The framework page shows how the five stages translate into real decisions, workshops and build work, with two worked professional services examples.
See the framework in practiceLocations / Ipswich
Agents built in your Microsoft 365 tenant, mostly online, with days in Ipswich when they genuinely help.
AI agents and Copilot consultancy in Ipswich
We design and build AI agents for organisations in and around Ipswich, working inside Microsoft 365 with Copilot Studio and the Power Platform, and we train local teams to build their own. Most sessions run live through Teams, with days on site where face-to-face time makes a difference.
FiveForward delivers AI consultancy in Ipswich, designing and building AI agents inside Microsoft 365 and training Suffolk teams to build their own, online through Microsoft Teams or on site, using its five-stage framework: Discover, Design, Enable, Automate and Embed.
This page is for Suffolk organisations with Microsoft 365 already in place but too much manual admin still moving through email: intake, chasing, filing and approvals handled by hand. Most have heard plenty about AI agents. The harder question is which workflow deserves one first and what it should cost.
Most of the work runs live online through Teams so the programme is not held hostage by travel. Discover interviews, the Design playback and build reviews all work well remotely for a distributed Suffolk team, and we come to Ipswich for the days where being in the room genuinely helps.
Agent projects rarely stall because the technology is weak. They stall because the build starts before the job is named. Someone connects Copilot Studio to a SharePoint folder, a demo impresses a meeting, and months later there is an agent nobody trusts because nobody agreed what it was for, what it connects to or who checks its work.
The FiveForward Framework gives Ipswich teams a clearer route: name the workflows worth an agent, design each one before anything is built, then build the agents or coach your own team to ship them. Most of it runs online, which suits a distributed Suffolk organisation.
How an engagement runs in Ipswich
Five stages, framed for Ipswich teams.
The route in is the free consultation, then Discover. The stages that follow are sized by the roadmap.
01
Discover
The paid input phase, £1,500 fixed covering Discover and Design. Structured interviews, usually remote, map where admin time really goes across your Ipswich teams and which workflows deserve an agent.
02
Design
The production phase, covered by the Discover fee. Discover and Design together produce the workflow map, prioritised agent use cases and a costed roadmap, and Design ends with a playback session of about an hour where you choose the route and the price is fixed.
03
Enable
Agent workshops for your builder group, from £850, run live online through Teams or in Ipswich. Each workshop session ends with a working first agent built and running in your tenant.
04
Automate
We build the agents and automations from the roadmap, typically £5,000 to £15,000 depending on the number of agents, the systems they connect to and the state of the source data. Or route two at £3,950 fixed, where your team ships its first agents with us alongside.
05
Embed
A retainer from £750 a month keeps agents reviewed, measured and improved after go-live, without anything depending on travel.
Who this suits
- Suffolk organisations with Microsoft 365 in place but too much manual admin still moving through email
- Leadership teams that want a clear view of which workflows deserve an agent first and what it should cost
- Distributed and hybrid teams that need workshops, playbacks and build reviews run live through Microsoft Teams
- Operations and support teams whose intake, chasing, filing and approvals work repeats every week
Common work
- Intake agents that read incoming email and forms, capture the details and route work to the right team
- Records chasing flows that send reminders, track replies and keep progress visible across sites
- Document filing agents that read, match and file attachments with an audit trail
- Approval flows for finance, HR and operations that stop depending on one inbox
- Reporting flows that gather the week's numbers from a distributed team without the copy and paste
The usual model combines remote delivery with practical days in Ipswich: enough face-to-face time to build confidence in the roadmap and the first agents, without making every session depend on travel.
Ipswich is within practical driving reach for the days that justify being in the room: Discover interviews, a leadership playback or a hands-on agent workshop. We are happy to come up for those.
For everything else, online is usually the better call. Playback sessions, build reviews and agent workshops run live through Teams and reach a distributed Suffolk team without anyone losing time to the A12.
The delivery model is flexible: playback sessions and build reviews run live online for distributed teams, with on-site days for Discover interviews, leadership alignment or hands-on agent workshops.
Proof and examples
Worked examples, not local name-drops.
The examples below are worked scenarios showing how we build these engagements.
A worked example shows a self-service booking portal built inside Microsoft 365 with one-time email codes and Teams calendar sync, a useful pattern for any distributed multi-site organisation.
Read the booking portal worked exampleCommon questions
Questions before you choose the next step.
Do you work on site in Ipswich?
Yes. Ipswich is within practical driving reach, so Discover interviews, agent workshops and playback sessions can run in the room where that helps. Most build reviews and follow-up sessions run live online through Microsoft Teams, which suits distributed Suffolk teams.
What does an agent build cost?
Discover is £1,500 fixed and covers Discover and Design, priced for organisations up to around 50 staff, with larger organisations scoped individually on the free consultation with the same credit terms. Builds are typically £5,000 to £15,000 depending on the number of agents, the systems they connect to and the state of the source data, fixed at Design before work begins. The £1,500 is credited back in full once follow-on spend passes £3,500 before VAT within 90 days of the roadmap.
Can our team learn to build agents themselves?
Yes. Agent workshops start from £850 and each session ends with a working first agent built and running in your tenant. Route two, £3,950 fixed, goes further: your team ships its first agents and automations from the roadmap with us alongside, across two delivery days, two build reviews and 90 days of async support answered within 2 working days.
Is our data safe?
Agents run inside your own Microsoft 365 tenant and inherit the permissions you already have, so an agent can only see what the person using it can see. Data stays inside the Microsoft 365 service boundary and is not used to train models. Every agent has agreed review points, so judgement and sign-off stay with people.
How do we start?
With a free 30 minute consultation, no pitch, no obligation. If the fit is right the next step is Discover. Discover and Design together produce the workflow map, prioritised agent use cases and a costed roadmap, and most scoped builds take two to six weeks from Design sign-off.
Do you still train end users on Copilot?
End user Copilot adoption training is arranged through our training partner. Our own workshops are for the people who will build and maintain agents: a first declarative agent takes about 15 minutes to build in a workshop, and sessions run online or in Ipswich.
Where to go next
Copilot Studio agents
The build service behind most of our agent work: scoped at Design, priced before work begins and delivered inside your tenant.
Agent workshops
Hands-on sessions for your builder group, each ending with a working first agent in your tenant.
The FiveForward Framework
The five-stage method behind every agent engagement we run.
What is a Copilot agent?
A plain-English guide for leadership teams weighing up where agents fit.
Next step
Talk through the rollout you are planning.
A short, free consultation is enough to work out whether Discover, a fixed £1,500 covering Discover and Design, is the right next step, and whether the roadmap is likely to point at us building your agents or training your team to build them.