We audit your workflows, identify the one or two places where AI actually pays off, and build it.
20+ years scaling engineering from startup to unicorn at Skype · Microsoft · Bolt
ISO 27001 · GDPR · European regulatory compliance
~80% of AI projects fail to reach production (Gartner). Most of those failures concentrate in a few repeatable patterns. Here's what we decline up front — and why.
When we build on top of an internal engineering team, we become a friction source — duplicated effort, political tension, and an eventual rebuild in-house. If you have engineers, they should own this.
We'll happily run a half-day opportunity workshop to point them in the right direction — but we won't implement.
Projects scoped for a press release, a board slide, or an investor announcement. No measurable workflow outcome, no anchor for success. They drift, they stall, they cost you money and confidence.
If the goal is a marketing angle, hire a PR agency. If the goal is a working automation, we're the right call.
You can't automate a process nobody owns. If invoice approval takes 11 days because three people don't know who signs, AI automates the confusion — faster and more expensively.
Every engagement starts with process mapping. Sometimes our first recommendation is "don't automate yet — here's what to fix first." If you want help fixing it, that's what we do next.
AI shouldn't be just for companies with budgets. If you run a small business and have one specific workflow eating your time, we'll scope the fix for €490.
What you walk away with
5 days. One fixed price. No implementation until you know where AI actually pays off in your business.
What you walk away with
Most clients start with the Audit or Pilot and climb from there. Each rung is a separate decision — you're never locked into anything.
Map the workflow, identify the opportunity, estimate the ROI. Written plan in your hands.
We build what the audit recommended. Fixed price, fixed scope, 2-8 weeks typical. Audit fee credited toward the build.
Monthly retainer to keep your AI tools running — monitoring, tuning, adjusting as your workflow evolves.
These are the patterns we see repeatedly in non-tech SMBs. Outcomes are industry-typical ranges — your numbers depend on your workflow, which the Audit tells you upfront.
Hi, I'm Dmitri Mihhailov.
For 20 years I've built the engineering behind two of Estonia's unicorns. I started at Skype in 2005 — writing the payment integrations that let millions of people buy SkypeOut minutes with their cards, PayPal, and Skrill. Later, as Principal Group Engineering Manager at Microsoft, I was accountable for Skype's entire Commerce and Monetization portfolio — 45 engineers across two countries, keeping billing, payments, and taxation running for tens of millions of users.
In 2018 I joined Bolt. As Director of Engineering, Commerce, I'm accountable for the platform that processes multi-billion euro annually across rides, food delivery, and scooters. I've grown the team 15x, managed a €15m annual budget, and made 200+ hiring decisions along the way.
After 20 years building commerce systems at global scale, I watched a pattern emerge around me: small businesses paying serious money for AI projects that didn't survive contact with their actual workflow. Not because the technology was bad — because nobody stopped to ask the unglamorous questions first. Who owns this process? What does the data look like on a bad day? What happens when it breaks at 2am?
That's the muscle I spent 20 years building. Talunik exists to bring it to small European businesses — not just Fortune 500s.
I don't claim to know everything about AI — the tech moves fast. What I do know: how to separate signal from noise, how to ship things that work at scale, and when to tell a client not to bother.
That happens — and when it does, we tell you, before you've spent another euro. You still get the full workflow map and the written report, which have value on their own. If we recommend not to proceed, the audit fee isn't wasted; it bought you the answer.
Data safety isn't something I picked up recently. I've spent years working inside GDPR, ISO 27001, and compliance frameworks at Skype and Bolt — at scale, where getting it wrong had real consequences. Every engagement uses EU-hosted models where possible, keeps sensitive data out of US services unless you explicitly opt in, and documents every data flow. GDPR is non-negotiable.
Process Audits typically start 2-3 weeks out, then take 5 working days once kicked off. Small Business Pilots often start within a week.
Usually no. Most builds run on mid-tier SaaS tools (€20-200/month) plus usage-based AI API costs. Typical monthly cost after implementation: €50-500/month depending on volume.
That's the normal starting point. We explain everything in plain language, show live demos, and make sure your team is confident before we leave. No acronyms required.
Probably yes. Common SMB stacks we connect to: Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Xero, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zapier, n8n, Make, Shopify, WooCommerce, Slack. If you use something unusual, the audit tells you if it's workable.
The Small Business Pilot is designed for 1-10 people. Below that (solo operators), we usually recommend DIY tools — and we'll point you to them for free.
Yes, starting 2026 — monthly retainers to maintain AI tools we've built. For now, every implementation includes a 30-day post-launch support window.
Book a free 60-minute AI Opportunity Call. No sales pressure, no buzzwords — just an honest conversation to see if we can help. If we can't, we'll tell you.
Monthly at most. Real case teardowns, never a sales pitch. Unsubscribe whenever.