AI INVESTMENT · DESIGN · DEVELOPMENT · IMPLEMENTATION
Aquila Loop helps companies and investors decide where AI is worth the investment, then designs, builds and implements it, moving fast without compromising on ethics or safety.
SERVICES
Every successful AI program starts with a clear goal. From the investment decision through design, development and rollout, engage one capability or combine all three.
SERVICE 01
Clear-eyed guidance for investors, boards and leadership teams deciding where to put money into AI and how to oversee it.
SERVICE 02
Human-centered design and engineering of AI agents, models and products, shaped around the people who will use them.
SERVICE 03
Getting AI working inside your organization, from use-case selection through rollout, adoption and ongoing governance.
INDUSTRIES WE SERVE
Every industry. The same disciplined approach.
Good AI starts with the people, the workflow and the data, whatever the sector. Our experience spans entertainment and hospitality, consulting, software, sports and the built environment.
ABOUT THE FOUNDER
Derrick has spent his career at the intersection of design, technology and customer experience. Today he serves as Chief Product Officer of an AI telemetry and recommendation software company and as Artificial Intelligence Advisor to Pivot Group, and he invests in small businesses in sports, home design and the built environment. He spent 15 years at Disney managing technology platforms that serve more than 60 million annual visitors, advised clients as a Senior Consultant at McKinsey, and taught audience analytics as an adjunct professor at the University of Florida.
THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY · EXECUTIVE · 15 YEARS
Executive, Commercial and Technology teams
Led technology platforms behind the Disney guest experience and built data science teams supporting Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, bringing recommendation models and AI into production for one of the most demanding audiences in the world.
3
resort destinations: Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris
60M+
annual visitors
15
years of leadership
AI
recommendation models in production
CURRENT ROLES
Chief Product Officer
AI telemetry and recommendation software company
Artificial Intelligence Advisor
Pivot Group
Member, Board of Directors
National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS); panel moderator
Small Business Investor
Sports, home design and the built environment
CORE SKILLS
AI implementation
Recommendation models, telemetry and AI in production
Data science leadership
Building and scaling data science teams
AI product design
Human-centered design and customer experience
Governance and programme leadership
Board oversight, AI ethics and major programme delivery
EXPERIENCE & EDUCATION
McKinsey & Company
Senior Consultant, Marketing & Sales, Miami
University of Florida
Adjunct Professor, Audience Analytics
University of Oxford
Dual MSc, Software Engineering and Major Programme Management
University of Notre Dame
MBA, magna cum laude
ETHICS & SAFETY
Every critical system should be checked before it goes live. We bring that discipline to AI. Ethics and safety are built into every engagement from day one, not bolted on at the end.
READINESS CHECKLIST
Human oversight
Clear accountability and a person in the loop where decisions matter.
Evaluation before deployment
Measured accuracy, bias and failure-mode testing against real use cases.
Data privacy & security
Customer and company data handled with least access and full traceability.
Transparency
People know when they are working with AI and how it reaches outcomes.
Ongoing monitoring
Performance tracking, incident response and regular governance reviews after go-live.
HOW WE IMPLEMENT AI
A practical, four-step approach that puts AI to work in your business with clear owners, measurable results and safety built in.
Map workflows, data and customer needs to pinpoint where AI saves time, lifts revenue or improves the experience, then rank by value and readiness.
Select the right leading models and tools, design the workflow and user experience, and agree success metrics and safety criteria up front.
Build agents, recommendation models and integrations, evaluate them for accuracy, bias and failure modes, then roll out in stages with people in the loop.
Track performance and ROI, monitor for drift and risk, train your team to own it, and expand what works across the business.
WAYS TO WORK TOGETHER
Pick the engagement that matches where you are today and how much support you want along the way.
Fixed scope · Custom quote
A focused engagement to select, build and safely deploy a first high-value AI use case.
Start a conversationMonthly retainer · Custom quote
Ongoing AI consulting as part of your team, across design, development and implementation, with a defined monthly commitment.
Start a conversationBoard seat or retainer · Custom quote
AI due diligence for investors, plus board seats and director education on AI strategy, risk and oversight.
Start a conversationFAQ
We help investors and boards evaluate AI opportunities through technical and product due diligence: whether the technology is real, the data is defensible, the team can ship and the risks are understood. After an investment, we support value creation and AI oversight at the board level.
Aquila Loop LLC provides three services: AI investment advisory and due diligence for investors and boards, human-centered design and development of AI agents, models and products, and hands-on implementation of today's leading AI models, with ethics and safety built into every engagement.
All of them. Good AI follows the same principles in every sector: understand the people, the workflow and the data, then design and build it safely. We work with companies, investors and boards across industries, and our experience spans entertainment and hospitality, consulting, software, sports and the built environment.
Design comes first. We start with the people who will use the AI, map their needs and workflows, and prototype the experience before writing production code. The result is AI that is useful, easy to understand and trusted by the people who rely on it.
Nothing goes live until it passes five checks: human oversight, evaluation before deployment for accuracy, bias and failure modes, data privacy and security, transparency with the people using it, and ongoing monitoring. Safety criteria are agreed before any build begins.
We select from today's leading models and tools based on the use case, your data and your risk profile, then design the workflow around them. The goal is the right fit for the job, not a single vendor.
Yes. Derrick Harmon serves on the Board of Directors of the National Institute of Building Sciences and provides board and advisory support covering AI and technology oversight, strategy, risk and governance reviews, and director education.
Derrick Harmon spent 15 years at The Walt Disney Company as an Executive in the Commercial and Technology teams, leading platforms that serve more than 60 million annual visitors and building data science teams for Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. He was also a Senior Consultant at McKinsey and holds a dual MSc from the University of Oxford and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.
Aquila Loop is based in Florida, USA, and works with companies around the world, remotely and on site.
With a free 30-minute consultation. Ask the Aquila Loop assistant at the bottom of this page to set one up, and a person from the team will follow up to schedule it.
GET STARTED
Whatever your industry, the goal is the same: AI products customers love, investments made with clear eyes, and AI systems that deliver safely. Ask our AI assistant anything, or have it set up a free 30-minute consultation.
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