Case A · Expand III (parent: Meridian overview). After preferred bidder: contract, land the team, measure value, expand only when earned.

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1. Contracting checklist

MSA · SoW · engagement letter · DPA · security schedule · SLA · change control · assumptions/exclusions appendix.

Preferred bidder ≠ done. Undeliverable BAFO terms are a failed sale.

2. Handover pack (SE non-negotiables)

Context, stakeholders, contract, proposal, scope, deliverables, timeline, commercials, architecture, risks, assumptions, dependencies, client commitments, negotiation decisions, relationship sensitivities, benefits case.

Keep solution engineer and delivery lead through transition.

3. Mobilisation

Governance · access · scope validation · detailed plan · reporting · RAID/decision logs · kickoff · financial and benefits baselines.

4. When discovery revises pre-sales truth

Two knowledge sources dirtier than assumed → change control adjusts Phase 2 scope. Do not burn contingency to hide estimation error.

Testing proportionate to risk: functional, integration, security, privacy, UAT, AI evaluation, bias/hallucination checks, adversarial prompts where relevant.

5. Benefits measures (agreed pre-signature)

Measure	Why
Time saved per assisted interaction	Core productivity claim
Adoption rate	Value only if used
Answer quality vs golden set	Grounding and consistency
Escalation rate	Process health
Risk incidents	Trust and CRO confidence
Employee experience	Sustainment

6. Expansion logic

Value and safety evidenced in two teams → extend corpus and shifts → evaluate managed AI operations when monitoring burden is clear → customer-facing only after higher-tier controls and gates.

Pattern: deliver value → earn trust → understand better → next problem → next opportunity.