When we say that an AI assistant “runs at the client”, we mean something very concrete: a computer installed at the company’s premises, running the assistant, the local model and the connection to the company’s data. We call it an appliance.
Below is how one is built, based on the installation for a distribution company in September 2026.
Why at the client’s premises
For many companies, the question is not “what can AI do”, but “where does our data end up”. An appliance gives a simple answer: the working data stays in the building. Area Sales Managers ask questions, the system calculates on the spot and answers, without client data passing through an external service.
The appliance runs:
- the assistant: the interface Area Sales Managers open on their phones;
- a local model, for day-to-day commands;
- the connection to the company CRM, with the same access rights as in the CRM: the Area Sales Manager sees their own clients, the director sees the whole company.
How Area Sales Managers reach it from a phone
Field staff are not in the office. They are on the road, on mobile data. The appliance is not exposed directly to the internet. It opens an encrypted connection to a relay server, and users come in through an address dedicated to the company.
Two rules for the relay:
- zero client data on the relay: the relay only carries the connection, it stores nothing;
- we are the only ones who generate the keys and passwords, manually; no tool generates them automatically.
Acceptance is tested the way a real user does it: from a phone, on mobile data, outside the company network. Not from the office, where everything appears to work.
What goes to the cloud and who decides
This is the important part, and the easiest to overlook.
Over time, alongside the local model, two external services appeared, both in an EU data centre:
- a larger model, for open conversations: natural language questions from management;
- voice transcription: the Area Sales Manager dictates the question instead of typing it, because most of them prepare their briefing before the client visit in the car, talking to the AI assistant.
These services are optional and are not switched on by default.
- We separate by role. Area Sales Managers use the local model and the fixed commands. The cloud service is available only to the roles that need it.
- Everything goes into the contract. Before launch: a data processing addendum (GDPR, art. 28) and clauses in the agreement employees sign for the use of the equipment.
“Verified, not claimed.”
The rule we work by: any state of the system, firewall, DNS or configuration, is read, logged and monitored continuously.
A concrete example: we have an automated check that confirms the appliance does not send data to the cloud. At first, the check looked at the addresses of the data services. We then extended it to cover every kind of external connection: data services, models, voice transcription. Now any new destination shows up in the report and has to be declared explicitly, with its reason.
In short
- the appliance keeps the working data at the company’s premises;
- Area Sales Managers reach it through the relay, without the relay seeing any data;
- any external service is a decision taken explicitly and written into the contract;
- every outbound connection is measured, not assumed.
Product details: Quiet Core.