THE ORDER OF OPERATIONS
Deterministic first. AI last.
The pipeline is fixed. A language model enters at the last stage only, once the score already exists and can no longer be moved by anything it says.
01 → signals
Structured profile fields. Nothing scraped, nothing guessed.
02 → enrichment
Sourced evidence attached to the record, labelled at the field.
03 → gates
Γ runs on the whole pool. Blocks and caps applied first.
04 → score
S = min(Σ fᵢ, Γ). Computed in code, reproducible.
05 → explanation
The model writes prose about a score it cannot change.
THE SEVEN COMPONENTS
Σ is seven numbers, each of which you can read.
- f₁
- Complementarity
- What one seeks against what the other offers.
- f₂
- Product fit
- Category, specification and volume actually align.
- f₃
- Value-chain role
- Producer, distributor, integrator, buyer — not all the same.
- f₄
- Category
- Adjacent sectors trade; identical ones compete.
- f₅
- Commercial
- Ticket size, terms and readiness to transact.
- f₆
- Logistics
- Corridor, route and lead time make a deal shippable.
- f₇
- Ecosystem
- Regulatory, certification and partner coverage.
THE FIRST COMPONENT
Two dairy producers are not a match. They are a mirror.
Similarity search is the default because it is easy. It is also the reason so many matchmaking tools seat two competitors together and call it a lead. Complementarity asks a different question: does either party want what the other has?
C(a,b) = |L(a) ∩ O(b)| + |L(b) ∩ O(a)|
Commerce runs on complementarity. Someone must want what the other has.
THE GATES
Γ is programme configuration, not a hardcoded opinion.
Move the controls. Watch a score that a narrative cannot rescue.
Profile A
- Who
- Nigerian F&B producer · Lagos
- Seeks
- Seeks: distribution, KSA importers
- Offers
- Offers: packaged goods, halal-certified
Profile B
BLOCK
Wrong side. In a two-country corridor, two Saudi firms never match.
CAP 45
No trade. Neither party offers what the other wants.
CAP 70
Product unverified. Intent aligns, evidence doesn't.
OFF
Direction-scoped. A rule that matters entering one market, not the other.
Γ(a,b) = min( all caps ) · 𝔹[ no hard block ]
S(a,b) = min( Σ wᵢ · fᵢ(a,b) , Γ(a,b) )
Configurable per programme, per direction
Every gate has four settings. A gate that blocks in one corridor may only flag in another; the programme decides, and the setting is recorded with the score.
- DIRECTION
- Which side may be introduced to which, per corridor.
- block / cap / flag / off
- OFFER OVERLAP
- No complementary offer between the two records.
- cap 45 / flag / off
- PRODUCT EVIDENCE
- Claims unverified against a source.
- cap 70 / flag / off
- LANGUAGE
- No shared working language between the two parties.
- block / off
WHAT THE MODEL IS ALLOWED TO DO
The model narrates. It never decides.
- EVIDENCE
- The model explains a score it did not produce. It may cite fields; it may not create them.
- SOURCED / INFERRED
- Every claim is labelled at the field. A sourced claim carries its source; an inferred claim says so.
- CONFIDENCE
- Confidence reflects the quality of the evidence, not the fluency of the sentence.
- NO SCRAPING
- Nothing is harvested. The graph is built from what parties submit and what partners verify.
{ amount: 0, basis: "insufficient evidence" }
A system that cannot say “I don’t know” will always say something else.
HUMAN IN THE LOOP
The programme owner outranks the algorithm.
- APPROVE
- The match enters the schedule and becomes an introduction.
- REJECT
- Rejection requires a category. An unexplained rejection teaches nothing.
- LOCK
- A match the programme owner requires, exempt from re-generation.
- EDIT
- Adjust the pairing or the slot; the score and the change are both kept.
Rejections feed the next generation: a rejected category is a constraint the next run already knows about. Every state change writes an immutable audit row with the actor, the value before and the value after.
If you cannot say who changed a match and when, you do not have a record.
INTRO → MEETING → DEAL
A match is only real once it survives the calendar.
- INTRO
- A scored pair, allocated to a slot, with both parties told why.
- MEETING
- Attendance and outcome captured against the match, not the room.
- DEAL
- Value traced back to the introduction that produced it.
A = Σ deals traced to a match / Σ matches introduced
- 318
- guests, 3 editions
- 20
- countries
- $4.78M
- deal value traced
Bring us a room and a number.
Tell us the event, the corridor, and the outcome you are measured on. We will show you the match set the current data supports — including where it is thin.