What is a Private AI Workflow System?

A Private AI Workflow System turns scattered business knowledge — PDFs, policies, contracts, invoices, SOPs, customer messages, and internal procedures — into a private, searchable AI assistant your team can actually use. It is built around your specific documents and workflows, runs on dedicated Mac Studio nodes running Apple Silicon, and keeps sensitive files under company control rather than being pasted into public AI tools.

Why use custom Mac Studio AI nodes instead of public AI tools?

A custom Mac Studio AI node deployment gives the business its own private AI infrastructure: a Mac Studio running Apple Silicon (M-series Max or Ultra) with large unified memory sitting inside the office, studio, equipment room, or controlled technology environment. Sensitive files stay under company control, models and embeddings run locally on the Mac Studio, the system can be tuned around your own documents and policies, and additional nodes (or higher Mac Studio specs) can be added as users, document volume, and workloads grow. The business gets a visible AI infrastructure asset instead of only another monthly software subscription.

How is this different from ChatGPT, Copilot, or other public AI tools?

Public AI tools are general-purpose and run on shared infrastructure outside your company. A Private AI Workflow System is built specifically around your business — your documents, your policies, your tone of voice, your customer workflows — and the model and document store can run on Mac Studio nodes running Apple Silicon physically located in your office. That keeps confidential information off public model training paths, supports role-based access for staff, and enables custom workflows that public chatbots cannot perform.

What Mac Studio configurations are used in the AI nodes?

The Mac Studio spec scales with tier. Starter tiers use a Mac Studio M4 Max (64GB unified memory). Mid tiers step up to Mac Studio M4 Max (128GB) and Mac Studio M3 Ultra (96GB). Larger tiers use Mac Studio M3 Ultra (256GB unified memory), often as dual-node configurations. Enterprise tiers use Mac Studio M3 Ultra (512GB), and the Custom Enterprise tier extends to multi-node Mac Studio M3 Ultra clusters. The estimator on this site recommends the right Mac Studio spec based on your team size and workload.

Do I have to buy the hardware separately?

Yes. Pricing is two-track: services (build, integration, training, deployment) are quoted separately from hardware (the Mac Studio nodes themselves). The client can procure hardware directly, or hardware procurement can be coordinated as part of the engagement. Every tier on this site displays both numbers — Services setup price range and Hardware estimate range — so you see the full picture up front.

How much does a Private AI Workflow System cost?

Services setup scales with team size and the number of Mac Studio nodes deployed. Starter Private AI for 1–5 users is $4,500–$7,500 services with about $5,000–$9,000 hardware (single Mac Studio M4 Max node) and $750/mo support. Small Team AI for 6–15 users is $9,500–$15,000 services with $12,000–$22,000 hardware. Mid tiers (Department AI through Advanced Business AI) range from $17,500 up to $65,000 services with hardware from $25,000 up to $130,000. Enterprise tiers scale up to Full Private AI Infrastructure at $125,000+ services and $350,000–$550,000 hardware (multi-node Mac Studio M3 Ultra cluster). Final pricing depends on document volume, security requirements, integrations, OCR needs, custom dashboards, and the Mac Studio spec selected.

How many AI nodes does my business need?

As a rule of thumb: 1 node for 1–5 users, 2 nodes for 6–15 users, 3 nodes for 16–30 users, 4 nodes for 31–50 users, 5 nodes for 51–75 users, 6 nodes for 76–100 users, 7 nodes for 101–150 users, and 8 nodes for 151–250 users. Larger deployments use a custom architecture. Document volume, OCR needs, client-facing chatbot workloads, and concurrency requirements can shift the recommendation, as can the Mac Studio spec chosen — a higher-spec Mac Studio M3 Ultra can do the work of several entry Mac Studio nodes.

Can the system search our PDFs, contracts, SOPs, and scanned documents?

Yes. The Document Intelligence component ingests PDFs, Word documents, Excel and CSV files, contracts, invoices, SOPs, training manuals, policies, customer messages, emails, and images or scanned paperwork through OCR. Staff can ask plain-English questions like "What does our refund policy say?", "Summarize this contract in plain English", or "Find the training instructions for new staff", and the system answers from your private document set.

Is this safe for businesses with sensitive or regulated information?

Yes. For businesses handling sensitive documents, the recommended configuration is an on-prem Mac Studio node deployment with role-based access, audit controls, encrypted backups, and stricter admin permissions. Models and document indexes run locally on the Mac Studio; files do not leave the company environment. This is the configuration used for law offices, medical and dental practices, insurance agencies, and other businesses with confidentiality requirements.

Which industries use Private AI Workflow Systems?

Real estate companies, law offices, medical and dental offices, restaurants and franchise groups, construction companies, cleaning companies, film and media companies, property management companies, local service businesses, and insurance agencies. Each industry has its own document mix and workflow templates: real estate uses leases and inspection reports, law offices use case files and intake responses, medical and dental use procedures and training, restaurants use SOPs and menu information, and so on.

Can the AI draft customer replies, social posts, and sales follow-ups?

Yes. Workflow automation includes drafting customer service replies in the company tone, generating lead follow-up emails, creating sales scripts and talk-tracks, writing social media posts from menu items or new listings, producing report summaries, and turning invoice batches into structured summaries. The assistant is tuned to the business voice, not generic AI output.

Can a client-facing chatbot be built on top of this?

Yes, with guardrails. A client-facing chatbot is offered as part of the workflow goals and requires additional approval workflows, content boundaries, and website integration. It draws on the same private document base but presents a controlled subset suited to public-facing communication.

What integrations are supported?

Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Gmail, Outlook, CRM systems, website forms, Zapier and Make, Firebase, Supabase, and custom APIs. Integration scope is confirmed during the planning phase and can extend setup time for businesses with many concurrent integrations.

Can I deploy this entirely on-premises, or is cloud involved?

Three deployment options are available: fully on-prem on Mac Studio nodes inside the office (recommended for sensitive documents), hybrid on-prem plus cloud (for businesses that want some cloud-side processing), or undecided (the planning conversation determines the best path). On-prem deployment is the configuration most often chosen by law, medical, dental, insurance, and high-security businesses.

How long does deployment take?

Most deployments target a 30 to 90 day launch window depending on tier, document volume, integration count, OCR scope, and hardware procurement lead time. Smaller tiers (Starter and Small Team) typically launch faster. Larger tiers with high document volume, OCR workflows, custom dashboards, or many integrations require longer planning and ingestion phases. Higher-spec Mac Studio M3 Ultra configurations can carry additional procurement lead time.

What does monthly support include?

Monthly support covers ongoing prompt refinement, document refreshes when new files are added, staff support, workflow expansion as the business identifies new use cases, and system monitoring. Monthly support scales with tier — $750/mo for Starter Private AI up to $12,500+/mo for Full Private AI Infrastructure.

How do I get a planning estimate for my business?

Use the on-site estimator. Answer a few business questions — team size, document volume, workflow goals, security and integration needs — and the system generates a recommended tier, Mac Studio node count, Mac Studio spec, services setup price range, hardware estimate range, monthly support estimate, and planning notes specific to your answers. The estimate is a planning number; final pricing is confirmed during a workflow consultation.

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