Alto IRA · Information Security & Technology
Pilot program

Tinker Time × AI Program

A forward deployed engineering pilot. Each week, Aaron's team embeds with a different function for a dedicated Tinker Time day, rapidly identifying and prototyping high-impact AI use cases. Four weeks. Prove the model, then scale it.

What is this?

Tinker Time is Alto's innovation format: step away from routine, build something new, ship by end of day. This pilot extends that model into a weekly rotation across five functional teams.

Aaron's team embeds directly with each function, identifies their highest-friction workflows, and rapidly prototypes AI-powered solutions. If the pilot succeeds, this becomes a repeatable model for scaling AI adoption across the company.

How it works

Each function gets a Tinker Time

One dedicated day per function per week. Participants bring their biggest pain points. Together we assess feasibility and impact, narrow in on the best opportunity, and build.

Pilot → operating model

4 weeks of sessions across multiple functions proves the repeatable pattern. Success means we rerun with new participants and expand company-wide.

"No idea is too small, odd, or ambitious to try. A failed prototype is still a success if we learned something."

Guiding principles

1
Innovation over perfection. Working concept, not finished product.
2
Playful experimentation. Curiosity is the strategy.
3
Fail fast, learn faster. Every prototype teaches something.
4
Share and inspire. End with a demo and a launch window.

Pilot schedule

Each week, a different group gets a dedicated Tinker Time day with Aaron's team. Participants come ready to share their biggest pain points and repetitive tasks. We brainstorm together, narrow in on the best opportunity, and build.

Week Function(s) Suggested focus areas
Week 1 RevOps + Customer Success Pipeline hygiene, lead routing, commission calcs, client onboarding, health scoring, renewal workflows, + your ideas
Week 2 Customer Support Ticket triage, knowledge base, response drafting, escalation routing, SLA tracking, + your ideas
Week 3 Legal & Compliance + Sales Contract review, regulatory tracking, compliance reporting, deal acceleration, proposal generation, + your ideas
Week 4 FinOps + Marketing Company onsite week. Time allowing, sessions with FinOps and Marketing, + your ideas

Each Tinker Time day

1 hr brainstormSurface the pain
Idea selectionPick the build
BuildHeads-down prototyping
MVP by EODDemo + next steps

Pilot timeline

Kickoff
Exec alignment

Each leader nominates participants and submits a list of pain points and repetitive tasks.

Week 1
First session

First Tinker Time with the first group. Brainstorm, select, build, and demo a working prototype by end of day.

Weeks 2-3
Continue rotation

Remaining groups get their dedicated day. Each session follows the same format, tuned to that function's needs.

Week 4
Company onsite

Company onsite week. Time allowing, FinOps and Marketing join for additional sessions.

Post-pilot
Evaluate + scale

Review outcomes across all sessions. Promote winning prototypes to production. Decide whether to rerun or expand.

What each function brings

Before their Tinker Time

Each exec nominates up to 2 participants from their team and submits:

• List of repetitive, time-consuming tasks

• Estimated weekly hours spent on each

• Any known dependencies or blockers

What they walk away with

• A working prototype or proof of concept

• Clear assessment: time saved, accuracy, scalability

• Documentation of what worked, what didn't

• A potential launch window for production use

Success metrics

Time saved
Hours/week per use case
Accuracy
AI output vs. manual
Scalability
Extends to other teams?
Adoption
Are people using it daily?

Tinker Lab channels

Each function gets a dedicated Slack channel. Session home base, idea backlog, and ongoing collaboration all in one place.

#tinker-lab-revops #tinker-lab-customer-success #tinker-lab-customer-support #tinker-lab-sales #tinker-lab-legal-and-compliance #tinker-lab-finance #tinker-lab-marketing

Proven track record

Past Tinker Time experiments that became real tools:

Patchy
Automated patch mgmt
Mac Migrator
Open source migration
Privileges
Smarter elevated perms
Okta FastPass
Seamless auth

Tinker Time is where curiosity meets creativity. Now it deploys across every function.