AI Consulting for Small Business
The two most-cited 2026 price guides disagree by 20x on what this costs. Why, which band applies to you, and when the honest answer is to hire nobody.
By Carter Wirig
Insights
AI, made practical for mid-market companies.
Plain-spoken guides on where AI earns its place and where it doesn't — how assessments work, how to calculate honest ROI, what to automate first, and how to tell AI partners apart. No hype, just what's worth acting on.
What AI Strategy Consulting Covers
Strategy consulting sells a roadmap. A roadmap is worth nothing without someone to build it. How to tell which you need, and when to skip both.
Calculate AI ROI Before You Build
Saved hours are not money. The three ways they become money, why you may only count one, and why zero is a legitimate answer to an AI business case.
What AI Consulting Services Include
The five things AI consulting actually covers, what each is worth at $10M–$50M scale, and the two most firms sell that a mid-market company should not buy.
By Carter Wirig
How to Choose an AI Consulting Firm
Most 'top AI consulting firms' lists are written by firms on them. Seven tests that separate a partner who ships from one who delivers a roadmap.
What Is an AI Maturity Model?
An AI maturity model scores how far along your AI adoption is on a four- or five-stage ladder. What the major models measure, and who they were built for.
By Carter Wirig
How to Measure AI Readiness
A five-dimension method for scoring AI readiness, what evidence each score needs, and why a readiness number should never decide whether you build.
By James Larson
AI Readiness Tools vs Services
Four free AI readiness tools scored on what they measure, plus when a free form is enough and when you are actually shopping for a paid assessment service.
What Is AI Readiness?
AI readiness is whether your company can adopt AI and keep it running. What it measures, who scores it, and why a good score predicts almost nothing.
By Carter Wirig
AI for Mid-Market CEOs: What's Worth Your Attention | June 2026
A running brief on the AI shifts that actually matter for $10M–$50M companies, cutting through the hype to what's worth acting on this month.
By James Larson
What Is an Outsourced AI Department
An AI department that owns strategy, builds the systems and reports the return - part-time. The published 2026 rates, and the three cases where it is wrong.
By James Larson
Outsourced AI Department Cost
An outsourced AI department runs $5,000–$30,000 per month in 2026, banded by hours. The published figures, and where the public benchmarks disagree.
By James Larson
Which AI Partner Do You Need?
Consultants advise, agencies build, an outsourced AI department owns the result. Published 2026 rates, payback data, and when each one is the wrong call.
By James Larson
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