YDINYDIN
Core & Context

Good old-fashioned software engineering for the AI age.

We’re a team of senior AI consultants. Some software is your Core, we help you build it. The rest is Context, we take it off your plate.

Why YDIN

AI writes the code. Engineering makes it work.

AI made writing software cheaper and faster, and now anyone can vibe code their own apps.But the AI solutions that actually work are mostly hard engineering, not quick code. Getting them safe, reliable, and cost-effective to run takes senior engineers, and legacy outsourcing was never set up for that.At YDIN, we are building something different.

Legacy

Scale over craft

  • People treated as resources
  • Big teams, focus on average mid-levels
  • Employees with narrow skillsets and focus
  • Billed by the hour, the more the better
  • Design solutions only they can run
YDIN

Good old-fashioned engineering

  • Independent senior consultants
  • One person product teams, supported by specialists when needed
  • Multi-skilled engineers, any tool for the job
  • Focused on your outcomes
  • Help build your in-house capability
Our Approach

Core vs Context?

Some of your software is Core: it sets you apart. The rest is Context: it just has to work. The two need different treatment.

Core

The software that sets you apart.

The Core is your competitive advantage, and your team should always own it. We help you build your internal capabilities, instead becoming dependent on vendors.

E.g. your customer-facing products, proprietary models, the workflows competitors can’t copy.

Advise · Coach · Train · Audit

Context

Necessary, but not your advantage.

It has to work, but it doesn’t have to be yours. We design, build, and run it, so your team can focus on the Core.

E.g. internal tools, system integrations, and the infrastructure it all runs on.

Design · Build · Operate · Maintain

Our services

Need a Consultant or an Operator?

Depending on whether it's Core or Context, we help in one of two ways.

Consultant

Build your Core capabilities.

We advise your team, build with you and hand it over, or fill a key role while you hire. The Core capability ends up yours.

From a senior advisor on call, to a fixed-scope build, to a leader embedded in your team for a set period: the format flexes to where you are.

Every engagement ends with your team able to run and extend the work themselves.

Advisor · Project · Interim

Operator

Focus on your Core.

We build, run, and keep improving your Context, so it costs less to operate and your team stays free for the work only you can do.

We can build something new, replace SaaS that fits poorly and costs too much, or take over a tool you already rely on.

You get one predictable monthly cost instead of staffing the upkeep yourself, and we hand it back whenever you ask.

New solution · SaaS replacement · Maintenance

Team

Small core team, wide expert network.

Our blueprint for the AI age: Senior AI consultants supported with domain specialists.

Core team

The people you meet do the work.

Senior consultants who lead every engagement end to end. No account layer, no deck team. The person in the room is the person building it.

Business · Product · Design · Engineering

Expert network

Specialists, on call when it counts.

Our strength is our network of independent expert consultants we know and trust, from every field of AI. We bring in the right specialists at the right time, when needed.

Architecture · Data science · Security

2012
YDIN founded.
20+
Independent senior AI consultants.
500+
Combined years of software engineering.
10+*
Fortune 500 clients.

* Many clients under strict NDAs. Contact for details.

Questions

Things people ask us, before we start.

If your question is not here, get in touch. A person replies.

Core is the software that sets you apart: your competitive advantage. Context is everything that has to work but isn't your advantage. The two need different treatment: you should own your Core, and you can hand your Context to us.
Ask whether it's something competitors can't copy and your team should own, or something that just has to work. Customer-facing products, proprietary models, and the workflows that set you apart are Core. Internal tools, system integrations, and the infrastructure underneath are usually Context.
A Consultant helps you build your own Core capability: we advise your team, build with you and hand it over, or fill a key role while you hire. An Operator takes a piece of Context off your plate: we build, run, and keep improving it for one predictable monthly cost, and hand it back whenever you ask.
Yes. The same consultant can advise you, then build something for you, then operate it. The role describes how we work together on a given piece of work, not a different person each time.
Yes, and many clients do. A workshop can lead into a project; a project can move into managed operation. We agree each step as a clear next stage.
Fractional is part-time and ongoing: an agreed share of a senior leader's time, for example two days a week. Interim is full-time for a fixed period, usually to fill a gap such as a CxO leaving.
With a conversation: meet, call, or grab lunch. If we can't give you something useful in the first hour, there's no need for a second meeting. If it makes sense to continue, we scope the work and agree it with you before anything starts.
It depends on the format. A workshop is half a day to two days. A project runs from a few weeks to a few months. Fractional, interim, and operator engagements run for months and continue as long as they're useful.
It depends on your need and our consultants' availability. Advisory roles can usually start immediately, while full-time interim roles take longer, since we need to match you with the right person around their other commitments.
In general we prefer clear, predictable fixed prices, with different models priced to fit the work. Advisory roles are typically a monthly retainer: access to a senior advisor, with a scope we agree in advance for how the role best fits your needs. Interim and fractional roles are priced as a monthly fixed fee for an agreed capacity, for example full-time or two days a week. Projects, whether for Core or Context, are typically fixed price and fixed scope wherever that works for all parties. For Operator work on your Context, we prefer SLA-based models with monthly fixed fees.
A senior consultant from our core team leads every engagement end to end: the person you meet is the person responsible for building and delivering the work. When a job needs a specialist, we bring in an independent from our Expert Network.
Yes. AI agents do parts of the work behind the scenes, always under a senior consultant's review.
YDIN was founded in 2012. We're a small senior core team backed by 20+ independent senior AI consultants, with hundreds of combined years of software engineering between them. We're based in Thailand and work with clients internationally.
A network of independent senior consultants we know and trust, spanning every field of AI. We bring in the right specialist at the right time, rather than carrying a large permanent bench.
No. Your Core is yours: we help you build the capability to run and extend it yourself. Anything we operate as Context, we hand back whenever you ask. We'd rather you depend on your own team than on us.
Every Consultant engagement ends with your team able to run and extend the work themselves; we hand it over with documentation. For work we operate, we keep running it as long as it's useful and hand it back when you want it in-house.
Yes. We can take over and maintain an existing solution (fixes, operation, and small improvements) or operate something we built for you. You get one predictable monthly cost instead of staffing the upkeep yourself.
We're not tied to one stack or vendor. Our engineers are multi-skilled and pick whatever tool fits the job, so the solution serves your problem rather than our preferences.
Yes, yours or ours. Send us your NDA, or ask for our standard one. We sign before the first proper conversation.
We work remotely by default and come on-site on demand, for kickoffs and the key moments where being in the room helps.

Contact.

Let's meet, call, or grab lunch. If we can't give you something useful in the first hour (advice, market insight, feedback on your product, a new contact), no need for another meeting.

We'd rather prove our value than pitch it.

Ilkka Vesa

Ilkka Vesa

Founder and CEO