A peer-group installation of the Peak Operating Loop for federal firms. Twelve firms, one methodology, three months of working sessions that leave each firm with its own installed operating system, its own Route document, and a peer network of CEOs who are running the same play.
The Federal AI Operators Cohort exists because the firms that get this right will outgrow the firms that don't, and most won't get this right alone. The methodology is hard to install in isolation. Peer pressure, shared deadlines, and the candor of operators who are wrestling with the same problems accelerate what would otherwise be a year of independent fumbling into a single quarter of structured installation.
Who this is for
Civilian agency contractors in the $10M to $100M revenue range. Founder-led, operator-led, or PE-backed. The CEO or a designated leadership-team executive owns the engagement and attends every session.
The right firm has at least one of these conditions:
- Revenue is growing but margin is not, and the leadership team can no longer absorb the operational drag of growth
- The board, the buyer, or the next acquirer is asking what the firm's AI strategy actually is, and the current answer is a list of tools rather than a system
- AI experiments have produced enough impressive demos that the gap between what has been shown and what is actually in production has become embarrassing
- The next 90 days of federal contracting will reward firms that can move from idea to governed workflow faster than their competitors
The wrong firm: any firm where the CEO is not personally committed to attending. The cohort is not survivable as a delegated assignment.
What you leave with
Three things, each of which would be valuable alone. Together they are the deliverable.
Your Route, fully populated. The canonical document the methodology produces. It contains your Economic Baseline, your Summit and Field Map, your Values rendered as runtime rules for people and agents, your Annual Aim and current Move Scorecard, your Agent Accountability Chart with both human and agent seats, your Loop Dashboard configuration, and your weekly Loop Meeting setup. It is your operating manual, written by you, structured by the methodology.
An installed Loop. You leave running the methodology, not planning to start it. Your first Loop Meeting happens during the cohort. Your first sensing agents are live. Your Values Agent is configured against your values. The Loop is not a deliverable you take home and unpack; it is already turning before the cohort ends.
A peer network of 11 federal services firm CEOs. Operators running the same methodology against the same federal market, with a shared vocabulary and a shared standard of what's working. The cohort is structured to produce relationships that outlast it. Federal-firm CEO peer networks are difficult to build through normal channels. The cohort is a deliberate construction of one.
Format
The cohort runs from October 2026 through mid-January 2027.
Kickoff in DC: October 6, 2026. A two-day in-person session. The Economic Baseline gets captured for each firm. The Summit, Field, and Buyer get drafted. Each firm leaves with the first two artifacts of its Route, the methodology vocabulary internalized, and a working session schedule for the next twelve weeks.
Virtual working sessions: October through mid-January. One ninety-minute session per week, structured around one stage of the methodology per week. Each session is a working session, not a lecture. The firms work on their own Route during the session, with coaching from Bryan and structured peer feedback. By the end of the twelve weeks, each firm's Route is complete and its first Loop Meeting is running.
Optional Park City retreat: January 2027. An optional three-day session in Park City, Utah for cohort members who want a final in-person working session to pressure-test their installed Loop, see other firms' Routes, and lock in peer relationships for the year ahead. Cost is separate from the cohort tuition.
Founding cohort terms
This is the first time the Federal AI Operators Cohort runs. Founding-cohort terms reflect that.
Twelve firms maximum. Selected on fit, not first-come.
Founding-cohort tuition: $10,000 per firm. The standard tuition starting with the second cohort will be $20,000. The price reflects the methodology's value at scale, not the value of one CEO's time over three months; founding-cohort members get the steepest economics that will be available.
What's included. All in-person and virtual sessions, the Peak Operating Loop methodology one-pager and worked example, the Route template, the Loop Dashboard reference build, the Peak Operating Loop coaching skill for ongoing AI-assisted methodology application, founding-cohort access to Bryan between sessions for one-to-one questions, and an alumni Slack workspace for the cohort.
What's not included. Travel to and from DC for the kickoff. The optional Park City retreat (priced separately). Any one-to-one advisory engagement that goes beyond the cohort's coaching scope.
How to apply
The application is five questions. It is designed to take 15 minutes and to identify fit, not to gatekeep. Applications close September 8, 2026. Selection decisions go out within two weeks of submission.
The application has five short sections. Complete them in one sitting, or use them to prepare before applying.
1. Firm context.
- Firm name
- CEO or principal applicant name and role
- Annual revenue (range)
- Headcount
- Year founded
2. Federal contract mix. What percentage of your revenue is currently federal? Within that, what is the rough breakdown across civilian agencies, defense, intelligence, and other? Which agencies are your largest current customers?
3. Decision authority. Will the applicant attend every session personally? If not, who attends and what is your authority structure for decisions made during the cohort? (The cohort is not survivable as a delegated assignment; if the answer is "I'll send my COO," the right path is one-to-one Advisory, not the cohort.)
4. What you are trying to figure out. In your own words, what is the operating-model problem you are bringing to the cohort? What would have to be true at the end of January 2027 for this to have been worth your time and money?
5. A peer reference. The name and contact information of one federal services firm CEO who would vouch for you, or who you would want to see in this cohort alongside you. This is not a check on your credentials; it is a check on the peer network the cohort will form.
If you are not ready for the cohort
The cohort is one of four ways to engage with the Peak Operating Loop. If the timing, the price, or the format does not fit, the front door is the AI Opportunity Assessment.
AI Opportunity Assessment, $1,000. A paid diagnostic that captures your Economic Baseline, identifies and ranks your AI opportunities, and delivers a 90-day execution roadmap. Most firms that eventually join the cohort start here. The Assessment also serves as the qualification artifact for one-to-one Advisory engagements.
Operating Snapshot, free. A five-minute interactive coach that produces a first sketch of your firm's Loop on the spot. The fastest way to see the methodology operating against your firm.
One-to-one Advisory. A private engagement to install the Peak Operating Loop end to end. Recommended for firms whose timing does not match the cohort calendar, whose data sensitivity requires a private engagement, or whose specific situation calls for a custom path.
Frequently asked questions
When does the cohort start? October 6, 2026, in Washington DC. Applications close September 8, 2026. Selection decisions go out within two weeks of submission.
Who is the cohort for? Civilian agency contractors in the $10M to $100M revenue range, founder-led or operator-led, where the CEO or a designated leadership-team executive will attend every session personally.
Why a cohort instead of one-to-one advisory? Because the methodology installs better with peer pressure, shared deadlines, and the candor of operators wrestling with the same problems. The peer network is itself one of the three deliverables; it cannot be reproduced through one-to-one engagement.
Can my COO attend instead of me? No. The cohort is structured around the CEO's authority to make operating-model decisions in the room. If the CEO cannot attend, the right path is one-to-one Advisory, where the engagement structure adapts to the firm's actual decision authority.
What does it cost? Founding-cohort tuition is $10,000 per firm. Standard tuition starting with the second cohort will be $20,000. Travel and the optional Park City retreat are separate.
How is the cohort selected? On fit, not first-come. The selection criteria are: appropriate firm size and federal market focus, CEO commitment to personal attendance, a clearly articulated operating-model problem, and a peer network the cohort will benefit from. Twelve firms maximum.
What happens if I am accepted but cannot make it? The tuition is refundable up to four weeks before the October 6 kickoff. After that, it is transferable to the second cohort or to one-to-one Advisory at the standard rate.
Can two leaders from one firm attend? Yes. Most firms send the CEO plus one (typically COO or Chief of Staff). The tuition is per firm, not per attendee.
What if my firm is not federal? The cohort is currently scoped to civilian agency contractors because the methodology's installation pattern, the AI-readiness regulatory context, and the peer network all benefit from market focus. Future cohorts may open to adjacent markets. For non-federal firms now, one-to-one Advisory is the path.
Will there be additional cohorts? Yes. The Federal AI Operators Cohort is the first. Additional cohorts (federal and adjacent) will follow on a cadence yet to be announced. Standard tuition will apply.
What is the Peak Operating Loop? Jupiter Peak's operating methodology for AI-native firms. It connects strategy, people, agents, market sensing, and adaptation into one measurable operating loop, governed by a falsifiable Economic Test. Read the full methodology