How much does AI consulting cost — rates & packages

The rates below are indicative: they show you the order of magnitude we work in, so you don't waste time if the budget doesn't fit. Every project is quoted to scope, once we understand what you want to solve. There is nothing to buy on the site and we don't ask for a card to talk — a senior practitioner replies by email within 48 hours.

Where you start: two fixed-price packages

Most clients start with a fixed package — a defined scope up front that ends in a deliverable, not a subscription. It converts naturally into a retainer. Guarantee: if the deliverable isn't useful, we revise it free or refund you.

• AI Diagnostic · from €2,500: 2–3 weeks. We look at where you are, pick the right use case, and you leave with a prioritized roadmap and next steps.
• EU AI Act Readiness Pack · from €3,500: 3–4 weeks. AI system inventory, risk classification, AI-literacy gap analysis (Art. 4) and a prioritized remediation plan — all in a memo you can put in front of a board or an auditor.

Monthly retainer — from €2,500/mo

A senior practitioner owns the engagement — with a written plan, a fixed cadence and a clear monthly capacity, agreed through a proposal. Three tiers, depending on how involved we are:

• Tier 1 — AI Act Watch · from €2,500/mo: after the readiness pack, we keep classifications current as the EU AI Act and Digital Omnibus timelines move, plus a quarterly briefing and AI-literacy program maintenance. Two-business-day response. Month-to-month, 30 days' notice.
• Tier 2 — Fractional AI Lead · from €4,500/mo: a fractional AI lead who owns the AI portfolio and runs architecture and governance review, plus a monthly working session. One-business-day response. Three-month initial term, then month-to-month (30 days' notice).
• Tier 3 — Transformation Partner · from €9,000/mo: everything above, plus a co-delivery credit, a quarterly executive review and priority access to the practitioner bench (delivery itself quoted separately). Initial term to the first quarterly review, then month-to-month (30 days' notice).

What accountability looks like

A retainer isn't vague hours of "availability". It's a person and a plan:

• A named senior practitioner owns the engagement and signs the plan — one accountable name, not "the team".
• A written plan up front: agreed outcomes, cadence and success criteria, with go/no-go checkpoints — not an open-ended subscription.
• A monthly progress note and a capped, transparent scope: you see what shipped and where the hours went. Advisory availability is separate from guaranteed delivery capacity.
• You own the outputs: every deliverable, in your tooling. We document so your team can carry on without us. Your data and deliverables stay yours — we reuse only anonymized methods, never your data or specifics.
• No long lock-in: you leave on 30 days' notice if we're not earning it.
• We're accountable for the work, not an ROI multiple: we hold ourselves to the deliverables, cadence, quality and the movement of the metrics we agree and measure — not a number we can't control alone (which is why we ask for an internal owner on your side).

Ad-hoc work and workshops

• Ad-hoc work: for advisory or a short intervention with a senior practitioner outside a retainer, we quote on request based on what you need.
• Applied workshops · quoted separately: based on topic, format and number of participants, for your team or public. Tell us the topic and we come back with a proposal.

Why AI Leaders

You pay for practitioners, not slides: AI adoption led for 2,000 employees at Microsoft, AI/ML for Alexa at Amazon, the EU AI Act seen from the inside, and AI products live across 200,000 documents. See all the AI experts on the team and what we help with.

Pricing FAQ

Why don't you publish a fixed price?

Because the result depends on what you want to solve: a strategy decision, a pilot taken to production, or EU AI Act compliance do not cost the same. We publish indicative floors so you know the order of magnitude, then quote exactly to your scope.

What is a monthly retainer?

A senior practitioner owns the engagement — with a written plan, a fixed cadence and a clear monthly capacity, agreed through a proposal. It is not a subscription bought on the site. Hours are capped, you own the outputs, and you leave on 30 days' notice.

Who is accountable for results?

A named senior practitioner owns the engagement and signs the plan — one accountable name, not "the team". We are accountable for the deliverables, cadence, quality and the movement of the metrics we agree, and we ask for an internal owner on your side, since adoption doesn't happen without one.

Am I locked into a long contract?

No. Tier 1 is month-to-month with 30 days' notice; Tiers 2 and 3 have a short initial term, then run month-to-month. On the fixed-price packages, if the deliverable isn't useful we revise it free or refund you.

Can I start smaller?

Yes. Most clients start with a fixed package — an AI diagnostic or an EU AI Act readiness pack — and decide afterwards whether to move into a retainer.