How much does an AI consultant cost?

How much an AI consultant costs depends on how they charge and what you ask them to do, and there is no standard rate worth quoting. A few hours of advice costs far less than a consultant who designs, builds, tests and hands over a working system. At 3rd Eye AI, the first step is a free 30-minute AI consultation. The AI partner service is from £500 a month, with a minimum of six months; the exact fee is agreed in writing before you start. Every project fee is set out in a written proposal before work begins. The rest of this guide explains how to judge any consultant’s price, including mine.

How AI consultants charge

Most consultants use one of these models, or a mix of them:

• Day rate. You pay for time. It suits open-ended advice, workshops and work where the scope is genuinely unclear. The risk of overrunning sits with you, so ask for an estimate of days and a cap.
• Fixed-price project. One fee for a defined result, such as a discovery that ends with a prioritised plan, or a specific automation built and handed over. The consultant carries the risk of overrunning, so the scope has to be written down precisely, and anything outside it becomes a change request.
• Monthly retainer. A regular fee for ongoing help, such as working sessions, support between them or a standing review of what you have built. It suits businesses that want steady progress rather than a single project. Check the minimum term and exactly what each month includes.
• Success-linked fees. Part of the fee depends on a result, such as hours saved or revenue gained. It sounds fair, which is why people ask for it, but it is rare in practice.

Success fees are rare for good reasons. Agreeing the starting point is hard: how long did the task really take before? Results depend on things the consultant doesn’t control, such as whether your team uses the tool and how tidy your data is. A consultant who takes that risk will usually price it in, so the deal can cost more overall. And it can reward the wrong thing, such as hitting a number quickly rather than building something safe. If you are offered one, read the measurement terms carefully.

What moves the cost of an AI consultant

• Scope. How many tasks, teams and decisions the work covers. A single process is a short engagement; a firm-wide programme is a long one.
• Integrations. Whether the work has to plug into your CRM, accounts package or document store, and how old and well documented those systems are.
• Data. How much gathering and tidying the information needs before AI can use it. It is usually the least predictable part of the estimate.
• Regulation. Regulated firms need more design, testing, documentation and evidence for their compliance team. That time is worth paying for, but it is time.
• Advise or build. A consultant who only advises hands you a plan, and someone else then has to build it. One who also builds costs more for the engagement, but you finish with something that works rather than a recommendation.
• Handover and support. Documentation, training and support after launch all add to the fee, and all are worth having.

What is usually included

A clear proposal says what you get, not just how long it takes. Look for:

• Time with the people who do the work, and a map of how the task is done today.
• A written scope that says what is in and what is out.
• The design or build itself, tested against real examples, including the awkward cases.
• Documentation and a walkthrough for your team.
• A defined support period, or a clear statement that there isn’t one.
• Who owns the prompts, workflows and code at the end.

The costs outside the fee

The consultant’s fee is rarely the whole cost. Budget for these as well:

• Running costs. AI services usually charge by usage. Hosting, storage and workflow tools add monthly costs that carry on after the consultant has gone.
• Licences. Business plans for AI tools such as ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot, which are often charged per person.
• Your team’s time. Interviews, testing, reviewing outputs and learning a new way of working. This is real time away from other work, and the project fails without it.
• Changes later. Providers update or retire models, and your own process, prices and templates change. Someone has to adjust the system when they do.

For build and running costs on automation projects specifically, see what AI automation costs a small UK business.

How to compare AI consultant proposals

1. Compare the scope, not the total. Two prices for different work tell you nothing. Line up what each proposal actually delivers.
2. Separate one-off and monthly costs. Ask each consultant to split the build from the running costs, and to say what happens to the running costs if your volumes double.
3. Check who does the work. The person who sold it to you, or someone you haven’t met?
4. Check what you own. You should own the prompts, workflows, documentation and any code, and be able to run them without the consultant.
5. Look for a small first step. A good proposal starts with a pilot that shows value before a larger commitment.
6. Ask how success will be measured. In your own numbers: hours saved, faster replies, fewer errors. At Alter Domus, where I was Head of AI & Automation, the automation programme returned 201,160 hours of capacity, and we knew that because we measured it. Any consultant should be able to tell you how their work will be measured.

Red flags

• A large fee or a long contract before anyone has looked at how your business works.
• Promised savings or returns before discovery. Nobody can know them yet.
• No written scope, or one so vague that anything could count as done.
• Running costs left out, or waved away without an estimate based on your volumes.
• Accounts set up in the consultant’s name, tools you can’t see inside, or no handover.
• Commission from the tools they recommend that isn’t disclosed. Ask directly.
• No mention of data protection, human review or what happens when the AI gets something wrong.
• Nothing they have built themselves that you can see working.

What 3rd Eye AI charges

So you can compare like for like, this is how I price:

• Free 30-minute AI consultation. A video call to look at how your business runs and where AI could save time, with no obligation.
• AI partner, done with you. From £500 a month, with a minimum of six months; the exact fee is agreed in writing before you start. It covers two 45-minute working sessions a month, help between sessions, a record of everything we build and a bottleneck check before each session.
• Strategy. Usually a fixed-scope discovery, with the scope, fee and timeline in a written proposal.
• Agents and automation. Scoped per workflow. The proposal sets out the build, the testing, any running costs for AI services and the support that follows launch.
• Training. Priced per session or programme, based on the number of people, the preparation needed and any follow-up.

In every case, scope, fees, responsibilities and timelines are agreed in writing before work starts, and you work directly with me. The AI consultancy page explains the project route in more detail. Not everyone needs to pay for help: if your team only wants to use AI tools safely for drafting and summarising, read AI consultant or do it yourself? first.

The quickest way to a real figure is to talk about the task. Book a free 30-minute AI consultation, and if a project makes sense, I will set out the scope and fee in a written proposal.