Design Partners
We're taking on a small number of design partners to shape the enterprise layer of nono. If you're running AI agents where they can touch something that matters, we want to build the next version with you.
Apply to become a design partnerNot sure that's you yet? Talk to a founder — 30 minutes, no commitment.
Why now
nono's open-source runtime is live and in production. What's taking shape next is the enterprise layer — the capabilities that turn runtime agent isolation into a deployable security posture for teams and organisations.
That layer needs to be built against real constraints. We want a small number of partners whose production environment is the design spec.
Four pillars of secure agent operation
Every agent in production has a lifecycle. We're looking for partners who feel the pain at one of these stages. Pick the pillar where your pain is real. We'll build it with you. Don't see your area? Talk to us — if it fits the spirit of what we're building, we'd like to hear about it.
Provisioning
What an agent receives — and what's verified — before and during execution. Secure management of credentials, policy, and instruction files.
Supervision
What happens when an agent hits a boundary. Human-in-the-loop approval workflows, dynamic permission expansion, and integrated elevation paths.
Infrastructure
Where the agent runs; fleet operations for self-hosted deployments.
Provenance
What auditors and incident responders can prove, replay, and recover. Tamper-evident audit trail, immutable snapshots, atomic rollback, signed evidence, session replay.
Where are you in this?
Three reasonable next steps, depending on where you are.
You've got production agent pain
In one of those pillars. Apply to be a design partner — 12–24 weeks across co-development and production validation; we build the slice you need most.
ApplyYou're not sure yet
Agents are in your stack and you're worried, but you haven't pinned down which pillar fits. 30 minutes, no commitment — we'll figure out what your right next step looks like.
Talk to a founderWho we're looking for as design partners
The filters below apply to design-partner applicants specifically. For lighter-touch conversations (Talk to a founder), they don't — that path is intentionally broader.
- You're operating AI agents in production, or piloting toward it in the next 90 days.
- You have a specific enterprise requirement the open-source runtime doesn't yet cover.
- You can commit to 12–24 weeks total: weekly working sessions during co-development (~8–10 weeks), then biweekly during production validation (~4–12 weeks).
- You have a realistic path to a commercial conversation inside your organisation — a CISO, VP of Engineering, or comparable decision-maker.
- You're willing to be named as a design partner when we get it right.
What you get
Roadmap influence
Help shape the roadmap and priorities for the agreed focus areas, based on real-world use cases.
Direct founder access
A named founder as your primary point of contact, weekly working sessions, and a shared Slack channel.
Early access
Access to pre-release and enterprise features.
OSS priority review SLA
Prioritised review of contributions to the nono open-source project within agreed business-hour timeframes, for repos and contributions aligned with the agreed focus areas.
Close collaboration
Regular feedback sessions with our engineering team.
Defined scope & duration
A 12–24 week engagement: ~8–10 weeks of co-development followed by ~4–12 weeks of production validation. Written definition of done; extendable by mutual written agreement.
Flexible commercial model
Free during the design phase, with a clear path to discounted design partner pricing.
No lock-in
No long-term commitment — success leads to expansion.
Co-announcement
Founding design partners are named when the enterprise tier launches publicly — subject to your consent.
In return, we ask
A design partnership is a two-way commitment. Here's what we'll need from you.
- A named technical champion as your primary point of contact.
- Active engagement: regular feedback, real usage in a production or pre-production environment, and stakeholder access where relevant.
- Permission to reference you as a design partner (logo / case study, subject to your approval).
How it works
A design partnership runs in three phases over 12–24 weeks, with a parallel commercial conversation that opens once the work is in production.
Discover & scope
- 1
Apply
We read every submission.
- 2
Chat with a founder (30 min)
Context, fit, and which pillar likely matches your pain.
- 3
Scoping session (60 min)
Which pillar, what "done" looks like, and a first slice we can run together over 2–3 weeks.
Earn the partnership
- 4
First slice
A concrete capability running in your environment. We work with you to make it real. No formal commitment yet — this is how both sides decide whether the partnership is worth committing 12+ weeks to.
- 5
Founding-partner brief
Two pages. No MSA. Formalises a partnership that's already started.
Build & validate
- 6
Build together (8–10 weeks)
Weekly working sessions on the agreed pillar. Shared Slack, direct founder access; the slice grows into a complete capability.
- 7
Production deployment & validation (4–12 weeks)
The capability runs in your production environment with continued founder support. The commercial conversation opens during this phase, once there's real production data behind the work.
Apply to be a design partner
A short form. A founder reads every submission and replies within a few working days.