder of Comonad Limited

Alex Vakhitov

Founder, Comonad Limited · AI and software architect

Cloud KB
Co-founder & CTO, Cloud KB · 2015 to 2022
SMETS2
Supported SMETS2 installations from the early stages of the roll-out
2022
Cloud KB acquired by private equity · 2022

Changing systems that cannot go down is slow, checked work: know the boundary, prove the new path, keep a way back.

Read Alex Vakhitov's profile

Questions about Comonad's services

Which service do we need, AI engineering or AI governance?

Choose AI engineering if you need an AI feature, agent or workflow built into a system you already run. Choose AI governance if you need AI systems classified and a control set mapped to the EU AI Act, UK regulatory guidance, ISO/IEC 42001 or the NIST AI RMF. Many organisations need both; we scope them separately so the build and the control set can each be reviewed.

How are Comonad engagements scoped?

Every engagement starts from the system you operate or are about to release. Before any work begins, the scope is written down: for engineering, the model, the tools it may call, the evaluation it must pass and what is out of bounds; for governance, the systems in scope and the frameworks that apply. Milestones are agreed in writing before any production code is written.

Do you work in regulated sectors?

Yes. The approach is designed for regulated environments: written scope, controls mapped to the EU AI Act, UK regulatory guidance, ISO/IEC 42001 and the NIST AI RMF, evidence your risk team can review, and legal sign-off left with your counsel. Comonad's founder spent almost seven years as co-founder and CTO of Cloud KB, which built software for UK energy-market participants.

Do you replace our platform or engineering team?

No. We work with the team that owns the system, so that they can release, observe and switch off the AI feature without us. Implementation follows your release process, and at handover you keep the tests, the runbooks, the control set and a documented, tested way to disable the AI feature and fall back to the previous behaviour.

How do we start?

Tell us about the system through the contact form, or email alex@comonad.co.uk, with a short description of what is in production or about to ship. We take on a small number of engagements, so the first conversation is about fit and scope. If we agree to work together, the first step is a written scope: the system, the model, the tools it may call, the evaluation it must pass and what is out of bounds.

Do you build products for clients?

The products on our products page are Comonad's own. A similar capability inside your own systems can be scoped as a selective AI engineering engagement. That work starts from your system and your release process, and your team keeps the tests, the runbooks and the ability to switch the AI feature off at handover.

Discuss an engagement

Tell us about the system and what you want AI to do in it. It can already be in production or about to ship.

Book an introductory call