AI consulting and strategy
Before building anything, it is worth knowing whether it should be built, whether it should be bought, and what it will cost to run once the excitement has worn off.
What this involves
We do short, sharp engagements: a week or two looking at your processes, data and systems, ending in a written assessment you can act on. It ranks opportunities by value and difficulty, and it says plainly which ideas are not worth pursuing yet.
We sell implementation too, which is a conflict of interest, so we handle it directly: the assessment is priced and delivered on its own terms, it frequently recommends buying an existing product instead of building, and you are free to take it to any developer you like.
- A ranked list of opportunities with value and effort estimates
- Build, buy or do-nothing recommendation for each
- Technical feasibility against your actual data
- Running cost models before you commit
- Risk review: privacy, security, regulatory exposure
- A sequenced roadmap with a sensible first project
Data reality check
Most AI plans fail on data, not models. Documents that contradict each other, records with no consistent identifier, three systems holding three versions of a customer. We look at what you actually have early, because it determines what is possible far more than any model choice.
Build versus buy
If a $200-a-month tool solves 80% of the problem, that is usually the right answer and we will say so. Custom development earns its cost when the workflow is specific to you, the data cannot leave your systems, or the capability is the product itself.
Deliverable
A written report and a working session to go through it, not a slide deck. Where it helps, a rough prototype to prove or kill the riskiest assumption before you spend real money on it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an assessment take?
One to two weeks for most companies, including interviews with the people doing the work today.
Do you work with our internal engineering team?
Frequently. Sometimes the most useful thing we do is help a capable team avoid the specific mistakes that are common in AI projects, then get out of the way.
What if the answer is that we should not do it?
Then that is the answer, and it is the cheapest one you will get all year. We have advised clients to fix their data or their process first more than once.
Can this feed a board or investor conversation?
Yes. The output is written to be readable by non-technical stakeholders, with cost and risk stated in terms they can weigh.
Tell us what you are building.
Send a short description of the problem and we will reply within one business day with an honest view of scope, cost and whether we are the right person for it.
Or email directly: contact@hire-ai-dev.com