AI governance & advisory
AI governance for SMEs: deploy AI without flying blind.
SatoLab supports SMEs that want to adopt artificial intelligence without in-house expertise. A rare pairing — project leadership and technology law — to scope, contract and oversee your AI deployments.
Strategic scoping · Deployment contracts · Oversight & compliance
The reality
AI moves fast. The guardrails are still yours to build.
Buying an AI tool is easy. Integrating it safely, compliantly and usefully is far harder — especially without a technical or legal team in-house.
Vendors hold the leverage
AI vendor contracts are written for the vendor. Without expert review, you accept their terms on your data, liability and ownership. You're the client — set the rules of the game.
Risks left unmanaged
Confidentiality, bias, hallucinations, compliance (Law 25, GDPR, AI Act): blind spots when no one owns them.
Projects that stall
Without dedicated leadership, AI deployments drift: fuzzy goals, weak adoption, budgets that slip.
Our approach
Two rare skill sets, in a single engagement.
Most firms give you law OR transformation consulting. SatoLab does both, as a duo, from the first workshop to production.
We work alongside your leadership as an outsourced pair: one scopes and leads the project, the other secures the legal and contractual framework. You stay in control; we bring the method and the guardrails. Based in Montréal, we support SMEs across Québec.
Delivery & process
Igor Frotier
Use-case scoping, project management, change management and operational oversight of AI deployments.
Technology law
Erwan Jonchères
Deployment contracts, compliance (Law 25 / GDPR / AI Act), data governance and risk management.
30-second check
Do you need SatoLab?
Three quick questions to find out.
01Do you have AI projects?
02Are you short on time to handle it?
03Do you want to limit the risks?
The offers
Three ways to work with SatoLab.
From the first hour of advice to ongoing leadership of your AI projects.
Initial consultation
A one-hour session with the full duo to clarify your need, your risks and the way forward.
- Diagnostic of your AI project or idea
- Identification of legal and operational risks
- A clear recommendation, in writing
- Access to both experts in a single session
Deployment contract
A solid services contract, ready to send to your AI vendor to frame the deployment inside your company.
- Complete contractual framework for the deployment
- Data, security and confidentiality clauses
- Liability, warranties and reversibility
- Law 25 / GDPR / AI Act compliance
- Success and acceptance criteria
Hour bank — outsourced AI CTO/CLO
A technical and legal pair on demand to lead your AI projects over time.
- Leadership and tracking of your AI projects
- Monitoring of vendor contract compliance
- Ongoing technical and legal arbitration
- A single point of contact for your teams
- Hour volume adjustable to your needs
Targeted engagements
Two fixed-scope engagements that answer a specific need, without the full support path.
Workplace AI usage policy
From $1,500+ taxYour employees already use AI. A clear usage policy — permitted tools, sensitive data, validation, incidents — presented to your teams.
Learn more →Audit of an existing AI contract
On requestAlready signed with an AI vendor? We audit the agreement, map the risks and prepare the renegotiation.
Learn more →Recognize your own situation in a concrete scenario?See the use cases
How it works
A clear path, from idea to production.
Everything starts with a free 15-minute exploratory call to validate your need and confirm we're the right people to support you. From there, the engagement follows four steps.
Scope
We listen. Your goals, your constraints, your data, your teams: everything that needs to end up in the contract and in the project's processes. That listening is what makes the legal framework fit your reality (not the other way around).
Deliverable : A portrait of the project and a list of points to secure.
Contract
We formalize. The deployment contract with your AI vendor (data, security, liability, reversibility, acceptance criteria) and the internal processes tied to the project (roles, permitted uses, incident handling).
Deliverable : A contract ready to send to the vendor and documented processes, compliant with Law 25 / GDPR / the AI Act depending on your markets.
Deploy
We lead the rollout with your vendor and your teams: schedule tracking, validation of the acceptance criteria, training and adoption. You stay in control; we hold the course.
Deliverable : A deployment accepted against the contract's criteria.
Oversee
We stay by your side over time: the vendor's compliance with the contract, ongoing compliance, technical and legal arbitration as the tool evolves.
Format : An adjustable hour bank, sized to your needs.
Every path starts with the exploratory call: 15 minutes, free, no commitment. If we can help, the one-hour initial consultation with the full duo ($750 + tax) is the next step.
Contract already signed or project already underway? We can join the path at any step.
Frequently asked
What we get asked most.
What's the difference between the exploratory call and the initial consultation?
The exploratory call is a free 15-minute conversation: we validate your need and check that we're the right people to help. The initial consultation is a paid working session ($750 + tax), one hour with the full duo, ending with a diagnostic and a written recommendation.
What happens after the initial consultation?
You leave with a diagnostic and a clear recommendation, provided in writing. If an engagement makes sense, we send you a detailed service offer. If it doesn't, we tell you that too: the consultation commits you to nothing further.
How much does a full engagement cost?
In full transparency: the initial consultation is $750 + tax, the deployment contract starts at $5,000 + tax, and the hour bank is a monthly plan sized to your needs. Every engagement comes with a written service offer before we start — no surprises along the way.
Do we need to have chosen an AI tool already?
No. We can step in at the idea stage to help you choose a tool that fits your constraints, or later, to frame a tool you've already selected.
We've already signed with an AI vendor. Is it too late?
No. We audit the existing contract, identify the risks and the levers, and prepare the renegotiation for the next renewal. In the meantime, we frame the deployment with solid internal processes.
What kinds of AI projects do you cover?
Office assistants and copilots, customer-service agents, process automation, line-of-business tools embedding AI: any project where an SME entrusts data and decisions to an artificial intelligence tool.
Is my company too small for you?
Probably not. Our typical clients are SMEs of 10 to 250 employees, with no technical or legal team in-house. That's exactly why we exist: to act as your outsourced technical and legal leadership for AI.
Which jurisdictions do you cover?
We work from Québec (Law 25) and account for GDPR and the EU AI Act depending on your markets. If your project touches other jurisdictions, we flag it at the scoping stage.
How do you protect our information during the engagement?
Your information is covered by lawyer-client privilege for the legal side and by confidentiality commitments for the whole engagement. We apply to ourselves the practices we recommend to our clients.
Does the consultation constitute legal advice?
The initial consultation is a strategic meeting: it serves to understand your situation and point you in the right direction. Any formal legal advice is governed by a separate engagement with the lawyer.
Is the initial consultation credited if we continue?
No, it's a standalone service: you leave with a usable diagnostic and recommendation, whether or not you continue with us.
Ready to scope your AI project?
Start with a free 15-minute exploratory call. If we can help, the one-hour initial consultation with the duo ($750 + tax) is the first concrete step.