Software vendors · IT services
IT professionals

AI threatens your software.And makes your business model obsolete.

Per-seat licences, per-user subscriptions, billable days on time-and-materials contracts: these models relied on development being costly and scarce. With AI, a small team reproduces in a few weeks features that took years to build. Ashford & Sterling helps software vendors and IT services firms rebuild their model before the market does it for them: product, pricing and organisation.

Measure my exposure See the offer

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In short

Ashford & Sterling supports software vendors and IT services firms in their pivot to AI.

A 10-question self-assessment measures your exposure. Then three tiers: a 10-day exposure diagnostic at a fixed price, a pivot plan (product, pricing, organisation), and execution by our consultants, certified Claude Certified Architect (CCA). Ashford & Sterling is a member of the Claude Partner Network.

Two businesses, two shifts

Value is moving.
Position yourself where it is going.

Code becomes reproducible and development time shrinks. The assets that count now are your data, your domain expertise and the trust of your customers.

Software vendor

Your edge lies in your data and your customers.

What changes

  • A team of a few people, equipped with Claude Code, reproduces the features of an established software product in a few weeks.
  • Per-user licences get renegotiated once an agent does the work of several users.
  • Your customers now compare your roadmap with products born with AI.

What keeps its value

  • Your data and the history built up with your customers.
  • Your domain expertise, certifications and regulatory compliance.
  • Your installed base and your deep integration into their systems.
IT services firm

Sell the outcome, beyond the time spent.

What changes

  • When AI writes a large share of the code, a task billed at ten days is delivered in three.
  • Revenue built on time-and-materials and billable days shrinks.
  • Your clients equip their own teams and expect a higher level from you.

What keeps its value

  • Your knowledge of your clients' systems and businesses.
  • The relationship of trust and the ability to deliver into production.
  • Teams that, once trained on Claude, deliver faster and with better margins.

Self-assessment · 3 minutes

Your exposure to AI
in 10 questions.

Choose your profile, answer the ten questions and read your level of exposure. You can then receive a consultant's detailed reading.

10 questions remaining

✓ We have received your self-assessment.

A consultant will reply within one business day with their reading and a proposed meeting.

Your exposure level

Solid positionShift to preparePriority pivot

Your strengths

    Your priorities

      Get a consultant's reading

      Your answers reach us together with your contact details. A consultant reads them and offers you a 30-minute conversation about your pivot scenarios.

      Your answers and contact details are used only to reply to you. They go to [email protected].

      The offer

      Three tiers,
      from assessment to production.

      Each tier delivers a result you can use on its own. You decide on the next one once the previous one is delivered.

      01

      Exposure diagnostic

      10 days · fixed price

      A complete reading of your position: what an AI-equipped team could reproduce of your offer, and what remains your lasting advantage.

      • Product, contracts and pricing model reviewed
      • Customer base and revenue concentration
      • Cash position and capacity to fund the transition
      • Three costed pivot scenarios, presented to management
      02

      Pivot plan

      4 to 8 weeks

      The chosen scenario becomes a dated action plan that your executive committee and shareholders can follow.

      • Product: the features to hand to AI, and those to strengthen
      • Pricing: moving to outcome-based, usage-based or per-agent pricing
      • Organisation: roles, skills, sales and support
      • For IT services firms: an "augmented team" offer and new fixed-price packages
      03

      Execution with Claude

      From 30 days

      Our consultants, certified Claude Certified Architect (CCA), work with your teams all the way to production.

      • An AI prototype of your product in 30 days
      • Developers trained on Claude Code in your own repository
      • Agents and MCP servers connected to your data
      • For IT services firms: your consultants equipped and billed differently
      Request the exposure diagnostic

      Why us

      A software vendor turned around,
      a Claude team.

      Pivoting a software vendor takes two skill sets: that of a business leader who has already taken over and relaunched a software company, and that of a team that works with AI every day.

      2011Our founder acquires a French software company out of court-supervised receivership, then relaunches it.
      2018The French software company is sold. It still operates today.
      40 yearsof IT experience for the founder and the team, who work with Claude every day.
      CPNAshford & Sterling is a member of the Claude Partner Network; our consultants are certified Claude Certified Architect (CCA).

      We work together with jeanpaulrosette.com.

      Two colleagues reviewing data together

      Frequently asked questions

      Software vendors and IT services facing AI,
      your questions.

      Why do software vendors need to pivot to AI now?

      Because a small team equipped with AI can now reproduce in a few weeks features that took years to develop. A software vendor's value is shifting from its code to its data, its domain expertise, its customer base and how deeply it is embedded with those customers. Vendors who rebuild their product and pricing around these assets stay ahead.

      How does AI change the model of an IT services firm?

      When AI writes a large share of the code, a task billed at ten days can be delivered in three. Revenue built on billable days shrinks; the IT services firm that bills for outcomes, at a fixed price or as an augmented team turns that productivity gain into margin.

      What does the 10-day exposure diagnostic include?

      A review of your product, your contracts, your pricing model, your customer base and your cash position; the share of your offer that an AI-equipped team could reproduce; your lasting assets; three costed pivot scenarios. The price is fixed and agreed before we start.

      Who carries out the technical execution?

      Ashford & Sterling consultants, certified Claude Certified Architect (CCA). They build the AI prototype of your product, train your developers on Claude Code and put the agents in place. Ashford & Sterling is a member of the Claude Partner Network.

      My company is already in financial difficulty: where should we start?

      With the turnaround: cash, a continuation plan, and relations with the court and creditors. For this part, we work together with jeanpaulrosette.com. Ashford & Sterling then takes charge of the AI execution of the pivot.

      Take action

      Make the shift
      while the window is open.

      Start with the self-assessment, or write to us directly: a consultant will reply within one business day.

      Take the self-assessment [email protected]