In traditional outsourcing, the vendor employs the team for the duration of the contract, and you pay the vendor’s rate the whole time. In BOT, we build and run the team with a planned end date, then transfer the engineers, processes, and infrastructure to your company. After transfer, you pay your own running costs with no vendor margin. BOT requires a longer commitment, and in return, you own the center.
Build-operate-transfer IT services
Build your own AI and .NET engineering center abroad without registering a company. No hiring through unfamiliar recruiters, no running payroll under foreign labor law.
We hire and run the team, then hand it over along with processes and infrastructure when you’re ready. The code and intellectual property completely belong to you.
Microsoft Partner / ISO 27001 / AI + .NET engineering centers / Employer of Record
Build operate transfer IT outsourcing
Build-operate-transfer (BOT) is a specific engagement model in which we hire the engineers you need and employ them through our company. We manage their daily work for an agreed period, and then they move to your company along with everything they built.
Companies choose this model when they want their own engineering center in another country but don’t want to spend time and effort on entity registration and hiring. Our BOT engagements focus on AI and .NET teams: ML engineers, LLM developers, computer vision engineers, and .NET architects.
Why building your own offshore engineering center is hard, and how BOT helps
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Setting up a captive center takes several months
Before the first engineer can start, you need a registered local company, bank accounts, an accountant, and employment contracts that follow local labor law. Each step depends on local rules and local partners you don’t yet have. By the time the first commit lands, you have spent months and a large budget on work that isn’t related to engineering.
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Traditional outsourcing keeps the team with the vendor
Typical outsourcing contracts assign the code to you, but the engineers stay on the vendor’s payroll. They also hold the knowledge of why the system works the way it does. When the contract ends, that knowledge leaves with them, and your next team has to reverse-engineer its own product.
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AI engineers might be hard to hire in your home market
Really experienced ML engineers, LLM developers, and computer vision engineers are in short supply. Numerous large tech companies compete for the same people. A mid-size company that tries to build a full AI team at home can search for a long time and still have no luck. Hiring in another country opens a much larger pool.
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Hiring abroad without local operations breaks down
Hiring engineers directly in another country means handling payroll, taxes, benefits, and labor rules you are not familiar with. It gets even harder if you’re developing fr the regulated areas. Without a local manager, onboarding, performance reviews, and daily problems fall on your team at home, often across time zones. You risk burnout, and your engineers might leave because of the hassle and complications.
Our build-operate-transfer services
Build operate transfer IT services
We offer build-operate-transfer services for AI and .NET engineering centers. You get your own team abroad without the risk of setting up a captive entity first. Our build-operate-transfer IT services run in three phases, and each one ends with a clear deliverable.
Build phase (1 to 8 weeks)
Build-operate-transfer consulting starts before the actual job, with a conversation. We run a small but comprehensive interview and design the team structure with you. Then, we source and vet candidates and set up tools and infrastructure. Engineers are hired through Blackthorn Vision’s legal entity, so you don’t need a local company at this stage. Your hired team works from week 6.
Operate phase (3 to 18 months and beyond)
We run the center day-to-day while you set the direction. Blackthorn Vision handles engineering management, HR, payroll, benefits, and performance reviews, and grows the team as your plans require. We also manage tools, security, compliance, and team culture according to your standards. During this phase, build-operate-transfer outsourcing works like a managed dedicated team, with one difference: every process is set up to move to you later.
Transfer phase
When you’re ready, you get a fully operational engineering team that already works the way your company does. The center becomes yours. We prepare full codebase documentation, hand over processes, and complete the formal asset transfer. If you don’t have a legal entity in the country yet, we help you set one up. Engineers then move to your payroll or your local entity, and you own the offshore engineering center completely.
Why choose Blackthorn Vision for BOT
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Centers built for AI and .NET work
Many BOT providers build general software teams. We build AI engineering centers with ML engineers, LLM developers, computer vision engineers, and .NET architects who connect AI to production systems. Blackthorn Vision is a Microsoft-partnered .NET and AI development company that helps enterprise teams build and modernize complex software products, and our BOT centers draw on that experience.
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Microsoft stack from the first week
Your center works on Azure, Microsoft 365, and GitHub Enterprise. As a Microsoft Partner, we know how to set these tools up so they work well together. We can create them under your own accounts from the start, so there is no data or tooling to migrate during transfer.
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ISO 27001 controls throughout operation
We run the center under our ISO 27001 information security management system. Security controls, data handling policies, and compliance documentation are in place while we operate the team. When the center moves to you, that documentation moves with it, giving your audits a solid starting point.
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Transfer costs agreed up front
Transfer milestones and fees get written into the contract before the beginning of the build phase. You know the final phase costs and when it can happen. We guarantee that no new charges appear at the moment you’re ready to take over.
What transfers in a BOT engagement with Blackthorn Vision
All technologiesWe agree on the transfer scope beforehand and write it down in the contract. Both sides know from the start what's included in the handover.
Engineering team
Pre-vetted engineers who already know your codebase, processes, and people. They join your company with the context they built during the operate phase, so work continues at the same pace.
IP and codebase
All code and IP are assigned to you from the first sprint. NDAs and IP assignment agreements are signed before work begins, so ownership is settled long before the transfer.
Processes and documentation
Engineering playbooks, onboarding guides, and architecture decision records that explain the logic behind the system’s design. Your managers can use them to run the team and onboard new hires immediately after transfer.
The Blackthorn Vision BOT team
“A BOT is a very interesting engagement, and a very underrated one. But when the client receives their own operating team – without hustling about bureaucracy and hiring – that’s a massive help for medium or growing companies.”
Mykhailo Terentiak, Founder & CEO
How Blackthorn Vision delivers a BOT engagement
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01
Discovery and scoping
We start with your goals for the center. Together, we define the team size, the AI and .NET roles you need, the transfer timeline, and the legal structure that fits your company. We also confirm whether BOT is the right model for you or whether a team extension would serve you better. At the end of this step, you receive a BOT proposal with pricing and transfer terms.
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Build phase: Team recruitment
We source and vet candidates for each role, and you can join the final interviews. Engineers are hired under our legal entity, so you don’t need a local company yet. The first hire usually starts within 2 to 3 weeks, and the full team is in place after 6 weeks.
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Operate phase: Managed delivery
The team works on your roadmap while we manage engineering, HR, payroll, and performance. With build-operate-transfer IT outsourcing, you direct the work, and we handle everything around it. Every quarter, we hold a business review with you to go over delivery, team growth, and progress toward transfer.
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Transfer preparation
Build-operate-transfer companies differ most in handover preparation and execution, so we start working on that early. We document the IP, processes, and infrastructure, and help you set up the entity that will employ the team. Before the engineers move, you receive a transfer readiness report that shows what is ready and what still needs work.
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05
Transfer and handover
We complete the legal transfer, and the engineers join your entity or payroll. We support their onboarding into your company so that daily work continues smoothly without a break or unnecessary stress. From this point on, the team is fully yours.
FAQ
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How is BOT different from traditional IT outsourcing?
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How long does the build phase take?
The build phase takes about eight weeks. The first engineer often starts within 2 to 3 weeks, and the full team is writing code by weeks 6 to 10. The exact timing depends on how many roles you need and at what seniority.
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Who owns the IP during the operate phase?
You own all intellectual property. NDAs and IP assignment agreements are signed before work starts, so code, models, and documentation belong to you as the team creates them. The transfer changes who employs the team. You retain ownership of the work throughout.
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Can we transfer AI engineers as well as .NET developers?
Yes. The center can include ML engineers, LLM developers, and computer vision engineers alongside .NET developers, and all of them can transfer. The MLOps setup transfers too, including Azure ML workspaces, model registries, MLflow tracking, and monitoring dashboards. Where possible, we create this infrastructure in your own Azure environment, so the transfer doesn’t require moving models or data.
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What happens if the transfer doesn’t go as planned?
We use the transfer readiness report to spot and prevent potential problems. If your company isn’t ready to take over, the operate phase can be extended under the contract.
Each engineer also decides individually whether to accept your offer. We keep documentation current and spread knowledge across the team, so the center keeps working if someone chooses not to move. We can then help you fill that role.
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What are the transfer fees?
Transfer fees are fixed in the contract, together with the milestones that trigger them. The amount depends on team size, the length of the operate phase, and what the transfer includes. You’ll see the exact figures in the BOT proposal after discovery.
