AI Advisory

AI adoption,
done thoughtfully.

The question isn't whether to adopt AI. It's where AI genuinely serves your business — and where it doesn't. PBI helps organizations answer that question clearly, independently, and without the noise of the market telling you to move faster than you should.

Book a 30-min scoping call Our services →
About

The firm
behind PBI

Pale Blue Intelligence is a boutique AI advisory firm founded by Dr. Apollinaire Nemkova — computer scientist, AI scientist at Columbia University, and former Head of Product at a YC-backed AI startup.

That combination — research-grade technical depth, real commercial AI experience, and geopolitical fluency — is what makes PBI's work different from a generalist consultancy or a vendor-aligned advisory firm.

PBI engagements draw on a curated network of technical specialists and domain experts brought in as the work requires. Every engagement is led directly by Dr. Nemkova.

AI Scientist — Columbia University
Head of Product — AI.Fashion, YC-backed AI startup
UNDP Fellow — AI for risk forecasting and uncertainty prediction in high-stakes environments
Published at AAAI, EACL, and LREC — cross-lingual NLP, LLM robustness, conflict forecasting
What makes PBI different
No vendor relationships
Unlike consultancies with software partnerships or VCs with portfolio companies to promote, PBI has no financial stake in which tools you choose. Every recommendation is independent.
Research-grade technical depth
PBI doesn't assess AI from the outside. The research behind this work includes building, evaluating, and stress-testing large language models in adversarial and high-stakes contexts.
Geopolitical and regulatory fluency
EU AI Act implementation, US export controls on AI infrastructure, conflict-zone deployment risks — tracked and translated into what they mean for your decisions. Rare in AI advisory.
Decisions over documents
Every engagement ends with something your organization can act on — a kill list, a funded initiative, a working implementation. Not a deck filed and forgotten.
A small number of clients, by design
PBI works with a deliberately small number of clients at a time. The work requires it — and the people we work with deserve it.
Services

Engagements built
around your reality

Every PBI engagement starts with an honest conversation about where your organization actually is — not where the market says you should be. Pricing is available on request and scoped to your context.
Project · 2 weeks
AI Opportunity Assessment
For organizations exploring AI seriously for the first time — or reassessing where they stand. We map where AI would genuinely create value in your business, where it wouldn't, and what a thoughtful first move looks like.
Honest map of where AI fits — and where it doesn't
Risk and readiness assessment for your context
3–5 prioritized opportunities with clear rationale
Board-ready brief and recommendations
Retainer · Monthly
Advisory Retainer
A standing independent expert as AI continues to evolve around your industry. For organizations making ongoing decisions — vendor evaluations, regulatory changes, new opportunities — who want a trusted voice with no stake in the answer.
Monthly strategy sessions
On-demand access between sessions
Geopolitical AI risk monitoring
Quarterly written intelligence memo
Full program · 6–8 weeks
AI Strategy & Implementation
From exploration to working reality. We identify where AI belongs in your organization, build the strategy, and implement it — the same independent expert throughout, with no handoff and no translation loss.
Opportunity and readiness assessment (Phase 1)
Strategy and roadmap (Phase 2)
Hands-on implementation (Phase 3)
30-day post-handoff support
Vertical · Legal sector
Legal AI Advisory
Specialist advisory for boutique law firms navigating AI for the first time. We identify where AI can genuinely improve your practice — and where it introduces risk you shouldn't take. Built on real legal sector experience.
Practice workflow analysis and AI opportunity map
Workflow automation (drafting, filing, review)
Client data stays in your systems — NDA standard
Built for boutique firms, not Am Law 100
Not sure where to start?

You know AI matters.
You're just not sure what to do.

You've seen the headlines. Sat through vendor pitches. Maybe tried a tool or two. Your team keeps mentioning AI. You know something needs to happen — you're just not sure what, where to start, or who to trust.

That uncertainty is exactly where PBI starts. The first conversation isn't a pitch — it's a plain-English talk about your business, where AI could genuinely help, and what to ignore. No jargon. No pressure. No vendor agenda.

"We've been talking about AI for two years but haven't done anything."
Very common. We help you figure out why — and what the right first move actually is.
"We tried some tools but I'm not sure they're actually helping."
We'll tell you honestly what's working, what's theatre, and what to cut.
"Every vendor tells me their AI is the answer. I don't know who to believe."
That's precisely why independence matters. We have no product to sell you.
"My competitors are moving on AI. I don't want to get left behind."
We help you move deliberately — not reactively. Speed without direction is expensive.
Start with a free 30-min conversation No commitment. No pitch. Just a real conversation.
How we work

The PBI approach

Three principles that govern every engagement.

01
Independence is non-negotiable
PBI has no vendor relationships and no products to sell. The only financial interest in any engagement is delivering the right answer — not the answer that protects a partnership or promotes a tool. This is the foundation everything else is built on.
02
Technical depth, not surface advice
AI advisory that can't evaluate model behavior, benchmark claims, or regulatory exposure isn't advisory — it's repackaged vendor messaging. PBI brings original research experience to every client conversation, including published work on LLM robustness and failure modes.
03
Decisions, not deliverables
Every engagement is scoped around the decision you're facing — not a standard framework applied to your organization. The output is always actionable: something your team can fund, stop, or build. Reports that sit in a folder are not the goal.
Contact

Let's talk about
your next decision

Schedule
calendly.com/poli-nemkova
30-minute scoping call — no commitment
Email
concierge@paleblueintelligence.com
Responses within 48 hours
Website
paleblueintelligence.com
Based in
Dallas, TX
Engagements conducted remotely or in-person
Not sure which
engagement is right?
A 30-minute scoping call is always the right first step. We'll talk through the decision you're facing, whether PBI is the right fit, and what an engagement would look like — before any commitment is made.
Engagements are taken on selectively. If the timing and fit are right, the next step is a conversation.
Book a 30-min scoping call