The retainer is back.

For the past few months, we've been working with an established and highly successful Silicon Valley client. The product: a digital productivity tool. The collaboration? Radically iterative:

• Planning themes every 2 weeks

• Two fixed iteration meetings per week (90 minutes each)

• Testing happens as soon as something is "good enough"

• No task Tetris, no story point oracle, no false sense of security

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The model behind it:
A monthly retainer with a cap. Focus: trust, outcomes, impact.

Critical to making this work: everything gets tested.

Testing is ingrained in this organization's DNA like I've rarely seen. Only what shows impact stays.

This creates a measurable retainer return on investment:

• In the innovation phase: through real learnings

• In the scaling phase: through increased productivity

• In the efficiency phase: through better margins

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Many projects we typically see are "agile" in name – but with fixed sprints, fixed deliverables, deadline pressure. Agility is performed, but predictability remains king.

But what's actually predictable anymore?

• When AI tools radically change effort estimates

• When working methods shift weekly

• When feature decisions are increasingly bets

  
  

My thesis: The retainer is a genuine model for the (AI) future – for collaboration between consultancies, agencies, and companies.

Not with the goal of saving money – but with the ambition to achieve greater impact.

Because those falling behind in competition aren't in a position to do the same with less.

Retainers create space for real innovation. Retainers enable consistency, trust, and security. Retainers focus on outcomes, not outputs. Retainers redefine success together.

We're ready for more retainers. Not as a contract type, but as a mindset.