Start · One step at a time

Start with one rule. Not a rollout.

OCTOPUS is one shared company memory of what was asked, what was answered and what was ruled, kept inside your boundary, usable by people and agents. You do not have to roll it out to find out whether it works. Take one small step at a time; each one makes one promise.

Dip one arm in.

Last updated 2026-11-06 · Machine-readable: llms.txt · capabilities.json

The problem

Same question. Three answers.

The same question gets different answers in different places: a meeting note says one thing, a thread another, the policy page a third. AI tools now act on whichever answer they find. Enterprise search finds every conflicting answer and settles none.

For operations

Start with one rule and one team. Steps 0 to 3 leave how the team works alone; a named owner and decision cards come in at step 4, and only when you choose.

For IT

No connection to your systems until step 3. Then one connection to review, scoped to one team's separate copy, with an end date and an off switch.

For finance

Every step ends with something you can see and a point where you can stop.

Steps 0 to 2 · No connection

Nothing connects until step 3.

The first three steps need no account on your systems and no connection to them. Step 0 is open now. Steps 1 and 2 need a short request so we can run them with you, still with no connection. Each step: what you give, what you get back, and the promise. Ask the octopus about any of them.

Step 0. Ask first.

You give
Nothing. No account, no form.
You get back
Straight answers to “is this for us?” from the concierge, which answers questions about OCTOPUS only, from what is published here. The fit and not-a-fit lists are on this page in plain text, so you never have to rely on the assistant.
The promise
You can find out whether it fits before you talk to anyone.
Step 1. The fit check.

You give
About 20 minutes and a plain description of one workflow where the same kinds of decisions come up again and again. No member, customer or case identifiers.
You get back
A fit checklist in three parts, operations, IT and finance, filled in against the published fit and not-a-fit criteria, with the reason for each box. You record the verdict, not us.
The promise
If it is not a fit, we say so, and say why.
Step 2. One rule, all its answers.

You give
One recurring business rule, say the most discount a renewing contract may get, and up to three documents you choose: a meeting note, a message thread, a policy page. Redacted or sample copies are fine. What happens to your files is not published; get it from the team in writing before you send anything. No system access, no connection.
You get back
Each conflicting answer those documents give to that one question, side by side, with the exact sentence it came from, and the people who could settle it, for your own owner to confirm. We assign nobody's authority.
The promise
You see your own conflicting answers, with their sources, before you connect anything.

The published fit test

Honest both ways.

The lists step 0 and step 1 are scored against, in plain text.

OCTOPUS fits when

Your agents outlive a single session and several agents or teams need one shared memory.
A board, regulator, auditor or customer may ask why the AI decided something.
Agents take actions that leave the organization, and approvals should depend on whether the action can be undone.
You run more than a handful of agents and need to know which are held, which are stalled and which actually finished.
Context must be checked against a schema before a model sees it, and retrieval must keep relationships between facts.
Knowledge and credentials must stay inside your own tenant boundary.
Outside AI clients and agents need to work with your knowledge over a standard protocol (MCP), scoped to your tenant.

Not a fit when

You need a chatbot, a single model, or a thin wrapper around one.
You are building one agent for one workflow and nobody will later ask why it acted.
You want a public, unauthenticated endpoint to customer data. OCTOPUS does not operate one (the public concierge answers questions about OCTOPUS only, from public material).
You need self-serve signup today. Access is by request while early-access teams onboard.

The reviewer's kit

Step 3 · The first connection

One connection. One team. One end date.

This is the step IT says yes or no to, so it gets the most room. One team's copy is separate from everything else, and IT sees exactly what connects before anything does.

Step 3. One team's copy.

You give
One team of 5 to 30 people and the AI tool it already uses. IT reviews one scoped connection between that tool and your team's copy, a separate copy that holds only that team's material.
You get back
A shared memory for the team, and a running record of what was decided and by whom, forming behind the tools it already uses. The team keeps its AI tool, and decision cards stay off until step 4. The only change step 3 needs is the one connection IT reviews on the sheet.
The promise
One connection for IT to review, and a planned stop with a review at the end.

The review sheet covers	Written down before anything connects
What connects to what	The one AI tool your team uses, and your team's copy. Nothing else.
What it may read and write	The scope of the connection, stated before it is switched on.
What it may send, and where	What the connection may send out of your team's copy, and to where.
Credentials	Which credentials are issued for the connection, and how they are revoked.
Where it runs, who runs it	Where your team's copy runs, who operates it, and how people sign in, as agreed with you.
How to switch it off	Who can turn it off at any point in the trial, and what stops when they do.
When the trial ends	The end date, the review that closes it, and what is kept afterwards.

Kept apart by architecture

Your team's copy is separated by architecture, not by policy. A credential for it cannot reach anyone else's. Ask to see how that is enforced.

Authenticated and scoped

The connection is authenticated and scoped to your team's copy, over a standard protocol (MCP).

A person confirms what lands

New entities arrive as proposals, and a person confirms before anything durable is written.

One sheet, then a yes or a no

The technical details go to your IT team on the review sheet, not on this site, and nothing connects until IT has read it. Ask the team for the sheet.

Steps 4 and 5 · A person decides

A person on the record. An off switch in reach.

Decisions that matter go to a named owner, and only the owner's agreed rules ever answer for them. Anything new runs in shadow first.

Step 4. Decisions go to a person.

You give
One named decision owner.
You get back
The decisions that matter arrive on the Desk, one card each: question and recommendation first, options side by side, evidence attached. A card missing context is refused before it reaches the owner. Anything that leaves the organization, such as a message to a customer or a payment, waits for the owner's deliberate confirmation.
The promise
Nothing that leaves the organization happens without a person, on the record.
Step 5. Repeat decisions follow the agreed rule.

You give
Agreement on rules drawn from the owner's rulings in step 4, from the owner and anyone else you name, such as compliance.
You get back
Repeat questions answered by the agreed rule, with who agreed it and when. New automation runs in shadow first: it records what it would have done and does nothing outside. Every approval is logged, and you name who may switch any part of it off: the owner and IT.
The promise
You can turn any of it off, at once, and see what it did.

Meet the Desk

For finance · Stops and keepables

Every step has an exit.

What you have at the end of each step, and where you can stop.

Step	What you have at the end	Where you can stop
0. Ask first	Answers, and the published fit lists.	Any time. Nothing has started.
1. The fit check	Your checklist, with the reason for each box.	At the verdict, which you record.
2. One rule	Your conflicting answers side by side, with their sources.	Before anything is connected.
3. One team's copy	The review at the planned stop: what the record shows, and whether to go on.	At the planned stop, or earlier with the off switch.
4. A person decides	Decisions on the record, with who made each one and when.	Any time. Nothing irreversible runs without the owner.
5. Agreed rules	The agreed rules, who agreed them, and a log of every approval.	Any time. The off switch stops it at once.

Not published here

Ask, and the team answers.

Timing and commercial terms, including what you owe if you stop, are not published; ask the team for them in writing before step 1. The product documentation is at docs.octo.ad. Ask the octopus, or request early access below.

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