What does an AI consultant do?

Advice-only versus implementation

Advice-only consultants produce assessments, roadmaps and business cases. They suit companies with their own technical team to carry out the plan. Implementation partners also connect the tools, build the workflows, train staff and support the system after launch.

For most SMEs without an internal tech team, a roadmap on its own tends to sit unused. Ask early whether the consultant will stay through implementation, or who will.

What good work looks like

A good consultant spends more time understanding how your work actually gets done than talking about AI. They should tell you where AI is not worth it, quantify the expected benefit in hours or revenue, and plan small pilots before large rollouts.