Fixed Scope · Fixed Price · 90 Days

    Prove It's a Fit. In 90 Days, Not 18 Months.

    A Sea Trial is a turnkey, fixed-price, 90-day engagement built around one visible problem or opportunity you already know you have. Pilot coordinates the right senior fractional executive and, when useful, a specialized Trusted Partner. You get a real, measured result, and we both decide what should come next, with no commitment either way after day 90.

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    92+
    Organizations served
    30+
    Years in practice
    355+
    Executives coached 1:1
    6
    Critical Industries
    One problem. Ninety days. One decision.

    The Sea Trials

    Find the Situation Closest to Yours.

    Choose one to jump to the full scope, time commitment and 90-day result.

    Why We Built This

    Trust Shouldn't Take Thirty Years.

    Our longest-standing clients call us the moment something matters: a unique opportunity, a project at risk, a big decision, or a failure that cannot happen twice. Decades of trust established that we are worth the call. A Sea Trial makes that same value available to a leader we have not worked with for years yet. Pilot makes the experience turnkey, bringing the right fractional leadership and Trusted Partner capability together around one visible problem or significant opportunity. You get a measured result, we both learn what working together is like, and we identify possible next steps from evidence. There is no commitment for either party after day 90. All Sea Trials are Pilot projects: same standard, same team, same outcome responsibility.

    The Sea Trials

    Pick the Problem or Opportunity You're Already Thinking About.

    Every Sea Trial is fixed price, fixed scope, and delivered turnkey by Pilot. It is a low-risk way to create momentum, vet the service, and identify sensible next steps from a real 90-day result. No pressure and no commitment for either party after day 90.

    Our day-45 promise: if the result we agreed in writing is not moving by day 45, you can stop, and the second half of Pilot's fee is not owed.

    Included in every Sea Trial: leadership profiles for your top team in the first two weeks.

    Start here.

    Sea Trial 1 · Operating Priorities and Cadence

    Operating Clarity Sprint

    When to call

    Your leadership team is buried in daily work. Too many initiatives move slowly, and roles and priorities live mostly in people's heads.

    By day 30

    The few priorities that matter, each with one owner, and a weekly leadership meeting that ends in decisions.

    At day 90

    Your team runs the cadence without you pushing, and the items that kept coming back are closed or on a dated plan.

    Your team's time

    The leadership meeting you already hold, run differently, plus a few hours from each leader in the first month.

    Compare it to

    Another quarter of the same items coming back undone.

    Steel Dynamics Structural & Rail: a severe winter stopped shipping at Fort Wayne for more than ten days. The recovery plan the leadership team built in a couple of days beat the pre-crisis forecast by more than 30 percent. Published in Iron & Steel Technology, December 2015.

    Delivered directly by Pilot Advisors.

    Book Twenty Minutes with Andrew

    Sea Trial 2 · Root Cause and Prevention

    Never Again

    When to call

    Something serious already went wrong: a major failure, a quality escape, a lost customer, a missed shipment that cost you. It cannot happen twice.

    By day 30

    The real root cause, tested against the evidence and laid out for your leadership team.

    At day 90

    The fix in place and holding, with clear ownership so it does not come back.

    Your team's time

    Interviews with the people closest to the event, and a short weekly review with you.

    Compare it to

    What one repeat would cost you with your customer, your regulator or your board.

    Trojan Nuclear Plant and a steel mill furnace breakout: two events, one pattern. A capable person with the wrong information at the point of work, forced to guess. Andrew led the root cause on both.

    Delivered directly by Pilot Advisors.

    Book Twenty Minutes with Andrew

    Sea Trial 3 · Operational Readiness

    Ready Before You Commit

    When to call

    You are about to commit to something big: a major capital project, a major market opportunity, a return to full operations after a shutdown or serious incident, or a restart of equipment or processes.

    By day 30

    A clear read on the gaps between the plan and the organization that has to deliver it.

    At day 90

    A go or no-go your board can rely on, with the gaps closed or scheduled before you commit.

    Your team's time

    The leaders who will own the move, mostly in the first month.

    Compare it to

    What is riding on the move: the capital, the customer commitments or the restart schedule.

    Clinton Nuclear Station: a plant shut down in September 1996, fined by the NRC and placed on its Watch List, back at full power thirty-one months later. The fastest return to service in U.S. nuclear power history.

    A steel mill coming back from a dropped ladle: the review before restart found major deficiencies across the operation that would have caused more shutdowns and serious business distress.

    Delivered directly by Pilot Advisors.

    Book Twenty Minutes with Andrew

    FOR THE WHOLE COMPANY

    Find the Profit Your Last Four Quarters Could Have Made.

    The other Sea Trials fix one problem. This one shows you the most profitable quarter your whole company could run, and gives your team the plan to run it.

    Sea Trial 4 · SALES AND OPERATIONS PLANNING

    Profit Hawk: Your BestPossible™ Quarter

    When to call

    You have more products, customers and orders than capacity, and the big calls (what to sell, what to make, which customers to grow, which contract to fix, where to put capital) get made on average costs and judgment. You suspect your plant could have earned more last year, and nobody can show you where or how much.

    By day 30

    A working model of your company as it runs today, built from your own records, checked by your managers and reconciled to last quarter's actual income statement.

    At day 90

    Your BestPossible quarter next to your actual quarter, line by line. The price of every constraint, per hour, per ton or per unit. A plan for next quarter your leadership team picked and committed to. The found-profit number is yours whether or not we continue.

    Your team's time

    Two hours of your leadership team every two weeks, one person who owns the data, and a plant walk with Andrew. No software to install and nothing for your people to learn.

    Compare it to

    Another year of pricing, planning and spending capital on average costs.

    Steel Dynamics Structural and Rail: when a severe winter stopped shipping at Fort Wayne, the leadership team used Profit Hawk to build an integrated production, sales and shipping recovery plan in a couple of days. It beat the pre-crisis forecast by more than 30 percent. Published in Iron & Steel Technology, December 2015.

    Rocky Mountain Steel Mills: every conventional analysis said restart the seamless pipe mill. The whole-mill model showed the restart as proposed would have cost $34 million in steelmaking, rod and bar sales and lost inventory. Management waited, entered when the market was right, and analysts cited the decision when they upgraded the parent company's stock.

    Delivered directly by Pilot Advisors. Profit Hawk is Pilot's own method and model.

    Book Twenty Minutes with Andrew
    What data do you need from us?+

    What you already have: sales by product and customer, orders, production by process step, capacities and yields, cost records, and the last four quarters' income statements. One person who can pull extracts from your ERP is enough. Nothing is re-keyed by your people.

    Who sees our numbers?+

    Pilot only. Your files stay in Pilot's own accounts and are never shared.

    Is this software we have to buy?+

    No. Pilot builds and runs the model. You get the results, the plan and a leadership team that has worked through it together. If you want your own view of the model later, that is an option, never a requirement.

    How is this different from our ERP or BI reports?+

    They tell you what happened. This tells you the best you could have done with the same plant and markets, what each constraint is costing you, and what to do next quarter.

    What does it cost?+

    A fixed price for the 90 days, set in writing before we start by the size of your company and the number of facilities we model. Half on signature, half at day 45. If the model is not reconciled and the first BestPossible result is not in your hands by day 45, you can stop and the second half is not owed.

    What happens at day 90?+

    You decide. Prices, costs and capacity change, so the cycle is built to run every quarter with Andrew. Decide within 30 days of day 90 and the first quarterly rerun is included. If you stop, the model results and the plan stay with you.

    For the CEO

    Get Your Week Back.

    The other Sea Trials fix something in the operation. This one gives you back the hours the operation takes from you.

    Sea Trial 5 · AI Staff for the CEO's Office

    AI Chief of Staff

    When to call

    You are the bottleneck. Meeting prep, follow-ups, reports and the inbox take the hours your company needs you to spend on decisions.

    By day 30

    Your AI staff is live: a morning brief before you start, meetings prepped, and follow-ups drafted for your OK.

    At day 90

    Hours back every week, measured against where your week stood at the start, with nothing sent without your approval.

    Your team's time

    Three to four hours of yours over the first two weeks, then 30 minutes a week.

    Compare it to

    Hiring a chief of staff.

    Pilot Advisors runs on its own AI staff. It has Andrew's brief and meeting materials ready before 5:30 every morning, tracks every request until it is closed, and gives him back six to ten hours a week.

    Delivered by Pilot Advisors with a Pilot build partner. Runs in your company's own accounts.

    Book Twenty Minutes with Andrew
    What is an AI staff?+

    A small team of AI assistants, each with one job, working inside your email, calendar, files and systems. One prepares your morning brief, one preps your meetings, one drafts follow-ups, one tracks every commitment until it is closed. They prepare and draft. You decide.

    Will it send anything without my approval?+

    No. During the Sea Trial, anything that would reach another person waits for your OK. Some things it never does at all, such as committing to price or terms, handling legal or HR matters, or touching payments.

    Where does my data go?+

    It stays in your company's own business AI account, which you own and pay for. The business plans we use do not train on your data. Export-controlled data stays out entirely.

    What does it cost?+

    A fixed price for the 90 days, set in writing before we start, with half due at day 45. If it is not saving you time by day 45, you can stop and the second half is not owed. Your AI accounts are billed to you directly, usually a few hundred dollars a month.

    What happens at day 90?+

    You get a written result against your starting baseline. Then you keep it on a monthly care plan, expand it to more of your team, or switch it off. You keep the design either way.

    Why does a fractional COO do this?+

    The software is the easy part. The hard part is deciding which jobs matter, how often they run, and what must never go out without you. That takes operating judgment, and it is what keeps an AI staff useful past the second week.

    More Sea Trials.

    Sea Trial 6 · Predictive Reliability

    Downtime You See Coming

    When to call

    A piece of equipment or an area you already worry about.

    By day 30

    Monitoring live on the assets that worry you most, and a first read on where the failure risk sits.

    At day 90

    A predicted failure caught and prevented, with the decision trail that got you there.

    Your team's time

    Your maintenance lead during setup, then a short weekly review.

    Compare it to

    One day of unplanned downtime.

    Results Infinite Uptime's customers publish include 36,108 hours of unplanned downtime saved across 139 plants at JSW Steel. Shown as evidence the technology performs, not as a Pilot Advisors client outcome.

    Available with Trusted Partner Infinite Uptime. First month of the ongoing subscription is included.

    Book Twenty Minutes with Andrew

    Sea Trial 7 · Change Management

    Change That Sticks

    When to call

    An acquisition, a new system, a reorganization or a new leader, underway or just announced, and at real risk of stalling.

    By day 30

    The people who decide whether this works, named, with a plan for each group.

    At day 90

    The change survives its first real test, without you personally forcing it through.

    Your team's time

    Your change leaders, in one short working session a week.

    Compare it to

    What you have already spent on the change.

    Food Services of America: after the founder who was the company's entire decision-making mechanism died with no warning, the structure fifty-seven leaders built held through a family succession and a $1.8 billion sale.

    Delivered in partnership with Prosci, the global leader in research-based change management.

    Book Twenty Minutes with Andrew

    Sea Trial 8 · Leadership Team Development

    Leadership Team Performance

    When to call

    A capable leadership team that is not performing as one. Decisions stall between functions, meetings do not end in commitments, or a new leader, an acquisition or a succession has changed the mix.

    By day 30

    A leadership profile for every member of the team, and a clear read on how the team makes decisions, especially under pressure.

    At day 90

    Faster decisions and commitments kept, measured week over week, by a team that holds itself accountable.

    Your team's time

    A short profile for each leader, then a team working session every two weeks.

    Compare it to

    One more quarter of your top team pulling in different directions.

    Tooele Chemical Demilitarization Facility: a 205-person laboratory and air monitoring organization ranked last of the program's six national sites moved to first within a year, and the program leader who engaged Pilot there went on to engage the firm across four installations over nine years.

    Leadership profiles delivered with PDP Global. Team development delivered directly by Pilot Advisors.

    Book Twenty Minutes with Andrew

    Don't see your situation?

    A succession, a new plant, an acquisition, a key leader leaving, or something else entirely. Every Sea Trial is shaped to the problem. Tell Andrew what's going on.

    Book Twenty Minutes with Andrew

    Sea Trial Investment

    Sea Trials

    Every Sea Trial has a fixed price for the 90 days, set in writing before we start, based on the size of your company and the scope of the work.

    Additional operating locations

    Every Sea Trial has a fixed price for the 90 days, set in writing before we start, based on the size of your company and the scope of the work.

    Travel

    Travel cost is estimated in advance, capped in the agreement, and billed without markup.

    Partner technology

    Any partner subscription or hardware is quoted separately from Pilot's fee, so the cost of the work and the technology remain clear.

    Payment terms

    Half is due on signature and half on day 45. Both invoices are due on receipt. If the result we agreed in writing is not moving by day 45, you can stop, and the second half of Pilot's fee is not owed.

    Pricing Rationale

    Why it is priced this way

    You will notice nothing here is priced by the hour, the day or the week. Thirty years in, we see in three days what takes most people three weeks. Under a day rate, every year we get better at this you would pay us less for the same result.

    You are buying a defined set of outcomes over a fixed term at a fixed price. How often we are in your plant is our problem to solve, not your saving to capture.

    The full reasoning, and what changes on your balance sheet

    Trusted Partners

    Technology-Agnostic. Not Undiscerning.

    Trusted Partners extend the value our senior partners and fractional executives can bring when specialized technology, assessment, or methodology is appropriate. Pilot coordinates the work as one turnkey engagement, so the client has one clear path from scope to measured result. We do not sell software or certifications. We make sure a leadership team actually runs on whatever it already owns, or is about to buy.

    The results below were published by our technology partners about their own installations.

    Infinite Uptime. Predictive asset intelligence. Results its customers publish include 36,108 hours of unplanned downtime saved across 139 plants at JSW Steel and 3x ROI within 12 months at Vedanta Group.

    Alpha Software. No-code frontline workflow and inspection tooling. Its customers report an 80 percent gain in field productivity after replacing paper work orders at GBS Enterprises.

    PDP Global. Leadership and personality assessment tools used to build self-awareness, communication, and team effectiveness.

    Prosci. Research-based change management methodology, tools, and training. Pilot coordinates Prosci-based delivery so change is adopted and sustained, not just announced.

    Results published by each partner. Shown here as evidence the technology performs, not as a Pilot Advisors client outcome.

    How a Sea Trial Works

    Four steps. One clear decision.

    01

    Pick the problem.

    One system, one team, one thing you already know needs to change.

    02

    The scope is fixed before we start.

    A short call confirms fit, then the fixed price and the 90-day scope are locked in writing.

    03

    Pilot makes it turnkey.

    We coordinate the right Pilot fractional executive and any specialized Trusted Partner needed, so you have one clear path through the work.

    04

    Day 45 and day 90: you decide.

    At day 45, keep going or stop with the second half not owed. At day 90, a result you can see and touch, a shared view of possible next steps, and zero obligation for either party to continue.

    Ready to see which Sea Trial fits?

    Start with Andrew to identify the right Pilot and Trusted Partner capabilities. No pitch. No pressure. Just clarity on fit and the path forward.

    Book Twenty Minutes with Andrew

    Or reach out directly: Guidance@pilotadvisors.com