AI is restructuring how every organization operates. The skills that make a great consultant — reading a room, building trust, managing change, knowing which problems are really people problems — are exactly what AI implementation requires. Sterling North provides the technical execution. What we need from you is what you've spent a career building.
This is a selective program. If you received this page, it's because we think you'd be the right fit.
The Sterling North Affiliate Partner Program exists because trust-based consulting sales cannot be manufactured — it can only be extended. The organizations that most need what SNP builds are not searching for AI consultants online. They are listening to people they already trust: their existing advisors, partners, and peers.
This program is designed to make it genuinely worthwhile for those trusted advisors to open doors they already have keys to. It is not a transactional referral scheme. It is a structured collaboration between SNP and non-competing consultants who share clients and can honestly vouch for what SNP delivers.
The program is designed for independent consultants and boutique consulting firms operating in non-AI domains — strategy, finance, HR, operations, legal, organizational design, and similar — who have established, trust-based client relationships with organizations of meaningful scale.
Admission is at SNP's sole discretion. SNP will not accept affiliates whose work overlaps materially with SNP's three service lines, or whose inclusion would create a conflict of interest with an existing SNP client.
There are two distinct registration events in this program: partner registration (becoming an affiliate) and deal registration (registering a specific client and mandate). Both are required. They are not interchangeable.
The title of Affiliate Partner reflects an active, contributing relationship — not a lifetime credential. An affiliate not in Good Standing retains any commission streams already being paid on active originated mandates, but may no longer use the affiliate title, register new companies, or originate new mandates.
Commission is earned on mandates that the affiliate partner originated. Origination requires both a registered introduction and material pre-sales participation. Neither alone is sufficient.
1. Problem Definition — At least one working session where the affiliate contributes their knowledge of the client's real constraint: what the problem costs, what a solved state looks like, and what prior attempts have been made.
2. Stakeholder Mapping — Identification of the right internal contacts: who sponsors the mandate, who must be on board, who could block it, and how to bring them along.
3. Proposal Review — A substantive review of the SNP proposal before submission, based on their knowledge of how this client evaluates decisions.
4. Client Alignment — Active participation in the proposal presentation or a preparatory discussion with SNP on positioning. The affiliate need not present the proposal themselves, but they must be briefed and aligned.
SNP will never use the origination standard as a mechanism to deny earned commission. When there is genuine ambiguity, SNP defaults in the affiliate's favour.
Commission is calculated as a percentage of SNP's gross revenue collected from the client on the originated mandate — not on subcontractor costs, disbursements, or taxes.
| Service Line | Rate | Applies To | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI WorkersRecurring engagement | 5% | All revenue collected on the originated mandate | No time cap.Paid for the full life of the active mandate. |
| AI SolversTranche 1 | 7.5% | First $500K of cumulative originated billings in the calendar year | On each originated mandate until completion. Threshold resets January 1. |
| AI SolversTranche 2 | 10% | Cumulative originated billings exceeding $500K in the calendar year | On each originated mandate until completion. Resets January 1. |
| AI TransformationsTranche 1 | 7.5% | First $500K of cumulative originated billings in the calendar year | On each originated mandate until completion. Threshold resets January 1. |
| AI TransformationsTranche 2 | 10% | Cumulative originated billings exceeding $500K in the calendar year | On each originated mandate until completion. Resets January 1. |
Deal registration establishes an affiliate's claim on a specific client and mandate. It must be completed before any SNP–client meeting occurs.
Commissions are paid within 30 days of SNP collecting payment from the client. The trigger is collection, not invoicing.
The affiliate partner puts their client relationship on the line. SNP's obligations reflect the weight of that.
The affiliate's role is front-loaded and substantive during the pre-sales phase, then shifts to governance and continuity once the mandate is underway.
Commission on an existing originated mandate continues regardless of the affiliate's subsequent activity. However, commission on a new mandate at the same company requires the affiliate to pass a three-gate eligibility test.
The following scenarios are addressed explicitly to remove ambiguity before it becomes conflict. Commissions are tied to mandates, not to clients. New mandates require new origination, subject to Section 10.
Each Worker mandate the affiliate originated carries its own 5% commission for the life of that mandate. Five Workers, all originated, all paying. Where the affiliate is active and involved at each stage, the practical effect is client-level participation in SNP's revenue from that company.
Commissions on existing active mandates continue without change. For the new Worker, SNP sends proactive notification and allows 15 business days. The three-gate test applies. If the affiliate has been absent from the client for over six months (Gate 1 failure), or the client is not comfortable (Gate 3 failure), SNP proceeds without commission obligation on the new mandate.
Existing commissions continue without interruption. For new mandates, the three-gate test applies. If six months have passed since the affiliate's engagement concluded and they have had no other contact with the client, SNP and the affiliate can agree informally that future mandates with this company are out of scope, documenting that agreement to avoid ambiguity later.
SNP applies the proactive notification to AP1 — because AP1 opened Company A. AP1 has 15 business days to initiate a scoping or proposal discussion with the CFO under this partnership, thereby registering that contact.
Company registration does not automatically give AP1 origination rights over every individual at that company — it gives them the right to be notified first and the opportunity to claim those rights through active engagement.
SNP's proactive notification obligation is triggered before responding substantively. The affiliate has 15 business days to engage. SNP will not manufacture urgency to circumvent the notification step.
Both affiliates may hold active registrations at Company A simultaneously. AP1 registers the CFO mandate; AP2 registers the COO mandate. Both earn commission independently. Neither has veto rights over the other's work at the company.
If a third contact at Company A emerges and neither affiliate has a relationship with that person, SNP notifies both simultaneously. First to initiate a qualifying proposal discussion registers that contact.
AP1 and AP2's shared presence does not give either of them automatic rights to each other's mandates. The origination standard — scoping or proposal for AI implementation under this partnership, with that specific contact — is the only path to commission.
SNP notifies both AP1 and AP2 simultaneously. The three-gate eligibility test applies independently to each. If both are eligible and wish to participate, the commission is split between them — not added. SNP pays one party; the affiliates settle the split between themselves before mandate signing.
If only one affiliate meets eligibility, they earn the full commission. If neither engages within 15 business days, SNP proceeds without commission obligation.
The affiliate program serves a specific strategic purpose. When SNP determines it is no longer needed, it may be closed.
The non-solicitation clause protects SNP. It does not restrict the affiliate's core consulting practice.
This program is designed to make disputes unlikely. When they arise, the following process applies — in strict sequence. Neither party should expect to shortcut these steps.
Let's talk before the agreement. A short conversation is all it takes to determine fit and answer any questions you have about how the program works in practice.
philippe.marcotte@sterlingnorth.partnersConfidential — For Prospective Affiliate Partners Only
