Dixon Strategic Labs

Proposal for Clearwater Credit Union

Opportunity

AI has been creeping into Clearwater through vendor relationships and the planned Copilot rollout, without a unifying strategy. As a CDFI credit union, Clearwater faces constraints that generic AI approaches ignore: mission-aligned lending mandates, member vulnerability, and political uncertainty around the CDFI Fund. The AI policy adopted earlier this year is a foundation. The strategy itself is the next piece of work.

The strategic plan calls for an annual AI plan, refreshed every year through 2030. This engagement produces the first version.

Approach

Brent works as a thinking partner alongside Jack as he leads the executive team through this work. The engagement runs four sprints over roughly seven to nine months, including a gap period between the third and fourth for independent practice. Each sprint builds on the previous one, and Brent challenges assumptions as directly as he supports decisions.

Sprint One: Discovery

3-4 weeks, remote

Purpose. Discovery gives Jack and the executive team one shared, evidence-grounded picture of where Clearwater stands with AI.

Brent conducts a CEO interview, an executive team survey, a vendor AI audit, and a maturity self-rating that folds in the readiness assessment Clearwater is completing with LeapFi. The sprint ends at a shared diagnosis. It is the low-commitment way to start.

Expected outcomes

The executive team moves from private, differing assumptions to one shared, evidence-grounded read of where Clearwater stands with AI
Jack sees the AI that has already entered Clearwater through vendor relationships, and which vendors carry real risk
An honest read of where Clearwater is and is not ready for AI, with the in-progress LeapFi readiness assessment carried through to a usable baseline
The central challenge is named, so the team knows what to resolve before Clearwater can move on AI with confidence

Sprint Two: Direction

5-6 weeks, includes on-site visit

Purpose. Direction turns that picture into a strategic direction the executive team owns and a first pilot ready to build.

Functional leads decompose their work into concrete tasks and tag each one for automation, AI assistance, or deliberate human-only handling. This produces a ranked set of pilot candidates. The on-site executive workshop in Missoula then resolves the strategic questions: where AI gets investment, where it does not, and how governance distributes across functions. The team selects the first pilot from the ranked candidates.

Expected outcomes

The executive team aligns on where AI gets investment and where it does not
Governance readiness assessment showing where the AI Policy's authorities are working and where they need operational support
Strategic direction set across learning, communications, capacity building, and implementation
The board is briefed and aligned
A ranked set of pilot candidates, with the first pilot selected and scoped

Sprint Three: Test and Build

10-14 weeks

Purpose. Test and Build proves the strategy in production and builds the team's capability to run AI work.

The strategy from Sprint Two needs to prove itself in production. Two pilots run during Sprint Three. Brent co-designs and co-leads the first with the Clearwater team and advises on the second. A third pilot is scoped for the team to run independently during the gap period.

Expected outcomes

Two pilots run during Sprint Three (one co-led with Brent, one advised); a third scoped for the team to run independently in the gap
Governance and vendor evaluation criteria tested against real decisions
Written guidance on AI use, member data, and CDFI commitments, tested against pilot decisions
An operational employee communication cadence: what AI is for at Clearwater and what is off the table
The Annual AI Plan taking shape from pilot evidence

Between Sprint Three and Sprint Four, a gap period of roughly 7-10 weeks, Clearwater runs the third pilot independently. Regular check-in calls continue.

Sprint Four: Scale and Plan

5-7 weeks

Purpose. Scale and Plan turns the engagement's evidence into a board-endorsed Annual AI Plan that Clearwater owns and refreshes each year.

The gap period evidence drives scaling decisions. Brent returns for an on-site board presentation and co-creation session.

Expected outcomes

Board-ready Annual AI Plan, co-created and endorsed by the board and executive team
Scaling decisions grounded in pilot evidence and checked against the values-based banking frame
A signal watch-list tracking market shifts, regulatory changes, and technology capabilities, with assigned owners and trigger conditions
The capability and confidence to evaluate, pilot, and scale AI from evidence

When a board member asks "what is our AI strategy," the answer is the choices Clearwater made, the evidence behind them, and the governance model that distributes AI ownership across functions.

Pricing

Sprint One: Discovery

Shared diagnosis of where Clearwater stands with AI and where the executive team agrees and disagrees. The low-commitment way to start.

$12,500

3-4 weeks, remote

Sprint Two: Direction

Operational task mapping and the executive workshop. Strategic direction set, board briefed, first pilot selected.

$15,000

5-6 weeks

Sprint Three: Test and Build

Strategy tested in production: two pilots run during Sprint Three (one co-led, one advised), a third run independently in the gap.

$15,000

10-14 weeks

Sprint Four: Scale and Plan

Board-ready Annual AI Plan built from pilot evidence. Clearwater owns the process.

$12,500

5-7 weeks

Full engagement: $55,000

Travel expenses (roundtrip to Missoula, hotel, meals) billed at cost. Two on-site visits included: strategy workshop during Sprint Two and board presentation during Sprint Four.

Sprints can be engaged individually. Each sprint requires the previous one.

AI that frees co-worker capacity for the relationship work Clearwater already wins on is the financial case for this investment.

Personnel

Brent Dixon leads all work. No junior associates, no subcontractors, no handoffs to people Clearwater has not met.

Brent founded Dixon Strategic Labs after twenty years in credit unions, cooperatives, and mission-driven organizations. He publishes AI for FIs, a weekly newsletter on agentic AI for financial institutions. At Filene Research Institute, he led a two-year innovation program for forty senior credit union executives. He co-founded Trabian Technology, a fintech studio for banks and credit unions. He created the United Nations Secretariat's first innovation unit.

Previous Clients Include

Memorandum of Understanding

This MOU is an example, reflecting the proposal that follows.

This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is hereby made and entered into by and between Clearwater Credit Union ("Client") and Dixon Strategic Labs, LLC. For good and valuable consideration the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, both parties agree on the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth:

PURPOSE: The purpose of this MOU is to establish the relationship between the Client and Dixon Strategic Labs, LLC to deliver an AI strategy engagement across four sprints (Discovery, Direction, Test and Build, Scale and Plan) with the Client's executive team, approximately 23-31 weeks, plus a 7-10 week gap period between Sprint Three and Sprint Four when the team runs a pilot independently. On-site sessions in Missoula, Montana include a strategy workshop during Sprint Two and a board presentation during Sprint Four. All other work is conducted remotely.
FEES AND PAYMENTS: Client will pay Dixon Strategic Labs, LLC a fee of $55,000 plus reimbursement of direct expenses including roundtrip travel, hotel accommodations, and reasonable meals upon delivery of the items set forth in Section 4 of this agreement. Payment schedule: $12,500 upon commencement of Sprint One, $15,000 upon commencement of Sprint Two, $15,000 upon commencement of Sprint Three, $12,500 upon commencement of Sprint Four.
CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES: Client shall provide all reasonable and necessary background information as requested by Dixon Strategic Labs, LLC for purposes of completing this project.
DIXON STRATEGIC LABS, LLC RESPONSIBILITIES: As outlined in the proposal above, Dixon Strategic Labs, LLC shall:
1. Conduct executive team discovery (survey, CEO interview, vendor AI audit, maturity assessment) and deliver a written strategic diagnosis.
2. Facilitate operational task mapping with functional leads and a strategy workshop with the executive team, and deliver the strategic direction for AI, a governance readiness assessment, and a board briefing.
3. Co-design and co-lead one production AI pilot with the Clearwater team and advise on a second; prepare the team to run a third pilot independently during the gap period; build distributed AI governance across functions.
4. Provide regular check-in calls during the gap period between Sprint Three and Sprint Four.
5. Deliver a board-ready Annual AI Plan built from pilot evidence.
6. Treat all Client materials in the strictest of confidence.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, hereby certifying that they are authorized to do so, have executed this MOU on behalf of the parties on the dates indicated below.

Jack Lawson, President & CEO

Clearwater Credit Union

Signed on:

Brent Dixon, Founder

Dixon Strategic Labs, LLC

Signed on: