AI is the new operating system. We install it from within.

built inside these companies
what we are

The new service from Upgraide: an elite engineer inside one company at a time, with its full context and AI agents on top. Three days with the client, two in the lab, one monthly fee.

for companies

One engineer installs the new layer inside your operation, with a direct line to the people who decide.

I run a company →
for engineers

One client, real depth, two days a week of your own. And a path to becoming a founder.

I'm an engineer →

Every era ran on a new layer.
This one is called AI.

Steam, electricity, the computer, the internet: every time a new layer arrived, the companies that ran it first changed shape and pulled away from the rest. Scroll down slowly: the company stays the same, the era is what changes.

Work climbs up and down the pyramid. One person decides.

Two speeds.

AI capability doubles in months. Traditional consulting has worked the same way for thirty years. You don't catch a curve like this with the 1995 model. You catch it from the inside, at the speed it moves.

The origin.

the model's first two engineers
João Afonso Moreira
João Afonso Moreiraco-founder · upgraide · porto
Bruno Britoengineer · upgraide

At Upgraide, we spent the last two years delivering AI to real companies, one client at a time. It went well: systems in production, measured results, renewals. But the more we delivered, the more one pattern kept repeating. The value never came from a report or from a layered team. It always came from a serious engineer, inside the operation, with context and a mandate to act.

And we learned where value multiplies: undivided attention. An engineer with a single client thinks better, decides better and builds better. Context that compounds over months is worth more than any layer of management on top. Once this became clear, the question was obvious: what if we designed a service where everything, from the price to the working week, protects that attention?

Upgraide carries on, doing what it has always done. Upgraiders is the unit we built on top of that proof: a special service, for special clients. The company we'd want to work for as engineers and the service we'd want to buy as clients. One elite engineer per client, two protected days a week to stay extraordinary, owner economics, and a real path to becoming a founder. And a system of agents runs the rest, so that people spend their time on the two things only people can do: talk and decide.

ps: this page was composed by our agents. the decision to publish it was ours.

The plan.

  1. 1

    Prove

    A brilliant engineer inside a company makes it more capable. Proven with three pilot clients.

    done
  2. 2

    Run on agents

    Agents find the right engineers and the right clients, and create the websites, the videos and the proof.

    running
  3. 3

    Protect two days

    Every engineer has two protected days a week to build products of their own.

    running
  4. 4

    Create founders

    A product outgrows the client work and becomes a new company, with the engineer as its founder.

    we are here

The next step
is a conversation.

Made in Porto. Nothing goes out without a human decision.

for companies

An elite engineer on your team. AI agents on top.

We transform your company by building the infrastructure it owns, independent of any AI provider. Models change, tools change, and you stay ready. The engineer thinks and decides; the agents remember and work.

book 30 minutes → you leave with clarity, with or without us

How it works.

The engineer works inside your operation three days a week. Two days are spent in the lab, and what gets built there comes back to your company. Scroll down slowly.

Your company, as it is.

Four clients.
All of them stayed.

Our market isn't software: it's tasks. At every client, agents run daily inside the operation and do work that used to be done by people. And the people learn to put AI to work for them. Their names stay private.

legal before

Case law research, document formatting and email eating the team's hours.

after

Agents do that work every day: research, formatting, email, onboarding. The team knows how to put AI to work for them, and the hours go back to billable work.

renewed
healthcare before

Operational tasks running by hand, with no way to measure them.

after

Agents run the operation's tasks every day, measured and improved with every run, on the group's own platform. The final clinical decision always belongs to a person.

renewed
restaurants before

Sales forecasts and team schedules done by hand, store by store.

after

Agents forecast sales and build the schedules every day, store by store. Work that used to be done by people, ready before the morning starts. And the group owns the infrastructure.

24-month contract
energy before

A commercial operation dependent on manual processes.

after

Agents entering the commercial operation, with the client's team learning to work with them from day one.

renewed

Four companies are on the waiting list. We grow one engineer at a time, and the bar does not drop because a client is waiting.

The terms.

Five clauses answer what matters, in the order you'll ask. They're signed before day one.

terms of workupgraiders · upgraide
§1

The start is on us before day one

Our agents run the discovery conversations with your team, and your leadership sets the direction. You only pay when we start building.

§2

One monthly fee every month

No billable hours. The fee tracks what we deliver and adjusts when it makes sense, agreed face to face.

§3

Minimum commitment months 1 to 3

Three months. Transforming an operation doesn't happen in four weeks, and we don't promise that it will.

§4

A way out for both sides from month 2 onward

Either side can walk away with one month's notice. No penalty. We stay because it's worth it, not because a contract says so.

§5

You leave with everything if you leave

Infrastructure, code and documentation stay with you, independent of any provider, up and running.

your company
upgraide

This is a serious investment.

It only makes sense with three things:

1A decision maker at the table

We talk to someone who can say yes and change priorities.

2Real complexity

An operation with processes, people and volume, where agents have room to work.

3A will to change

The new layer changes how people work. Without that will, the investment doesn't pay off.

We keep the client list short, on purpose. If the fit is wrong, we're the first to say so.

30 minutes.
You leave with clarity.

No commitment. You leave with clarity, with or without us.

for engineers

The top of the ladder is founder.

One client at a time, with its full context and AI agents on top: you think and decide, they remember and work. Two days a week are yours. And you earn like an owner.

show us what nobody has seen → we'll read it and tell you what we see

Built for people
who build.

Five clauses, written into a pact we sign with you.

the pactupgraiders · upgraide
§1

Real depth always

One client at a time. Context that compounds over months, and real room to think.

§2

Two days of your own Thursday and Friday

Research, tools and your own products. The most urgent client waits until Monday.

§3

Owner economics every month

A market-rate base and compensation that grows with the revenue you generate. The exact numbers are discussed face to face.

§4

Path to founder the destination

You get a share of the profit from the products you create. When one outgrows your client work, it becomes your company, and you become its founder.

§5

Trust instead of process always

A direct line, zero managers, zero titles. And the exit is always clean, for both sides.

you
upgraide

Three days for the client.
Two days of your own.

monInside the client, building.
with the client
tuePairing in the real operation.
with the client
wedDelivery, with a direct line.
with the client
thu · labResearch, tools, your own products.
protected · yours
fri · labThe path to founder is built here.
protected · yours

The lab is non-negotiable, and it's yours. Not even the most urgent client can claim it.

We find you
through your work.

Our agents read engineers' public work: code, projects, the way they write. Titles and followers don't count. Scroll down slowly and watch how we find you.

portotypescript
41 code changes this month · 0 shortcuts
lisbonrust
128 changes · 2 dependencies
bragapython
67 changes · 0 shortcuts
aveirogo
54 changes · 1 dependency
guimarãestypescript
33 changes · 0 shortcuts
coimbrapython
89 changes · 3 dependencies
stars, followers and titles don't count. What counts is the work.
this one moves forward strong public work
this is how we read you. Your name stays protected until a person decides.
1 · the workwhat is in the code

You build from scratch and with AI from day one: projects that are well tested, with no shortcuts. Not the résumé; the work.

2 · the personhow you think and what drives you

The code shows that you think about the whole system, not just the piece in front of you, and that you build for the love of it, not for visibility.

3 · the referenceswho vouches for character

A network of elite engineers vouches for character: “the most brilliant person I've worked with.”

4 · the right offeris the jump worth it?

A single client, serious depth, and a path to becoming a founder. The offer has to be a real jump, not a step sideways.

the agents write the first messagewriting…

Subject: We read your code

waits for human approval before it goes out
and proposes a challengeready

If you think we should have found you, don't wait for us. Show us the most serious thing you've built that nobody has seen. We'll read it and tell you what we see.

the final step is always yours. And ours.

Your work
speaks for you.

The bar does not drop. The final step always belongs to a person.