What does an engagement cost?
Pilot engagements start from USD 4,000 (roughly AED 15,000), fixed scope with defined deliverables. Larger multi-workflow implementations are quoted as a fixed number before we start. Ongoing support runs as a modest monthly care plan. You always know the number before we begin — no open-ended retainers, and the system you pay for is yours.
Do you mark up software licences or AI usage costs?
No. Licences and AI usage are billed at cost or paid by you directly to the provider — you see the real numbers. Our fee is for design, build, and commercial judgment, not resale margin. It also means we have no incentive to push you onto tools you don’t need.
How long until we have a working system?
From discovery call to a working pilot is typically three to four weeks. We deliberately start with a fixed-scope pilot so you see the system running on your real workflows before committing to anything ongoing.
Do we have to replace the tools we already use?
No — that is rather the point. We build around what already works in your business: WhatsApp Business, email, Zoho, QuickBooks, DocuSign, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace. The system connects and disciplines your existing tools instead of forcing a migration.
Who owns the system, the data, and the workflows?
You do. Your data, your workflow definitions, and your integrations are yours outright, built on lightweight, portable foundations. If we ever part ways, you keep a working system and a full export — no hostage clauses.
Where is our data hosted?
By default, on infrastructure in-region or on hosting you already control — and we can deploy onto your own servers where data-residency requirements demand it. We are happy to walk through the specifics for your industry during discovery.
How is this different from just buying Salesforce or Zoho?
Those are platforms; this is a practice. Enterprise suites are priced and engineered for enterprises, and generic CRM setups leave your actual workflows — contracts, approvals, renewals, WhatsApp threads — outside the system. We design around how your business really runs, with commercial judgment behind every workflow, not just software configuration.
Can’t we just use ChatGPT or Claude ourselves?
For drafting the odd email — absolutely, and you should. But a chat window is not a system. It doesn’t know your contracts, doesn’t route approvals, doesn’t chase renewals at 2am, and leaves no audit trail. What we build is the machinery around the models: your workflows, your data, your rules — with the AI layer designed to be swappable, so you’re never locked to one provider. The model is the easy part; the system is the work.
What happens when the AI gets something wrong?
We assume it will, and design for it. Anything that matters commercially — a contract clause, a client message, a payment approval — goes through a human checkpoint before it acts. The AI drafts, flags, and prepares; your team decides. That discipline comes from twenty years of seeing what a missed clause costs, and it’s why we don’t build fully hands-off systems for contractual work.
What happens after the pilot?
Most clients move to a monthly care plan: monitoring, small workflow changes as your business evolves, a monthly owner's report, and a quarterly review. It is deliberately affordable — the point is a system that keeps pace with your business, not a recurring invoice you resent.
Who is behind Adonis CRM?
Philip Shane — two decades in UAE energy, marine, and technical services, MCIArb-accredited in commercial contracts and arbitration, based in Dubai. You can verify the MCIArb credential with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. The practice combines that commercial judgment with modern AI-assisted delivery.
