Code of Conduct

Purpose

This is how Forge operates: with clients, with each other, and with the people our work touches. It exists to keep us honest, to prevent harm, to make our commitments explicit instead of assumed, and to hold ourselves accountable when we fall short. It applies to everyone who works as or with Forge, and to the clients we partner with.

Most of what is here was learned, not theorized. These commitments come from real engagements over many years, including the ones we did not get right. We have always tried to operate with integrity, and we have not always been perfect. Sometimes the miss was ours, sometimes a teammate's, sometimes a client's, and sometimes it sat outside anyone's control. When it happened, we owned it, learned from it, and changed how we work so it would not repeat. This code is the product of that, and it will keep changing as we do.

A more detailed internal version covers the operational and legal specifics our team formally agrees to. Where this page states a principle, the internal version states the mechanics.

How We Work With People

We earn trust through how we work, not just what we ship.

We communicate clearly, honestly, and with care: prepared, direct, and calm under pressure. We practice nonviolent communication and assume good intent, especially when something is hard. When conflict comes up in a client engagement, the Forge lead owns resolving it, and internal issues get raised early rather than sat on.

We deal fairly with everyone: clients, partners, and each other. We do not exploit, mislead, or manipulate, and we do not tell people what they want to hear at the expense of what is true. If we are wrong, we say so early.

Inclusion and Respect

Forge is built on equal opportunity. We hire on merit. We respect gender identity, pronouns, and people's choices about their own lives and relationships. We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment in any form.

That standard runs both ways. We hold our clients to it too. Anyone Forge works alongside is expected to meet the same bar, and behavior that crosses it can be raised through the channel below and will be taken seriously.

A Safe, Remote-First Workplace

Forge is remote-first, and we keep work safe, healthy, and humane.

We will never require anyone to work onsite or travel for work if they do not want to. Onsite work and travel are always opt-in. We would rather lose the convenience than pressure someone into a setting that does not work for them.

We expect good judgment around safety in any work setting, and anything unsafe should be raised through the channel below.

Confidentiality, IP and Your Work

What we make for you is yours. Ownership of the work Forge produces in an engagement passes through to the client. Your deliverables, decisions, architectures, tokens, and artifacts belong to you. Forge retains only its own methodology and frameworks, never your product or your IP.

We treat your work as confidential by default:

• We do not discuss, show, or share work a client has not already published or publicly announced.
• Both the client and Forge retain the right to require approval before either side shows the work anywhere public, including case studies, portfolios, talks, and social.
• Confidentiality holds during the engagement and continues after it ends.

When AI is involved, the same protection applies, detailed in the next section.

AI Ethics and Responsible Use

Forge is an AI-native studio. AI assists with research synthesis, content drafting, code generation, project management, and strategic analysis. AI does not replace human judgment on decisions that affect clients, team members, or the public. Every significant output has a human approval gate.

All client data processed through AI systems operates under zero data retention via enterprise API. Client IP is never used to train models. Each client engagement operates in complete data isolation.

We do not misrepresent AI-generated work as purely human-authored when the distinction is material. We do not use AI to deceive, manipulate, or misrepresent. We recognize that AI systems carry biases and apply human judgment to evaluate outputs before using them in client-facing or public contexts.

AI accelerates our work. It does not lower our standard for it.

Integrity and Compliance

We hold ourselves to a few non-negotiables:

• Conflicts of interest: we disclose them and never play both sides. If our interests could compromise our judgment on your behalf, you will hear about it from us first.
• No bribery, ever. Gifts stay modest and rare: no more than one small gift per client per year, and anything beyond that requires approval. We never give or accept cash equivalents.
• We protect what is entrusted to us (your information, our shared tools, and company resources) and use it only for the work.
• We keep honest, accurate records. Misrepresenting time, expenses, or commitments is a serious matter.
• We comply with the law, including privacy, employment, IP, and anti-corruption regulations.

Exceptions

This code is the standard, not a suggestion. Exceptions are rare, require senior leadership approval, and are granted only in genuinely exceptional cases. We document them when they happen.

Raising a Concern

Everyone who works as or with Forge, including employees, contractors, and vendors, agrees to uphold this code. Clients agree to it as part of working with us; it is incorporated into our master services agreement.

If something here is not being honored, raise it. Concerns can be brought to the Forge team confidentially, we investigate in good faith, and no one is retaliated against for raising one.