How much does AI consulting cost for a small business?

For a company of 5 to 500 people, AI consulting in this practice costs between nothing and $5,000 a month, and every price is published before you talk to anyone. A one-hour AI Adoption Roadmap Session is $350. A one-day team workshop is $3,000. Ongoing Fractional AI Adoption Lead work is $3,000 or $5,000 a month, month to month with no long-term contract. The guide and the readiness assessment are free. There is no discovery fee, no proposal phase, and no rate that moves upward once you're in.

Why the price is fixed rather than quoted

A quoted engagement makes the buyer pay for uncertainty twice: once in the estimate padding, and again in the argument when scope moves. A fixed price on a published page moves that risk to me, which is where it belongs — I've done the work before and you haven't.

It also removes the part of consulting buyers most dislike. You can read the price, decide the answer is no, and never speak to me. That's a feature. The alternative is a discovery call whose real purpose is to work out what you'll tolerate paying.

The ladder, smallest commitment first

• Free — the guide on how small-company AI projects die, and the AI Leader Self Assessment, a five-minute scored assessment across five dimensions.
• $350 — an AI Adoption Roadmap Session: a one-hour session that produces a written, prioritized roadmap, plus the self-paced toolkit and a personalized ROI calculation.
• $3,000 — a one-day AI Upskilling Workshop for up to about 15 people, built on your team's real work. Larger groups or a multi-day version are quoted separately.
• $3,000 a month — Fractional AI Adoption Lead, Core: about one half-day session a month plus access between sessions.
• $5,000 a month — Fractional AI Adoption Lead, Growth: about two half-day sessions a month plus ongoing advisory access. Month to month, four clients at a time.

What the price does not include

Tools are bought in your name, on your card, at cost. I never take a margin on software, and I don't resell anything. If an engagement ends with a recommendation to spend less on licences than you spend now, that's a legitimate outcome of it.

Which one a company usually starts with

Most people start at $350, because it's the cheapest way to find out whether the person in front of them is useful. From there the usual next step is a workshop for the team, or ongoing Fractional AI Adoption Lead work when someone already knows something is wrong and wants a plan they can put in front of a leadership team.

The honest caveat

The prices are firm and the background behind them is real. Client work is covered by confidentiality, so the proof page describes engagements without naming the companies rather than dressing up the gap.