The innovation lab big primes have. Built for the rest of us.
H3 Labs is the research, development and digital media arm smaller companies can't afford to build. We prove ideas with working prototypes, then publish the story with professional digital content, all under your brand.
Large contractors have innovation labs and media teams. You have a proposal due Friday.
Big primes win with labs, prototypes, polished whitepapers and "we've already built it" demos. Smaller firms have the talent and the customer relationships, but not the bench, budget or time to run R&D and publish content alongside delivery. H3 closes that gap.
Promising it in the proposal
- Innovation sections written from scratch, without proof
- Billable staff pulled off delivery to experiment
- AI "strategy" slides with no working system behind them
- A website and LinkedIn page that haven't changed in a year
Showing it already works, and saying so well
- A working prototype and metrics you can cite
- Your team stays billable; ours experiments and publishes
- AI pilots built secure and accessible from day one
- A steady stream of whitepapers, videos and posts under your brand
Ideas in. Evidence out.
AI Pilots
LLM assistants, document triage, retrieval over your knowledge base, and agentic workflows, scoped to one problem and measured.
Proofs of Concept
Answer the question "can this work here?" with a running system instead of a slide, before you commit budget or bid.
Rapid Prototypes
Clickable, deployable prototypes of portals, dashboards and internal tools that users can test and react to.
Capability Demos
Proposal-ready demo environments, recorded walkthroughs and capability briefs to support orals and technical volumes.
Modernization Sprints
Test a migration path, such as legacy to cloud or monolith to containers, on a small slice before betting the program on it.
Architecture & Roadmaps
Reference architectures, technology evaluations and innovation roadmaps your leadership and your customers can act on.
Where the lab goes deep.
Applied AI
Practical AI that does one job well and can be measured. We build it with guardrails, human review and an honest read on where AI doesn't belong.
- ▸LLM assistants & retrieval (RAG)
- ▸Document classification & extraction
- ▸Proposal & compliance-matrix automation
- ▸AI evaluation, risk & governance plans
Cloud & Containers
Rapid environments on AWS and Red Hat OpenShift that prove a deployment pattern before it reaches production.
- ▸AWS reference builds
- ▸OpenShift / Kubernetes pilots
- ▸Containerization of legacy components
- ▸CI/CD & infrastructure-as-code starters
Document & Communications
Deep experience with high-volume customer communications, including OpenText Exstream, for agencies that generate millions of notices and letters.
- ▸Customer communications modernization
- ▸Template rationalization pilots
- ▸Accessible PDF & output testing
- ▸AI-assisted content review
Compliance by Design
Prototypes built for federal expectations from the first commit, so a pilot doesn't have to be rebuilt to pass review.
- ▸FISMA-aware architecture patterns
- ▸Section 508 accessibility built in
- ▸Security documentation starters
- ▸Responsible-AI checklists
Data & Automation
Turn manual reporting and spreadsheet workflows into lightweight tools and dashboards your team will actually use.
- ▸Program & status dashboards
- ▸Workflow & report automation
- ▸Data pipelines for small teams
- ▸Internal tools & portals
Hypothesis. Build. Prove. Transfer.
Every lab engagement runs on the same four-phase loop. You always know what we're testing, what it costs and what you get at the end.
Frame the bet
Define the problem, the success metric and the boundary of the experiment.
- Discovery workshop
- Written hypothesis & metrics
Make it real
A small senior team builds the thinnest version that can answer the question.
- Weekly demos
- Secure, accessible baseline
Measure it
Test against the metric with real users or real data. Report what worked and what didn't.
- Results report
- Capability brief
Make it yours
Code, documentation and IP go to your team, along with a path to production if you choose it.
- Repo & runbook
- Next-phase roadmap
Your in-house publishing team. Without the headcount.
H3 Media plugs into your existing business as an extension of your team. We plan, produce and publish digital content under your name and your brand, so your expertise finally gets seen. Think of it as an in-house publishing house, focused on digital content and delivered as a monthly service.
eBooks & Whitepapers
Long-form authority content, written, designed and published as interactive PDFs, eBooks and web pages.
- Whitepapers & industry guides
- eBooks & lead magnets
- Annual & impact reports
Blogs, Newsletters & Social
A steady publishing rhythm that keeps your company visible to customers, partners and recruiters.
- SEO articles & thought leadership
- Email newsletters
- LinkedIn ghostwriting for leaders
Video & Motion
Short, sharp video that explains what you do and shows that it works.
- Explainer & demo videos
- Recorded product walkthroughs
- Social clips & motion graphics
Podcasts & Audio
Studio-quality audio, from first recording to published episode.
- Branded podcast production
- Audiobook editions of your content
- Voiceover & sonic branding
Proposal & Capability Content
The content that wins work, built to the standard contracting officers expect.
- Capability statements
- Past-performance write-ups
- Orals decks & demo videos
Templates & Brand Kits
Reusable, on-brand templates so your own team can publish consistently between our releases.
- Doc, deck & social templates
- Accessible (508) document design
- Brand & style guides
Editorial calendar
A quarterly plan built around your goals, customers and upcoming bids.
Create & review
We interview your experts, then write, design and edit. You approve everything.
Ship under your name
Posted to your site, socials, newsletter and platforms, or handed off ready to post.
Report & refine
Monthly reach and engagement reporting, and next month's plan adjusts to match.
Together, the two arms compound. Every lab result can become a full content package, so the work you prove also gets seen.
Rent the lab. Plug in the studio. Own the results.
Fixed scope, fixed price, quoted after a free discovery call.
A fast technical assessment of one idea.
- Feasibility & risk review
- Architecture sketch
- Go / no-go recommendation
The full H3 Protocol, from hypothesis to a working, measured result.
- Working prototype or pilot
- Results report & metrics
- Capability brief
- Full code & IP transfer
A demo built against a specific opportunity's timeline.
- Solution prototype
- Demo environment & video
- Technical volume support
Your standing innovation arm, running experiments on a roadmap.
- Reserved lab capacity
- Quarterly innovation roadmap
- Executive briefings
A consistent presence for a growing company.
- 2 articles or newsletters / month
- 8 social posts / month
- 1 designed asset / month
- Monthly performance snapshot
Your full digital publishing team, every month.
- Editorial calendar & dedicated editor
- 4 articles + newsletter / month
- 1 video or podcast episode / month
- 1 long-form piece / quarter
- Leader LinkedIn ghostwriting
An in-house publishing function, fully run by H3.
- Multi-brand or multi-program content
- Proposal & capability content support
- Templates, brand kit & training
- Quarterly strategy reviews
Experiments we're ready to run.
Starter experiments for small contractors, nonprofits and growing businesses. Each one fits inside a single Lab Sprint and ships with a content package.
Proposal Compliance Assistant
- Q
- Can AI draft a compliance matrix from an RFP in minutes?
- Metric
- Hours saved per bid, accuracy vs. manual
Policy Knowledge Assistant
- Q
- Can staff get cited answers from internal policy documents?
- Metric
- Answer accuracy, time to answer
Status Report Automation
- Q
- Can bi-weekly program reports build themselves from source data?
- Metric
- Prep hours per cycle
Legacy-to-Container Slice
- Q
- Can one legacy component run on OpenShift without a rewrite?
- Metric
- Effort, performance, blockers found
Accessible Output Check
- Q
- Can generated PDFs and notices be checked for 508 issues automatically?
- Metric
- Defects caught before release
AI Content Repurposing
- Q
- Can one expert interview become a week of on-brand content?
- Metric
- Assets produced, editor hours saved
// notebook entries are offered experiments, not past client engagements.
Led by someone who has run the mission.
H3 carries the name of its founder, John H. Hinson III, and a simple promise: treat every client's mission like our own. John has spent more than 25 years helping large federal programs modernize. He's also a producer, musician, teacher and author, and he brings the same care to a prototype that he brings to a story.
Small teams with big ambitions.
Bring us the idea you haven't had time to test or to tell.
A free 30-minute discovery call. We'll tell you honestly whether it's a sprint, a media plan, or not worth building yet.
- Emaillab@h3labs.com
- Phone404-314-3308
- BaseMetro Atlanta, GA · remote nationwide
- ReplyWithin 2 business days