Understand first, then build: software and AI for startups and mid-sized companies.
Your company holds more than your systems make use of today: knowledge only a few people have, routines buried in processes that grew over time, and ideas nobody ever built.
CIRO EFFORT. The name is the promise.
CIRO sounds like “zero” for a reason. What we build should bring the effort your processes cause today as close to zero as we can get it. The same applies to our own work: we work AI-First, at every step.
Our standard
AI takes on the legwork
Concept, code, content: what used to take an agency weeks, AI does for us in days, and our specialists review and sign off every result.
Barely any effort for you
You bring the goal and the domain knowledge, we bring the implementation, without a long briefing or endless rounds of feedback. The decisions stay with you.
Small teams, fixed price
We work in small senior teams, at a fixed price rather than by the hour.
About us
CIRO EFFORT – AI-First agency for software development and digitalisation.
We approach every project AI-First: which products and processes can be built from the start so that AI can work with your knowledge? That starts with the data and the content, because a model can only use what is properly structured.
And we work that way ourselves. AI is part of our development, our research and our quality assurance, so the same work needs only a third to a half of the person-days that conventional development budgets for. You get that advantage as a lower price and an earlier delivery date, with the same care.
This rests on extensive project experience in software development and digitalisation, from first idea through platforms and portals to production operations. We only use technology that helps sell, automates work or saves time.
More about us and the team
Project experience
Our experience in numbers.
- 100+
- Digital projects by our founders & specialists
- 2–3×
- Leverage over traditional development, in effort and time
- 15+
- Years of experience in software & digitalisation
Our experience comes from these roles:
Enterprise digitalisation
At one of the largest German digitalisation providers: software for large corporations, from the first requirement to running it in production.
Agency work
Years at one of Germany's largest agencies: digital work for well-known brands.
Pioneering work
Rolled out one of Germany's first installable web apps at scale for Europe's largest electronics retailer, years before such apps were common.
Our founders' project experience from earlier roles, including work for:
What we build: AI assistants, custom software, digitalisation.
From first idea to production, we work for startups and mid-sized companies in three areas, all from one team:
Module 01
AI assistants & knowledge management
Assistants and automations that take work off your team. They use your knowledge, write in your tone and stay within clear boundaries.
- AI assistants that know your company
- Search and answers from your own documents
- Automation of routine work
- GDPR-compliant, with hosting in the EU on request
What it is for
Knowledge becomes available to everyone, and routine work no longer ties people down.
Module 02
Custom software & platforms
Bespoke web applications, portals and platforms that grow with your company.
- Web applications, portals and internal tools
- Integration with CRM, ERP and existing systems
- Operation, maintenance and ongoing development
What it is for
The software fits the way you work.
Module 03
Digitalisation & AI consulting
We find the processes where digitalisation and AI make the biggest difference, and then we put the changes into practice.
- Digital strategy and the use cases that fit
- Process analysis and roadmap
- Implementation by the same team
- Data protection and the EU AI Act considered from the start
What it is for
We start with the process that pays off fastest.
The AI advantage
Why we deliver two to three times as fast
2–3×
less effort and time than traditional development
We develop with AI throughout and on building blocks that run in our own products. A new feature costs us around 35% of a traditional agency's effort. We pass that advantage on, in price and schedule.
Effort for a new feature
For example invoicing or time tracking in existing software. Index, traditional agency = 100.
- In-house team
- 120
- Traditional agency
- 100
- Offshore development
- 75
- CIRO EFFORT
- 35
What you can count on from CIRO EFFORT
This applies to every project we take on:
100+
Digital projects by our founders & specialists
Experience
Over 100 projects
Software and digitalisation have been the core business of our founders and specialists for more than 15 years.
AI-First
AI built into every part
We design products and processes around AI from the start.
2–3
Weeks to the first clickable version
Speed
A first version, fast
You try a real version early and give feedback from week one.
Integration
Fits into your systems
The new solution works with your existing systems.
How your project takes shape.
Each step ends with something you can see and test. Going live takes two to three months, and the first clickable version is ready well before that:
Our process in detailUnderstand
- Workshop with your team
- Prioritise use cases
- Feasibility & available data
We get to know your business, goals and data, and find the use case that pays off first.
Design
- Solution concept
- Architecture & integrations
- Fixed price & schedule
Solution concept, architecture and a binding plan: before we start, you know what it costs and when it is done.
Build
- First clickable version
- Short feedback cycles
- AI in every step of the work
AI-First implementation in short cycles: you test your product while it is being built.
Deliver
- Going live
- Integration & handover
- Operation & ongoing development
We harden the system, integrate it and support the launch. After that we take on operation, maintenance and ongoing development on request.
Our agents at work
Before every project we send our in-house agents out to research. They examine a brand's online presence, content, imagery, search behaviour and competition, and test existing products. What they find goes into a report.
More about AI agentsAgent
Brand agent
Assignment
Research: what does our client's brand stand for, and how do their customers experience the brand's current website and channels?
Persona decision-maker
visits the website like a decision-maker: little time, a clear question
Persona existing customer
arrives with a concrete task and logs every detour
Persona new customer
walks the path from first visit to enquiry
Seeing the brand through customers' eyes
The brand agent gets the research assignment: understand our client's brand. Three personas explore the brand's current website and channels the way their customers do, each following its own profile. That way, before the first draft, we know how the brand comes across today and where its customers get stuck.
How we get started together
This is the path from first contact to an active project:
1. Intro call
45 minutes to get to know your situation, show what is possible and see whether we are a good fit.
2. Three ways to work together
Discovery
Find use cases, check feasibility, develop a roadmap, all at a fixed price.
Pilot project
One use case, implemented all the way into production.
Partnership
Named contacts who look after and develop your systems for the long term.
3. Concept & quote
Detailed concept with a binding fixed quote and schedule.
4. Project start
Design sprint and first clickable version, with progress visible from day one.
Frequently asked questions
What clients ask us most often before we start:
After two to three weeks there is a first clickable version that already contains the core of your product. Until then you see progress every week, because we work in short cycles and show you every interim result. That way you notice early if something is heading in the wrong direction, not at final sign-off, when a correction gets expensive. Going live typically takes two to three months. Complex connections to existing systems can take longer, and we say so beforehand. There are two reasons for the pace: we only start once the use case is clear, and AI runs alongside our development, research and quality assurance. The person-days we save become a shorter schedule for you. Everything is still reviewed: every result is signed off by a person from our team before it goes into your product.
You do, entirely. Source code, designs, access credentials and documentation become your property. We build on widely used open technologies rather than on a proprietary toolkit, so you can continue with another team at any time.
Fixed price per project phase, transparently itemised: you know what the phase costs before we start. We invoice an agreed result, not logged hours. If we need longer than expected, your invoice stays the same. This works because AI lets us get by with far fewer person-days. Additional features are estimated in advance and only built after your approval. We give you actual figures in the intro call, as soon as the scope is clear. The quote lists what a phase includes and what it does not. Many projects are eligible for funding through the Digitalbonus Bayern; the grant covers up to 50 percent of the eligible expenditure.
After going live we run, maintain and keep developing your system, on request with a fixed monthly capacity you can plan with. Your contacts stay the same people you had the intro call with. And if you want to take over operations yourself, we hand over code, documentation and access credentials in full.
Let's talk about your project.
We take care of strategy, design, development and data. Your intro call is directly with the founders: 45 minutes, no obligation.
Or directly: 089 24 88 31 22
