The short answer
An AI consultancy is a specialist firm that finds where artificial intelligence will save time or money in your business, then designs, builds and runs the systems that do it. A good one works alongside the software you already use, such as your ERP, rather than selling you another licence.
This guide is for managing directors and finance directors of established UK businesses who know AI belongs in their operations and want to understand what an AI consultancy actually does, what it should cost, and how to choose the right one.
Why UK businesses are hiring AI consultancies now
Many UK manufacturers now use AI somewhere, but very few have it embedded in their day-to-day operations. In June 2026, Make UK found that 83% of manufacturers using AI use it in HR, finance and administration, yet only 2% have it widely embedded. The most common barrier to AI adoption reported by UK firms is difficulty identifying where it would help (39%, Office for National Statistics, March 2025).
At the same time, the work keeps growing while the team stays the same size. Make UK put unfilled manufacturing vacancies at 46,000 in September 2025. AI cannot fill those roles, but it can take on some of the repeated work, so the same team can handle more volume.
What an AI consultancy does
Most AI consultancy work falls into three stages:
- Finding where AI pays back. The consultancy spends time with your leadership and the teams doing the work, maps how orders, invoices, enquiries and reports move between your systems, and ranks the opportunities by payback. The output is usually called an AI roadmap or readiness assessment.
- Building the first system. The opportunity with the clearest return is built as a defined project, connected to your existing systems, and measured against the way the work was done before.
- Running and improving it. Live systems are monitored and improved as your business changes, and further workstreams are added one at a time.
Some firms stop at stage one and hand you a report. Others start at stage two and build whatever you ask for. The value comes from doing all three with the same team, because the people who mapped your business are the ones who build and run what it needs.
AI consultancy, software vendor or IT partner: what is the difference?
Businesses are often approached by all three. They solve different problems.
| AI consultancy | AI software vendor | IT partner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What they sell | Systems designed and built around your processes | A product or licence | Infrastructure, support and licences |
| Who owns what is built | You should own it | The vendor | Usually the vendor of each product |
| How they are paid | Per project or a monthly team | Per user or per month | Per seat, per contract |
| Best for | Processes specific to your business | A standard task the product already does well | Keeping your systems running and secure |
Many businesses use all three. Your IT partner keeps the infrastructure secure, a vendor product handles a standard task, and an AI consultancy builds what is specific to the way your business works, alongside both.
What an AI consultancy costs in the UK
Prices vary widely, so it helps to know what each stage typically costs.
| Engagement | Typical UK price | Typical length |
|---|---|---|
| Free online self-assessment | Free | Under an hour |
| Readiness assessment for one business area | From about £1,500 | One to two weeks |
| Boutique readiness assessment and roadmap | £3,500 to £15,000 | One to three weeks |
| Big Four assessment | £50,000 and up | Several weeks |
Ranges published by UK consultancies. Sources: Spicy Advisory, “AI readiness audit UK”, August 2026; Softomate Solutions, AI consultancy UK pricing, November 2026.
Our AI readiness assessment, which produces your AI roadmap, is from £4,500 + VAT and takes about two weeks.
What comes after the roadmap depends on what you build. A good AI consultancy will cost the first build in the roadmap, as a defined project scoped to one process, so you see the price before committing to it. Ongoing work is usually sold as a monthly team, sized to the number of workstreams.
Four things drive the price of a roadmap:
- How many teams and processes are in scope. One business area takes less time than orders, finance, customer service and reporting together.
- How many systems are involved. An ERP such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Sage or Xero, plus the email, spreadsheets and supplier or carrier portals around it.
- How many sites. Several depots or offices usually means several ways of doing the same job.
- The state of your data. Clean, consistent records are quicker to assess than years of history spread across old and new systems.
Two things matter more than the headline price. First, whether the roadmap is costed in enough detail to act on. Second, who owns what is built once you have paid for it.
How to choose an AI consultancy: 8 questions to ask
These are the questions managing directors and finance directors ask us most often. Ask them of any firm you are considering.
- Do you resell any software? If they earn commission on a product, their roadmap will tend to recommend it.
- Who owns what you build? The code, the data and the systems should belong to you, with nothing locked into the consultancy.
- Will it work alongside our ERP and the systems we already run? You should not have to replace systems that work.
- Who actually does the work? Ask to meet the engineers, not just the people selling.
- How will you measure whether it worked? Every build should be measured against the work it replaces.
- What happens after go-live? Someone has to run, monitor and improve the system as your business changes.
- Can we see something working before we commit? A credible firm can show you working systems, not slides.
- Where does our data live? Your data should stay in your own environment, under your access controls, with the AI running on your own account.
If a firm cannot answer these clearly, keep looking.
What a good first engagement looks like
The first paid step should be small, fixed in scope and useful whether or not you go on to build anything. In our case that is the AI readiness assessment.
At the end of it you should have:
- every opportunity set out the same way, with the time it takes today, what would be built, what it costs to build and run, and what it depends on
- the opportunities ranked by payback
- the first build scoped and costed
- your data and security model
- an honest view of where AI will not pay back
If the roadmap is yours to keep and act on with any firm, the assessment has not been a sales pitch.
Three common mistakes when hiring an AI consultancy
- Starting in the middle of an ERP project. If you are moving to a new ERP, plan the roadmap around it, so nothing has to be built twice.
- Buying a build with nobody to run it. AI systems need monitoring and improving as your business changes. Agree who owns each system before it goes live.
- Framing it as cutting jobs. Teams adopt systems that take admin off their plate and resist ones they think will replace them. The aim is more volume with the same team.
Is your business ready for an AI consultancy?
You are likely to see a return if most of these are true:
- the same information is keyed into more than one system
- your team answers the same customer questions every day
- invoices, orders or other documents are checked by hand
- month-end reports are stitched together from several systems
- your best people spend their time on admin rather than the work only they can do
If none of these apply, an AI consultancy is probably not your first priority yet.
An example: Peacock Salt
Peacock Salt, the UK’s largest salt distributor, receives the same two questions from customers every day: where is my order, and can you send proof it was delivered. Each one meant five to six minutes of research across the business system and the hauliers’ portals.
As a UK AI consultancy, we built Peacock Salt a customer service agent that retrieves the answer from its own systems and prepares the reply, so the research is done before the team opens the email. A person approves every reply.
“AI was something we had been considering for a while, and we wanted to do it properly, with a partner who understood how our business actually works.”
Gregorie Marshall, managing director, Peacock Salt
Read the Peacock Salt case study
Frequently asked questions
Is AI consultancy worth it for a business our size?
For an established business with repeated processes across orders, finance and customer service, usually yes. The roadmap exists to tell you where it will pay back and where it will not, before you spend more.
Do we need data scientists?
No. A good AI consultancy brings the engineering. Your team brings the knowledge of how the business works.
How soon will we see results?
The roadmap takes about two weeks. The first build is scoped to one process so you see a working system early, measured against the way the work was done before.
Will AI replace our staff?
It should not. The aim is to let the same team handle more volume, with people reviewing and approving what the AI prepares.