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What we do

AI-era engineering modernization for SaaS teams and PE portfolios.

Heavy Chain helps lower middle-market vertical SaaS companies modernize software delivery for the AI era. We work directly with operating companies, and with the PE firms that need portfolio-level visibility into AI readiness, delivery leverage, and engineering risk.

Start here · find the project

AI Delivery Assessment

We run a focused, one-week diagnostic. We review how your team ships software today, pinpoint your biggest delivery bottleneck, select the highest-impact project to modernize first, and record baseline metrics. We do not write production code during this week; we save implementation for the Sprint.

From $10K · one week

What's included

  • Delivery workflow review
  • AI readiness review
  • Bottleneck map
  • The project to start with
  • Baseline numbers
  • Rollout plan
  • Executive readout

The flagship · build it

AI Delivery Modernization Sprint

A senior Heavy Chain engineer embeds with your team for two weeks. Together, we ship one funded production project using AI-native practices. We configure the workflow, install our tooling, establish automated test suites, enforce code review standards, and train your developers on live code. We measure delivery performance before and after the engagement to prove the efficiency gains. Two weeks covers standard projects; you can extend the engagement with additional sprints at $40K each.

$50K · two weeks

What's included

  • Project spec
  • The AI engineering workflow
  • Our tooling (etc) set up in your environment
  • Team training while shipping
  • Testing and quality gates
  • Review standards
  • Before / after measurement
  • Executive readout

After the Sprint · keep it current

ETC Operating License

A monthly subscription that keeps the workflow from going stale as AI tools and models change. The Sprint sets it up; the License maintains it.

$5K / month per team

What's included

  • Workflow updates
  • Templates
  • Guidance as models change
  • Office hours
  • Support
  • Ongoing improvements

For PE firms · technical air cover across holdings

Technical Operating Partner & Portfolio Program

We partner with private equity (PE) firms managing vertical SaaS portfolios as their retained Technical Operating Partner. We provide technical air cover across holdings—stabilizing leadership gaps, unsticking stalled roadmaps, recovering from technical breakdowns, and instituting disciplined AI-native toolchains across engineering teams.

From $35K assessment · then from $15K / month

What's included

  • Standing technical escalation path & deal triage
  • Air cover for leadership departures & transitions
  • Stuck roadmap & architecture intervention
  • PortCo AI toolchain standardization
  • Unified GP portfolio reporting & visibility
  • Post-close diligence-to-execution planning
  • Senior engineering bench deployment
  • Durable transition & structured exit protocol

Additional ways we help

When you need senior technical intervention, not another roadmap.

AI Slop & Sprawl Cleanup

When teams adopt AI without engineering governance, they generate runaway entropy: thousands of lines of fragile, hallucinated code enter production where fifty lines of disciplined design belong. We step directly into active breakdowns. We debug failing workflows, untangle brittle integrations, and unblock your developers. Once your systems stabilize, we transition your team into our AI-native software development lifecycle (SDLC) so your gains compound into durable engineering velocity.

Due Diligence

Sponsors spend months building relationships with founders. Once both parties sign a letter of intent (LOI), deal teams must move fast without missing critical risks. We run rapid technical due diligence before and after the LOI. We evaluate codebase health, architecture bottlenecks, key-person dependencies, and genuine AI leverage. We map every finding directly to your investment thesis and provide a concrete Day One operating plan that protects deal momentum and post-close earnings (EBITDA).

Interim & Turnaround CTO

When an organization faces an unexpected leadership departure, outgrows its technical leadership, or needs turnaround execution, we provide temporary technical air cover. Led by Jason Vertrees with our senior engineering bench, we direct strategy, guide architecture, and ship code alongside internal engineers. Our posture is intentionally temporary: we stabilize delivery, protect commercial milestones, help define and recruit the permanent successor, and exit once the durable team is seated.

Why Heavy Chain

Twenty years of engineering leadership, the last three building in production with AI.

I led technology at a $1B AUM investment firm—on the operator side of the table, where engineering quality is a line item in the thesis, not an abstraction. Before that, two decades of technology leadership across cloud, mobile, and infrastructure, followed by years building production AI-native systems.

The last three years I spent building in production with AI, not theorizing about it. The tooling, framework, and process that came out of that work are exactly what we install in your team.

Start with an assessment.

We find the highest-leverage project and define what success looks like — before you commit to the Sprint.