Lacey Kesler

Solutions Engineering Architect · Creator of the DOC Model

Build systems that don't break when you grow.

For automation consultants, agency operators, and ops leads whose stack keeps breaking. I map your tangle of tools to three clean layers — Data, Operations, Components — and hand you a ranked list of what will break next, and the order to fix it in.

Book the Architecture Audit — $2,500 Get the free field guide

Experience & trusted by

The Tool Trap

Most teams learn tools before architecture. Six months later they're holding five of them together with digital duct tape.

You picked a tool because it demoed well. It worked — then the project grew, so you bolted on another, then a third to connect the first two. Now one stores data another can't read, and changing one thing breaks three others. That's not a failure of effort. It's a failure of architecture.

  • Data — where information lives
  • Operations — the logic that moves it
  • Components — what users see

The DOC Model is the fix: give every tool one job and one clear edge. Swap tools without rebuilding, debug in minutes, and grow without collapsing.

Why it pays off

Bad architecture isn't a nuisance. It's a line item.

The tangle has a price — in wasted spend, lost revenue, and expensive rework. Getting the layers right is the cheapest insurance you'll buy.

$12.9M
average yearly cost of poor data quality to an organization.
Gartner
up to 100×
more it costs to fix a flaw in production than at the design stage.
IBM Systems Sciences Institute
15–25%
of revenue lost to bad data at a typical company.
MIT Sloan Management Review

An architecture audit finds these leaks before they compound — which is why it's the cheapest engagement I offer and the one that pays for itself first.

How I help

One engagement. Fixed scope, fixed price.

Most architecture problems don't need a project. They need someone to tell you the truth about what you've already built.

Start here · $2,500 flat · 5 business days

Architecture Audit + Roadmap

Send me the build that breaks most. I map it to the DOC Model, hand back a ranked list of every layer violation with the specific failure each one will cause, and walk you through it live for 90 minutes. You keep the map and the fix list — no strings, no upsell required.

See what's included

Once the map exists, some clients have me build it (Systems Build), keep me on call (Fractional Architect), or bring me in to teach the team (DOC Model Workshops). Those are conversations for after the audit — ask if you already know you need one.

What I build

Solutions across every layer

Whatever's fragile — data, logic, interface, or the AI on top — I build the durable version.

AI agents & MCP servers

Custom AI + MCP integrations that let AI operate your systems — like the DOC Model MCP.

Data systems & automations

A source-of-truth data layer wired to automations that don't break — Supabase, Airtable, n8n, whatever the job needs.

Web, CMS & AI layers

Front-ends with AI layers that enrich and audit before you ship — a CMS like Webflow, or a custom React build.

Payments & fulfillment

Stripe or Lemon Squeezy → database → gated delivery. Secure, idempotent, verified — revenue that just works.

How it works

Three steps to a system that lasts

  1. Book the audit

    A short call to confirm it's the right fit and get access to the build that worries you most. Scope and price are already set, so there's no proposal cycle.

  2. Get your blueprint

    I turn your tangle into a clear DOC-Model plan — what to build, what to fix, and in what order.

  3. You fix it — or I do

    Most teams take the roadmap and run it themselves. If you'd rather I built it, that's a separate conversation we have after you've seen the map.

Packages

Simple, scoped engagements

The audit is fixed-scope and fixed-price — we start with a short call to confirm fit and get access, then it runs. The other two we'd scope together.

Start here

Audit + Roadmap

Know what's fragile and what to fix first.

$2,500 flat

You walk away with

  • A full DOC-Model map of your stack
  • Every layer violation, ranked by what it will break
  • A prioritized fix-it roadmap
  • A recorded 90-min walkthrough
  • Delivered in 5 business days
Book the audit

We confirm fit, I get access, the audit starts — it isn't a pitch. Prefer email? Ask me anything first.

Systems Build

A system that scales — not another thing to hold together.

from $15k

You walk away with

  • A fully architected + built system
  • Data, Operations, Components + AI
  • Handover docs your team can run
  • 30 days post-launch support
Enquire

Fractional Architect

A senior architect on call, without the hire.

$4,500 / mo

You walk away with

  • Ongoing architecture reviews
  • Async access for the tough calls
  • Monthly working sessions
  • Cancel anytime
Enquire

Also available: team workshops — ask about a session for your team.

Use cases

Systems I've architected

Problem → what I built → what it changed.

Flagship · AI agents & MCP

The DOC Model MCP

An AI that applies my framework — on any platform

The problem
Ask any AI "what tool should I use?" and you get generic answers — tool names, no architecture, no judgment about what belongs where.
What I built
An MCP server, fed by my framework, that gives any AI the DOC Model's reasoning: classify a tool to its layer, choose architecture by requirement (not brand), find layer violations, and map a whole project.
The result
AI that recommends durable architecture and catches mistakes — the same judgment I bring, available wherever your team already works.

Web, CMS & AI

AI-Native CMS Engine

A safety gate for Webflow

The problem
Content errors — broken links, wrong metadata, off-brand copy — kept shipping straight to production, and manual enrichment was slow.
What I built
An AI layer in front of the Webflow CMS: bulk content enrichment, automated auditing, and guardrails that catch mistakes before they publish.
The result
Fewer errors reaching production, faster content ops, and a team that trusts what ships.

Not ready to buy?

Run the audit on yourself first.

The DOC Model — a 27-page field guide to why your automations keep breaking, and the three-layer map that fixes it. The same framework I'd use on your stack, free, so you can try it on your own before you pay me to.

No sequence, no pitch. You'll get the guide and the occasional field note.

About

I wrote the framework I'll use on your systems.

I'm Lacey Kesler — Solutions Engineering Architect, creator of the DOC Model, and founder of the Strata School. I've built systems and products across Bloomberg BETA, Techstars, Stanford, and Girls Who Code, and I now help teams design architecture that survives every tool they'll ever switch to. Not more tools — better thinking about the ones you have.

72%
profit growth as Head of Product
100+
products shipped
700+
user interviews
Book a discovery call Connect on LinkedIn

Free field guide

The DOC Model

Data · Operations · Components

New to the framework? Start with the free field guide — 27 pages on why automations break and the map that fixes it.

Get the free guide →

Let's architect something that lasts.

Send me the build that breaks most. In five business days you'll have the map, the ranked list of what will break next, and a 90-minute walkthrough. $2,500 flat.

Book a discovery call

or email me