Strategic Advisory Partnership
Get AI projects across the line —
without the vendor managing you
A monthly retainer that puts a senior, independent advisor in your corner. Blue Connector keeps your vendors accountable, your integration decisions sound, and your leadership team informed — so you stay in control of the outcome.
Book a free strategy callMonthly retainer
Engagement type
3–6 months+
Typical duration
CTO / COO / CDO
Typical buyer
Weekly advisory
Cadence
“The vendor said three months. It’s been nine. The board wants answers I don’t have.”
AI and integration projects have a pattern: strong vendor pitch, optimistic timeline, scope that expands once implementation begins. Without an independent senior advisor in your corner, the client ends up managing risk reactively — discovering integration blockers late, making architecture decisions under pressure, and explaining delays to a board that was told otherwise.
Blue Connector’s Strategic Advisory Partnership changes that dynamic. We sit on your side of the table — governing the project, challenging the vendor, translating technical decisions into business language, and ensuring the outcome your organisation committed to is the one that gets delivered.
What’s included
Senior advisory, every month — not just at the start
Weekly advisory sessions
A standing weekly or fortnightly call to review progress, surface risks early, and advise on the decisions your team is facing. Jon Scheele attends personally — this is practitioner-level advisory, not account management.
Vendor and integration governance
We review vendor deliverables, challenge scope changes, and ensure integration architecture decisions are made in the client’s interest — not the vendor’s. Milestone reviews, escalation support, and sign-off frameworks included as standard.
Board and leadership briefing support
We translate the technical programme into board-ready language — preparing briefing documents, presenting at steering committees, and ensuring your leadership team can speak confidently about progress, risk, and outcomes.
How it works
Structured from day one, flexible as the project evolves
Onboarding and programme review
We begin with a structured onboarding session — reviewing the current programme, vendor contracts, integration architecture, and any decisions already made. Within two weeks, we establish a governance framework and a clear view of the risks that need immediate attention.
Ongoing advisory and governance
Weekly or fortnightly advisory sessions, vendor review support, and on-call access for decisions that can’t wait. We operate as your senior technical advisor — attending vendor meetings as needed, reviewing deliverables, and flagging issues before they become problems.
Reporting and board alignment
Monthly programme summaries keep your leadership team informed without requiring them to be close to the technical detail. We prepare steering committee updates, board briefs, and — at programme close — the transition plan for internal ownership.
In practice
What the partnership looks like across industries
Banking
KYC replacement — client stays in control
A challenger bank replacing its core KYC system needed independent governance of the integration between a new AI document verification layer and its existing CRM and compliance reporting. Blue Connector owned the integration design brief — the vendor built it, but the bank made every decision. Programme delivered on time, within scope.
Logistics
Stalled implementation rescued in six weeks
A freight forwarder’s AI routing implementation had stalled after three months. Blue Connector was engaged mid-programme, re-established milestones, identified two integration blockers that hadn’t been escalated, and returned the programme to on-track delivery within six weeks.
Telco
90-day provisioning workflow under pressure
Following a major enterprise client win, a telco’s professional services team needed to stand up an AI-assisted provisioning workflow in 90 days. Blue Connector governed architecture decisions and accelerated the timeline by removing ambiguity at each decision point — the workflow launched on schedule.
Why Blue Connector
A peer-level advisor, not another vendor
Most advisory relationships are structured around the advisor’s methodology or the vendor’s roadmap. Blue Connector’s Strategic Advisory Partnership is structured around your outcome.
Jon Scheele brings 10+ years of enterprise advisory experience across Asia-Pacific — including roles at apidays Singapore and executive education programmes with NUS and other institutions.
- Vendor-neutral
Blue Connector has no implementation partnerships or referral arrangements that create conflicts of interest. - Practitioner-level
Jon Scheele has held senior advisory roles in financial services and telco; this is not generalist consulting. - Business-language first
Every technical decision is framed in terms of business risk, cost, and outcome — not architecture diagrams. - Builds internal capability
The goal is to make your team more capable, not more dependent on external advisory. Every engagement includes knowledge transfer.
“Jon has a unique ability to deliver key points with precision, breaking down complex concepts step by step. His real-world experience means he’s not just about theory — he’s a practitioner.”
Keith B. Carter · Partner, KDA Capabilities
Formerly responsible for NUS Fintech SG programme (500+ professionals trained)
Engagement model
Flexible structure, fixed accountability
The Strategic Advisory Partnership is structured as a monthly retainer, typically running three to six months aligned to a programme milestone or delivery window. Engagements can be extended or scaled based on programme complexity.
Most clients begin with an AI Opportunity Sprint or AI Readiness Workshop before moving into a retainer — ensuring the advisory is focused on the right initiative from the start.
| Minimum term | 3 months |
| Typical term | 3–6 months, extendable |
| Cadence | Weekly or fortnightly sessions |
| Response time | Same-day for urgent decisions |
| Transition | Internal handover plan at programme close |
Already in a programme that needs support?
The sooner independent advisory is in place, the more value it delivers. Start with a free 30-minute strategy call — we’ll review where your programme is and tell you honestly what level of support makes sense.
Book a free strategy callOr email us at hello@blueconnector.co