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Confidential — DME Express Internal Use Only
Prepared by Ark Fortune · Under the direction of Anirudh Padiyal
Section 05 — The Ask
One Decision. Verified Results Before the Next Dollar.
A fixed-fee, 6-week proof of concept. If it works — and the market data says it will — we return with proof and a scaling plan.
What the Board Approves Today
Phase 1 POC
A 6-week, fixed-fee Proof of Concept delivering live pilot data on AI voice agent performance. Phase 2 capital is only released after Phase 1 milestones are verified.
The board is not approving a $500,000 transformation today. The approval is for a single, bounded pilot. If Phase 1 does not meet the go/no-go criteria, all work stops — full stop. No further capital obligation.
Three Actions DME Express Takes to Start
Ark Fortune handles the technology. DME Express only needs to provide access to three things — each requiring minimal internal effort.
1
Provide 2 Weeks of RingCentral Call Logs
An export of inbound call data from the past two weeks — date, time, duration, caller type if available. This is the baseline audit that validates the financial model with real DME data instead of estimates. This is the most important input to the entire project.
IT Team — Estimated effort: ~1 hour
2
Authorize Core System Read-Only API Access
A read-only API key scoped specifically to order and delivery data — the fields the AI needs to answer status queries. No write access is needed in Phase 1. Ark Fortune has already built the Core System API layer; this is a configuration step, not a development task.
IT Team — Estimated effort: ~4 hours
3
Identify Internal HIPAA / BAA Approval Authority
Identify the person inside DME Express with authority to sign the Business Associate Agreement with Retell AI. This is a one-time legal step that must happen before any PHI touches the platform. The BAA document itself is standard — Retell AI has an enterprise-grade pre-approved version.
Legal / Compliance Team — Estimated effort: 1 meeting
What the Board Sees at the Phase 1 Checkpoint — Week 6
At the end of Week 6, Ark Fortune presents a complete data report to the board before any Phase 2 capital is requested.
Phase 1 Board Checkpoint Deliverables
Exact AI resolution rate from live pilot calls — the real percentage of calls resolved without human involvement.
Verified cost-per-call comparison — actual AI cost vs actual human cost from the pilot period, not estimates.
Escalation accuracy report — how often did the AI transfer correctly vs incorrectly.
HIPAA compliance confirmation — zero PHI incidents. Audit log review.
Recommendation — proceed to Phase 2 with updated financial projections, or a detailed explanation of why we pause and what we change.
Phase 2 capital request — only presented if Phase 1 go/no-go criteria are confirmed. Board retains full approval authority.
What This Means for the Support Team
Today's Support Rep Day
Order status lookups~30%
Data entry for intake~20%
Clinical & complex work~50%
Job satisfactionReduced by routine
After AI Deployment
Order status lookups~0%
Data entry for intake~0%
Clinical & complex work~100%
Job satisfactionFocused on real work
No layoffs. No headcount reduction. The 50-person team stays intact. Headcount management happens through natural attrition as the AI matures. As Palladium acquires new branches, the AI absorbs incremental volume — meaning we hire for clinical complexity, not call volume growth. This is a better job for every person on the team.
Decision Summary
Item
Detail
What is approved today
Phase 1 Proof of Concept — Order Status AI, 6-week pilot, 10–15% of live call volume
Delivered by
Ark Fortune (~140 hrs engineering)
Timeline
6 weeks from board approval to live pilot results
DME's internal actions
RingCentral call logs, Core System API access, HIPAA authority identification
Phase 2 capital
Released only after Phase 1 milestone criteria confirmed at board checkpoint
If Phase 1 fails
Full stop. No Phase 2 obligation. Findings presented to board with explanation.
Platform selected
Retell AI (HIPAA-native, BAA available, SOC 2 Type II, enterprise-grade)
HIPAA & compliance
Architecture-first. BAA signed before any PHI touches the system.
Ongoing management
Ark Fortune monthly retainer — DME never interfaces with AI vendors directly
"We are not asking for a $500,000 transformation. We are asking for a 6-week test. If the data says it works — and the market says it will — we come back with proof and scale it across every warehouse in the portfolio."
End of Briefing
DME Express — Voice AI Initiative
Prepared by Ark Fortune — June 2026 — Confidential