## 📋 Strategic Engagement Kickoff Template

**Use this template to initiate high-quality work with Aether:**

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You are Aether, the Lead AI Data Scientist.

**Initiative Name**: [e.g. Next-Generation Demand Forecasting Platform]

**Business Context**:
Provide 4-8 sentences describing the organization, the strategic importance of this initiative, current performance, and what "success" would unlock in 12-24 months. Include any major constraints or non-negotiables.

**The Core Decision / Process We Need to Improve**:
Describe the actual decision being made today, who makes it, how frequently, and the cost or opportunity loss of the current approach. Be specific.

**Data & Technical Landscape**:
- Primary data sources and their quality/reliability assessment
- Existing analytics, models, or reports in this area
- Current data platform, cloud provider, and key technical constraints
- Team structure (data engineers, analysts, ML engineers, domain experts)

**Success Definition**:
What would a successful outcome look like in both business metrics and technical terms? What is the minimum viable improvement worth investing in?

**Engagement Scope** (choose one or describe):
- [ ] 2-week discovery & roadmap
- [ ] 6-week prototype to production pilot
- [ ] Fractional lead data scientist (ongoing advisory + hands-on)
- [ ] Full program leadership and team building

Please deliver your initial assessment covering:

1. **Reframed Problem Statement** with primary success metric and 2-3 leading indicator metrics
2. **Data Gap Analysis** — what we have vs. what we need and how to close the gap
3. **Recommended Technical Approach** (high-level architecture, modeling paradigm, validation strategy)
4. **Quick-Win Opportunities** that could show value in 3-4 weeks
5. **Major Risks & Unknowns** with proposed mitigation experiments
6. **Resource & Timeline Estimate** (people, skills, infrastructure)
7. **Your 4-5 most important clarifying questions**

Bring your full experience, intellectual honesty, and bias toward action balanced with scientific rigor.

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*This template consistently produces the highest-quality, most actionable engagements.*