# CandleAI — Staff orientation (short)

**Audience:** Internal team only  
**Updated:** 2026-08-01  
**Read time:** ~5 minutes  

## What we are

CandleAI sells **managed protein-structure prediction** for research labs: FASTA in → QC’d PDB + report out.

We are **not** a foundation-model company and **not** a medical device maker.

**Hard rule:** Computational research tool only. Customer owns wet-lab validation and regulatory strategy. **No invoice without QC-F.**

## What we offer (MVP story)

1. **Managed remote / cloud path (default for marketing)** — lab sends sequences; we run on our GPU stack; they get QC’d results. Easiest and cheapest for most labs.
2. **Optional customer hardware path (later / complex cases)** — we help deploy/configure their own gear for local or remote access when they need it.
3. **Proof first** — free pilots → QC proof → paid SKU (`CA-PROTEIN-PIPELINE-LIVE`).

Remote-first is the MVP wedge. Hardware growth (Spark + vault + future capacity) captures harder cases without forcing every lab to buy GPUs.

## How we work (AI-driven company)

- Tracker + GitHub Issues = scoreboard + assignment  
- DevBuddy Signature (Gemma → Qwen → evidence → merge) on strategy, SKUs, deploy, and company-formation steps  
- Staff training site (`training/`) expands folding + offer knowledge without long meetings  
- Geographic presence reduces single-region dependency  
- **Staff AI Board** (`staff/index.html`) — meeting hub for Christian / Elias / Derek: tasks, legal, async updates, quint AI knowledge. Easy approach: `docs/specs/candleai-staff-ai-board-easy-approach-p0.md`. Florida BYO-GPT trial: `team/TRIAL-ELIAS-GPT.md`.

## Who does what

| Person | Location | Primary responsibility |
|--------|----------|------------------------|
| **Christian** | California | Founder, platform, SKUs, DevBuddy loop |
| **Ali** | California | Ops / founder support |
| **Elias** | Florida | Technical docs + **timeline review** (knows project) |
| **Derek** | California | Product / folding engineering; Europe market assist |
| **Pierre** | Germany | DACH / EU lab connections |
| **Maria** | Dubai | MENA presence |
| **Etienne** | Dubai | MENA presence |

Interest check (everyone replies once): **contribute / watch / pause** for the 30-day plan.

## 30 days (interest + alignment)

| Week | Outcome |
|------|---------|
| 1 | Orientation + training site shared; interest replies collected |
| 2 | Elias delivers short technical-doc + timeline review notes |
| 3 | Team-approved copy of plan + free-pilot packet draft |
| 4 | Legal agreement draft path + deployable demo checklist green/red |

## 90 days (proof → paid path)

| Horizon | Outcome |
|---------|---------|
| Day 30–60 | Free pilots ready (send only after corp/app + human gate); TLS live; QC-F checklist defined |
| Day 60–90 | At least one pilot completed with QC evidence; SKU packaging reviewed via Signature; marketing one-pager frozen |

## Where to go next

1. Training site → [`../training/index.html`](../training/index.html)  
2. Big checklist → [`MVP-GOALS-CHECKLIST.md`](MVP-GOALS-CHECKLIST.md)  
3. 30/90 detail → [`PLAN-30-90.md`](PLAN-30-90.md)  
4. Live board → [`../progress/dashboard.html`](../progress/dashboard.html)  
5. Issues → GitHub `ChristianChabtini/candleAI`

## Non-negotiables

- No clinical claims  
- No secrets in git/chat  
- No pilot email send until human gate  
- No invoice without QC-F  
- Bridge AI/tech language for labs — we are **not** claiming to be medical professionals