Proposal · April 2026
Behavior as the
foundational layer.
Here’s how I’d build it.

Three options I’d be confident in building, scoped against real DNA Behavior data.

From Ethan Brace, BraceYourself Solutions

01The foundational-layer answer.

"There’s a meaningful opportunity to embed behavior as a foundational layer within any program."

Leon Morales · April 3, 2026

Leon, you asked me to identify one or two POC projects where behavior could sit as a foundational layer inside a real platform. Not bolted on top. Actually built in. That's the question I kept coming back to while I was putting this together.

Here's what I keep seeing: most software treats behavioral data like a feature you add when the core product is done. A widget. A report tab. And then you wonder why it doesn't move the needle on engagement and lifetime value, including coaching and advisory programs where the whole point is understanding how a person is actually wired. When behavior is a foundational layer, the product is different from day one. The data means something different. The client feels it from the first screen.

What follows is what I'd be confident building. Real DNA Behavior data, real constraints, real clients, including coaching. Not a proof-of-concept against a synthetic dataset that sits in a demo environment and never ships.

First: what most platforms get wrong, and why the options below are the right place to prove the alternative.

02What most platforms get wrong.

Anyone building a behavior-first platform faces the same four paths. Three of them ship slowly, cost more than they should, or leave behavioral IP on the outside of the platform instead of underneath it. The fourth is what this proposal is about.

Leon asked for one or two POC projects to see what a working partnership looks like. I'm writing this the way Hugh asked for it on the call: the logic up front, the numbers where they matter. Two weeks late. One sentence on that, then onward: I wanted to bring a complete picture, not a rough one.

Anyone building a behavior-first platform has four paths. Three of them are already in the market. Here's what each one costs.

Option A
Hire an internal AI team
~$600K / yrfully loaded, 6+ mo to first ship
Senior AI engineer plus two supporting hires. Six months to staff, six more to ship anything production-grade. The behavioral IP stays separate from the platform the whole time.
Option B
Enterprise AI platform
$150–$400 / user / moSalesforce Einstein, Microsoft Copilot
Generic co-pilots that don’t know what an Engager is, what a Financial DNA score means, or how behavioral style should change the next-best-action. The platform doesn’t speak DNA Behavior.
Option C
Big consultancy
$400K–$800KDeloitte, Accenture · deck + pilot
Premium rates, bureaucratic delivery, no operator when the engagement ends. The pilot ships. The follow-through doesn’t. DNA Behavior’s IP gets abstracted into a framework the firm doesn’t own.
Option D
Me + DNA Behavior, operator stays
Starting at $28Kbehavioral IP as the spine, ships in 4–6 weeks
Fixed price. DNA Behavior’s psychometric layer built in from day one, not bolted on. Operator stays through launch and the 90 days after. The client owns the platform. Your IP is the spine it runs on.

Reference ranges: Option A based on 2026 senior AI engineer fully loaded cost estimates. Option B: Salesforce Einstein and Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 published rates per user per month. Option C: Deloitte and Accenture AI transformation engagement benchmarks across mid-market and enterprise scopes.

That's the frame. Sections 03 through 05 are the three builds.

03Option 01: The SDK Client Demo Build.

Leon asked for a reliable person who could actually do a build. This is that build.

The de-risking build
SDK Client Demo Build

Pick one DNA Behavior client, or a composite built from patterns Leon and Hugh see repeatedly, and build the platform they'd want on top of the DNA Behavior API. White-labeled, fully functional: a financial advisor's client-facing tool, a leadership development cohort, an onboarding journey. Personalizing user experiences from the behavioral data up, not from a configuration panel down.

  • Full white-label build using DNA Behavior's API as the behavioral data layer
  • Client's coaching, advisory, or onboarding process rendered on top
  • The first SDK client build DNA Behavior has had someone ship end-to-end against the real API under real constraints
  • Works as a live demonstration and as a reference architecture simultaneously

The same code, with a different client-facing skin, becomes a reusable asset for the next SDK client. One build, two purposes: proof of operator capability and a reference the next team can actually start from. The architecture works across programs, including coaching, onboarding, and advisory.

$38K
Fixed fee
A single failed SDK client engagement is six months of a relationship and zero revenue. This build ends that pattern.
5 wks
Start to delivery

04Option 02: Training Program Digitization.

DNA's training is currently delivered the same way to every learner, regardless of how they're wired. This changes that.

The coaching and certification build
Behavior-Adaptive Training Module

Take one of DNA Behavior's existing training or certification programs and turn it into an adaptive digital experience. The learner picks the program. The program adapts to them. Each lesson, exercise, and prompt routes through the learner's behavioral profile so a Determined profile gets different framing than a Connector profile, even when the underlying content is the same.

  • One existing DNA Behavior training program converted to a digital, behavior-routed experience
  • Lesson flow and content framing adapt to the learner's DNA profile from the first screen
  • Completion telemetry built in: who finished, how far they got, where behavioral style correlated with drop-off
  • Architecture extends to every program after this one without rebuilding from scratch

Coaching, certification, and advisor onboarding all share this shape. Build it once for the right program and the same foundation carries forward. The behavioral layer isn't an add-on here. It's the reason the learner experience works differently for different people.

$48K
Fixed fee
An enterprise LMS rollout runs $80K–$200K and ships generic content for everyone. This builds behavior-adaptive content for one program at less than half that, and the architecture extends to every program after.
6 wks
Start to delivery

05Option 03: Behavior-as-Foundation Reference Build.

The smallest of the three. A proof of architecture, not a proof of product.

The architecture build
Behavioral Foundation Reference Codebase

The bottleneck for SDK clients isn't the SDK. It's the missing answer to "here's how you put behavior at the bottom of your stack." This build produces that answer as working code. Auth handoff, profile fetch, behavioral routing logic, a minimal UI layer that adapts to a user's DNA style, and documented architecture diagrams. The artifact DNA Behavior's next SDK client uses as a starting point instead of figuring it out from scratch.

  • Working reference codebase: auth handoff, profile fetch, behavioral routing, and a DNA-adaptive UI layer
  • Architecture diagrams showing exactly how DNA Behavior plugs in as the foundational layer
  • Documented enough that a developer new to the SDK can follow it without guessing
  • Licensed or open: DNA Behavior decides how the artifact is shared with SDK clients

A single SDK client that fails to ship is six months of a relationship and zero revenue. This makes the next client succeed in week one. The reference build is the asset that pays for itself on the first client it saves.

$28K
Fixed fee
Least expensive of the three. Highest leverage per dollar if the SDK client failure rate is the problem to solve first.
4 wks
Start to delivery

06How I build.

Week 1
I sit in your seats. Understand the training material, the clients, the behavioral data model, the existing friction. No code in week one. The work in week one is learning what the work actually is. Operator in the room from day one.
Weeks 2–5
Working software, weekly. Demos every Friday. Course corrections in real time. You see what’s being built while it’s being built. No reveal at week five, no surprises at delivery.
Ongoing
Operator stays. Per-project, monthly. From $4,000 per month. The thing that kills most enterprise AI is the absence of an operator after launch. I stay on as the person who keeps the systems working, tuned, and adapted as the behavioral data and the client’s needs evolve.

Every build above is fixed-price, fully scoped, and ships a working system. Not a deck and a plan.

07Next step.

A 45-minute call to pick one of the three and scope it.

Ethan Brace
BraceYourself Solutions