Client Updates
On a client engagement, the team sends the client one update at the end of every week. It keeps the client informed and creates the record of the engagement.
| Who sends | To | What it covers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client update | Client lead, once, for the team | Client point of contact | What the team shipped |
It is due Saturday by 11:59 PM in every week the engagement runs.
The end-of-week timing is intentional. It forces reflection on what actually got done, sets priorities before Monday, and surfaces blockers while there is still time to fix them.
The Client Update
Who Sends It
The client lead sends one email on behalf of the team. Individual students do not each send their own. If the client lead is unavailable, the QC lead sends it. Missing this email is a team-level miss and shows up in the client’s evaluation of the team.
Recipients
- To: Client point of contact
- CC: aifoundry@byu.edu, plus all team members
Email Format
1. Accomplished this week [Required]
- Completed work and deliverables, stated as outcomes rather than activities
- Include the number, the finding, or the decision, not just “worked on the model”
2. Priorities for next week [Required]
- What the team will do, realistically
- Who owns each item
3. Decisions or input we need from you [Required, say “none” if none]
- Anything the client owes the team
- Any decision the team cannot make on the client’s behalf
4. Blockers, risks, or dependencies [Omit if none]
- Anything that puts a deadline at risk
- Report it in the week you first see it
Example Email
Subject: AI Foundry Weekly Update - [Client] - Week of Oct 5
Hi [Name],
Accomplished this week:
- Scored 42 of the 60 candidate products against the draft criteria. 11 clear
the NPV multiple threshold of 3.0x under base-case assumptions.
- Reconciled the revenue baseline to your FY26 actuals. We were off by 2.3%
on specialty; the gap was a channel mapping issue, now corrected.
- Drafted the sensitivity structure for price erosion and launch timing.
Priorities for next week:
- Finish scoring the remaining 18 products (Maria, Josh)
- Run the first full sensitivity pass and identify which rankings are fragile (Ana)
- Draft the discovery findings document for your review (Tyler)
Decisions or input we need from you:
- Confirm whether the 12% price erosion assumption should hold across all
therapeutic areas or vary by category. This changes the ranking materially.
- We need read access to the 2024-2025 gross-to-net detail to validate margin.
Risks:
- If the gross-to-net data is not available in the next week, discovery will
be completed using modeled margin rather than actuals, and we will need to revisit the
build estimate afterward.
Thanks,
[Client lead name], on behalf of the [Client] Foundry teamWhat Makes an Update Good
This applies to the client update.
- Lead with the number or the finding. “11 of 42 products clear the threshold” is more useful than “continued portfolio scoring.”
- Name owners. Unowned priorities do not get done.
- Ask for what you need explicitly. Clients do not know what you need unless you tell them, and you are responsible for any blocker you did not raise.
- Flag risk early and unemotionally. A risk raised in week 4 can still be planned around. Raised in week 12, it usually cannot.
- Be concise. Bullets, not paragraphs.
- Never pad. A short honest week is fine. A long week of activity with no outcomes is not.
Weekly Rhythm
| Day | Activity |
|---|---|
| Monday | Team stand-up, confirm week’s priorities and owners |
| Midweek | Standing client call, execute |
| Thursday | QC lead reviews anything going to the client |
| Friday | Studio time in 1244 TNRB, cross-team critique; sprint demos every other Friday |
| Saturday | Client lead sends the client update, by 11:59 PM |