Inside WTA SPEED: The 5-Stage Framework for AI Delivery

Why the Stage Sequence Matters

Each stage of SPEED is designed to produce a specific, verifiable output that de-risks the next stage. Strategy without Platform Architecture produces roadmaps that cannot be built. Engineering without Evaluation produces systems that cannot be trusted in production. The sequence is not arbitrary — it reflects the dependency structure of enterprise AI delivery.

Stage 1 — Strategy: AI Maturity Assessment and 90-Day Roadmap

WTA begins every engagement with a structured AI maturity assessment covering data readiness, infrastructure readiness, governance readiness, and use-case prioritisation. The output is a 90-day roadmap with sequenced sprints, defined deliverables, and ISO 42001-aligned governance checkpoints. The control catalog is initialised at this stage.

Stage 2 — Platform Architecture: System Design and Stack Selection

WTA’s architects design the system architecture against all six Azure Well-Architected pillars, select the foundation model mix (routing across GPT-5.5, Claude Opus 4.8, Gemini 3.5 Flash as appropriate), define the agent graph (Microsoft Agent Framework 1.0), and design the data and retrieval layer (Azure AI Search, GraphRAG, Langfuse). The compliance matrix is completed at this stage.

Stages 3–5 — Engineering, Evaluation, Deployment and Continuous Intelligence

Engineering runs at 90/10 — Devin, Codex, and Pilot-accelerated implementation with CMMI-aligned human review. Evaluation runs Langfuse eval suites against the golden dataset before every deployment gate. Deployment uses canary rollout with automatic rollback. Continuous Intelligence feeds Azure Monitor performance signals back into the evaluation cycle. See the full WTA SPEED framework methodology and how it maps to the ADLC.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does WTA deliver at the end of each SPEED stage? Strategy: AI maturity assessment, 90-day roadmap, control catalog. Platform Architecture: system architecture, stack selection, compliance matrix. Engineering: production-ready code with CMMI-aligned review. Evaluation: Langfuse eval report, regression gate results. Deployment: live production system, risk register, observability dashboards.

How does the SPEED framework relate to ISO 42001? ISO 42001 governance is embedded at every stage: control catalog (Strategy), compliance matrix (Platform Architecture), risk register (Engineering through Deployment). By go-live, the client has three complete ISO 42001 governance documents version-controlled in the platform repository.

Can the SPEED framework be applied to existing platforms or only greenfield builds? Both. WTA applies SPEED to greenfield agentic platform builds, legacy platform modernisation, and AI feature integration into existing SaaS products. The 90-day structure is adapted to the starting point — legacy engagements begin with a modernisation assessment rather than a greenfield architecture design. See WTA’s Platform Modernization service.