A manufacturing client came to us last year after spending eleven months trying to get AI into their quoting process. They'd burned through three tools, two freelancers from Upwork, and roughly £14,000. The quoting process still ran on spreadsheets.
We got it working in five weeks.That story is not unusual.
Should I Hire an AI Consultant or Do It Myself?
It depends on how much time you can afford to lose. If you have a technical team, clear goals, and a single well-defined use case — doing it yourself can work. But for most established businesses with 20 to 200 staff, the honest answer is: hire an AI consultant, at least for the first project. Not because it's always cheaper upfront.
Because the real cost of getting it wrong is months of wasted effort and a team that now thinks AI is a gimmick.
What the DIY Route Actually Costs
Tool subscriptions nobody uses. Average: £200-£800/month across three to five tools. Most get cancelled within 90 days.
Staff time. Someone senior ends up owning the project. That's easily 8-10 hours a week for months. At a loaded cost of £60/hour, you're looking at £2,000+ per month in hidden cost.
The restart tax. When the first attempt fails (and it usually does), you start over. McKinsey data shows organisations average a 4x return per pound invested in AI — but only when it's implemented properly.
£37.3 billion is lost annually to manual data entry errors across UK businesses. The cost of not implementing AI correctly isn't just what you spend. It's what you keep losing while you figure it out.
What a Consultant Engagement Looks Like
Audit first, then a focused pilot, then a wider rollout. Total cost: £5,000 to £15,000 depending on scope. We regularly see clients saving 5 to 7 hours per employee per week within the first quarter. LSE research backs this up — trained employees save 11 hours a week versus 5 for those left to figure things out alone.
