Becoming a Mickai design partner: what it means

A Mickai design partner is a private-sector or regulated organisation that gets early, hands-on access to the Mickai SIOS and helps shape how it works for real operational use. Design partners run the SIOS on their own hardware, keep it inside their own walls, and put it to work on the tasks that matter to them. In return they influence what gets built, how it behaves, and the order in which it arrives. It is a working relationship, not a waiting list.

• Design partners are selected, not signed up: we work with a small number of organisations at a time.
• The Mickai SIOS runs on the partner's own hardware, owned and offline, with behaviour you can prove.
• Partners get a direct line to the people building the SIOS and a real say in the roadmap.
• The programme suits private-sector and regulated organisations with genuine operational needs.
• You apply once at mickai.co.uk/beta and we take the conversation from there.

What is the design-partner programme?

The programme is a closed beta. Rather than opening the Mickai SIOS to everyone at once, we bring on a small number of organisations that are ready to use it in earnest and willing to help shape it. Selection matters here: not every applicant is accepted, and the fit has to work both ways.

The reason for keeping it tight is quality of attention. Early access is only useful if the people who hold it can actually be heard, and we would rather work closely with a few organisations than thinly with many. That is what turns feedback into a product that fits real regulated work.

What does a design partner get?

The headline is access. Design partners get the Mickai SIOS running on their own hardware, owned and offline, well before general availability. The system stays inside your walls, which means the work it does and the data it touches never leave your control.

Beyond access, partners get influence. You see the roadmap, you tell us what is missing for your sector, and your real tasks help decide what we build next and in what order. There is a direct line to the people writing the software, so feedback becomes changes rather than tickets in a queue.

You also get provenance. Because the SIOS runs where you can see it, its behaviour is provable rather than promised. Mickai holds 104 filed UK patent applications, approximately 2,340 claims, owned by Mickai LTD, covering the way this sovereign approach works.

What do we ask of a design partner?

The main thing we ask for is honest use. A design partnership only works if the SIOS is put to work on real tasks rather than left in a sandbox. Real use is what surfaces the rough edges worth fixing, and it is far more valuable to us than polite approval.

We also ask for a named contact who can speak for how your organisation actually works, time to give considered feedback, and patience with software that is still maturing. In exchange, that feedback carries weight that later customers will not have.

Who makes a good design partner?

Good design partners tend to be private-sector and regulated organisations that already take data boundaries seriously. Finance, healthcare, legal, professional services, and other sectors where information cannot simply be sent to a third party all fit naturally.

The common thread is operational intent. The strongest partners arrive with real work they want done and real constraints they cannot compromise, because that is exactly the pressure that makes the SIOS better. Mickai was founded by Micky Irons on a straightforward premise: that serious organisations should be able to run capable AI entirely inside their own walls, and design partners are how we prove that in practice.

How is it different from a paid pilot?

A pilot usually evaluates a finished product against a fixed specification. A design partnership sits earlier than that. The SIOS is still taking shape, and partners help decide what shape it takes, which is a different and more collaborative kind of relationship.

That difference cuts both ways. Partners accept that some things are still being built, and in return they get a level of influence over the SIOS that is not available once it is finished. It is the difference between choosing from a menu and helping write it.

Frequently asked questions

How do I apply to become a design partner?

Applications go through mickai.co.uk/beta. The form asks a little about your organisation and what you would use the SIOS for, and the conversation continues from there. Because places are limited, the more specific you are about your intended use, the stronger the application.

Will my data ever leave my hardware?

No. The Mickai SIOS runs on your own hardware, owned and offline, and is designed to keep everything it touches inside your walls. That is the point of the sovereign approach: behaviour you can prove rather than simply trust.

Do I need specialist infrastructure to take part?

The SIOS is built to run on hardware you own and control, and it is hardware-aware by design. Part of the application conversation is matching what you already have to what the SIOS needs, so there is no need to work that out alone in advance.

How selective is the programme?

It is deliberately selective. Only a small number of organisations take part at any one time, and acceptance depends on fit on both sides. That selectivity is exactly what lets us give each partner real attention.

Does becoming a design partner commit me to anything long-term?

A design partnership is a working relationship, not a lock-in. The focus is on using the SIOS, shaping it, and being heard. Anything about how a longer commercial relationship might look is discussed openly and never assumed. To start that conversation, apply at mickai.co.uk/beta.