Operations consulting forward-deployed engineering
Process first. Tech if it pays.
Compass AI Group is an operations and growth consultancy for Canadian owner-operators with 5 to 50 staff, based in Toronto. We find where your time or money leaks, then build the fix ourselves: fixed scope, fixed price, fixed timeline, in writing.
About one in six Bearings Reports says: do nothing yet.
Led by
Bobby Atwal, on every engagement: 30 years running operations inside multinationals, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
S.01How we work
We find the bottleneck before we pick the tool.
Four steps, always in this order: diagnose, scope, build, run. It is the Lean Six Sigma improvement cycle in plain English, delivered forward deployed: the person who finds the problem works inside your business until the fix runs.
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01Diagnose
Bearings
Find the bottleneck and what it costs. A free 30-minute Bearings call, then the paid Bearings Report: a process map, a ranked list of fixes and a 90-day plan, in ten business days.
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02Scope
Charting
A written scope with a fixed price and timeline, within a week of the report. You see the cost of the problem before the price of the fix.
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03Build
Heading
The build, with weekly reviews. Most builds run four to twelve weeks. You own the code, the accounts and the data.
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04Run
True North
Measure the result against the numbers we agreed on. Keep it running on a Managed Compass plan if you want us to.
Forward deployed
We build inside your business, in the tools your staff already use.
- Week 1Connected to your phones, inbox and booking system. Nothing new for staff to log in to.
- Week 2After-hours calls answered and booked. You review the first ten with the Compass team on Friday.
- Week 3Quotes go out from one priced template; the owner approves each in one step.
- Week 4Handover: code, accounts and data in your name, with a log of every step the system takes.
S.02Inside a Bearings Report
The map comes before the fix.
Every Bearings Report starts by drawing the process that hurts most, step by step and hand-off by hand-off. Each fix is then ranked by what it saves and labelled by kind.
Before. 7 steps, 5 hand-offs.
After. 3 steps, 2 hand-offs.
Sometimes the answer is a better process, not AI at all.
S.03What changes
What a fix can change in a business like yours.
The four places time and money leak most often. Your Bearings Report puts real numbers on each one before anything is built, and we measure against them after.
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Every call answered
After-hours and lunch-hour calls are answered, qualified and booked, so the call that used to reach voicemail becomes an appointment.
We measure Missed calls a week -
Inquiries answered in minutes
Web, email and form inquiries get a reply and a booking link within minutes, with a follow-up only if nobody answers.
We measure Time to first reply -
Found on Google, named by AI
Pages that Google ranks and AI assistants quote, judged by the calls and bookings they bring, not by rankings alone.
We measure Calls and bookings from search -
Hours back every week
Retyping, chasing and copying between tools removed or automated, so staff time goes to customers instead.
We measure Staff hours returned
Where we have done this work: clinics, law firms, home services and trades, safety and security, education, travel and consumer brands, across Canada. Our clients
Collaborated with
All clients
S.04What we fix
Eleven fixes, grouped by where the time or money leaks.
The method is the menu. A fix comes off this list only if the diagnosis says it should.
Managed Compass plans are the only prices we publish. Paid media is a percentage of ad spend with a monthly minimum. Everything else is scoped in Charting after your Bearings call: fixed scope, fixed price, fixed timeline in writing. All services
S.05Search and follow-up
Being named in search is half the job. Answering first is the other half.
AI answers name the pages that answer clearly. We make yours one of them, then reply to every inquiry within minutes.
- 21:40AnswerSomeone asks ChatGPT which family law firms nearby take intake calls in the evening. The answer names Firm C.
- 21:41VisitThey open Firm C’s page. The visit is tagged as coming from ChatGPT.
- 21:44RecordInquiry sent and spam-checked, then saved to the client list with its source. Consent is recorded with the date.
- 21:44ReplyReply sent with a booking link for a consultation. A follow-up is set for day 4, only if nobody replies.
- 21:58BookedConsultation booked for Tuesday at 10:00. The day 4 follow-up is cancelled, and the intake lawyer gets a summary for a conflict check.
S.06Industries
Built for owner-operators who run real businesses.
- Clinics & dentalCalls go to voicemail after hours, the schedule has gaps nobody fills, and new patients pick whoever answers first.
- Law firms & professional servicesIntake lives in one person’s inbox, conflict checks wait until morning, and the website tells prospects nothing about the firm.
- Home services & tradesEvery sale runs through the phone, quotes take days, and dispatch is a group chat.
- Engineering & technical firmsRFPs eat principals’ weekends, and every proposal is rewritten from scratch.
- Real estate & brokerageLeads arrive on Sunday and the follow-up happens Tuesday.
- Studios & wellnessThe front desk is also the instructor, and memberships lapse because nobody had time to call.
S.07The operator
Thirty years inside multinationals taught me what slows businesses down.
I’m Bobby Atwal. I spent three decades running operations, projects and infrastructure inside large multinational corporations. Lean operating principles are how I work: map the process first, find the root cause second, fix it third. Sometimes the fix is a better process. Sometimes it is a website, an ad account or an AI workflow.
I lead every engagement, and the Compass team builds it with me. No account managers, no hand-offs.
- Operator
- Bobby Atwal
- Title
- Founder & Business Transformation Specialist
- Operations
- 30 years running operations inside multinationals
- Method
- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
- Based
- Toronto, serving all of Canada
S.08Questions
Questions owners ask before the first call.
What does Compass AI Group do?
Compass AI Group is an operations and growth consultancy for Canadian small-to-medium businesses. We start with a diagnosis: a Bearings Report that maps the process that hurts most and ranks what to fix. Then we scope and build the fix, which might be a process change, a website, a search or ads program, or an AI workflow, and we can keep running it on a managed plan.
Who is Compass AI Group for?
Canadian owner-operators with roughly 5 to 50 employees who answer the phone, sign the proposals, and run operations themselves. Most of our work is with clinics and dental practices, law firms, home-services and trades companies, engineering firms, real estate brokerages, and studios. Not a fit: enterprise IT departments, pre-revenue startups, or businesses outside Canada.
How much does it cost?
We publish prices for Managed Compass plans: Foundation $500, Operator $1,200, Operator+ $2,500 CAD per month. Everything else is scoped in Charting after your Bearings call, and you get a fixed scope, fixed price, and fixed timeline in writing before any work starts. Paid media is priced as a percentage of ad spend with a monthly minimum.
What is a Bearings Report?
A paid, ten-business-day diagnostic led by a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. You get a process map of the workflow that hurts most, a stack and software-spend audit, three to five ranked opportunities with the hours and dollars behind each, a 90-day plan, and a recorded walkthrough. The fix might be process, technology, marketing, or AI. About one in six reports says: do nothing yet.
Do we need AI at all?
Not always. Sometimes the answer is a better process, not AI at all. The Bearings Report ranks each fix by return, and AI only makes the list when it pays for itself in hours saved, calls answered, or customers won. Where it does, we build it and measure it.
How is Compass different from a management consultant, a marketing agency, or a fractional COO?
One operator does the diagnosis and the fix. A consultant hands you a deck and leaves. A marketing agency starts with the ad account before anyone has looked at the process. A fractional COO advises but rarely builds. Compass maps the process, ranks what to fix, builds it, and can keep running it. You own the code, the accounts, and the data.
S.09Next step
Plot your course.
A free 30-minute Bearings call. You and the Compass team, talking about your business. An honest read on what to fix first, and whether AI belongs in it.
Or reach the Compass team directly: batwal@compassaigroup.com, 416-409-2112