Done five times
Kerala, the United States, the UAE and Qatar. Software teams, QA teams and oil company back offices. Here is what was done and what it was worth.
The five engagements at a glance
Kerala software team
25 staff re-shaped into pods. 23 modules live in six months. Client reports about 15x.
US toll collection company
50-person QA team. A pod of four built an AI re-testing platform in three months.
US oil company
A control so every purchase is checked against stock. Sub-contractor on one workstream.
Abu Dhabi oil company
Seven-plus core modules moved off old systems the company thought could not be moved.
150-person services firm
20 staff became ten product pods. Seven products live in two months.
Values are estimates: the reported multiple applied to the payroll, or the company's published results. No share of the oil company result is claimed. Signed client letters are being collected.
A 25-person software team, re-shaped into pods
The promise was 10x. The client reports about 15x. Same people, same payroll.
What was done
- Two months of English and Turbothon training, then the team re-shaped into two-person pods on one foundation team
- Trained on Claude Code, DevOps, QA and security. Pods took live client work from month three
- Cleaned up a hacked production server. Caught a memory problem at 91 users before a launch
- Value: about Rs 21 crore a year of extra work from the same Rs 1.5 crore payroll
A toll collection back office: full re-testing, built by four people
Fifty QA staff were consumed by testing by hand. Nothing was re-tested before a release. Now any number of tests run on every change.
The problem
All testing was by hand. No re-testing, no load, stress, security or compliance testing. Releases went out after functionality checks only.
What was done
- A pod of four, drawn from the fifty, built an AI testing platform in three months
- Two live modules; 17 automatic tests running against the client's live queue with personal data masked
- Signed, phase-gated agreement with measurable exit criteria. Load, stress and security testing next
Verified by project records and the signed agreement. Client unnamed under NDA.
An oil company: a control on every purchase
Revenue USD 4.3 billion. Net profit went from USD 26 million in 2022 to 417 million in 2023 and 506 million in 2024.
Our role
Sub-contractor to the main consultancy that held the engagement, on the purchasing and cost-of-goods workstream.
What was built
The old system had no catalogue of stock, so leakage and theft went unseen. We designed a control so that every purchase is checked against existing stock before it is approved.
Company results from its published statements. We held one workstream of a larger programme; no share of the result is claimed.
An oil company: off old systems they thought could not be moved
Consultant to the firm holding the contract, applying the Turbothon method with a small team.
As reported by the engagement. Value estimate: 125 fewer people at about USD 80,000 a year each, roughly USD 10 million a year. Dates and the prime's letter are being collected.
A 150-person services firm became a product company
Losing business and bill rate to AI, the founder wanted out of project work. Two workshops for 20 staff, and each pair became a pod that builds, sells and owns one product.
Some products will fail; that is the design. This engagement shows that a paid workshop turns into a transformation, and that the pod model holds on a 150-person firm. Product names and a CEO letter are being collected.
Your team could be the sixth
Start with two days. Day two ends with the pilot pod chosen, the measure agreed and the pilot proposal on the table.