Choosing a consultant
AI buyer's guidebook for UK businesses
A guidebook for UK businesses buying AI help, from naming the problem to contracts, security questions and life after go-live.
Author
Chris Dean
Articles by Chris Dean
Choosing a consultant
Choosing an AI consultant for entrepreneurs
How to choose an AI consultant for entrepreneurs: find a growth partner, spot new opportunities, share risk fairly and keep what you build.
Choosing a consultant
Choosing an AI consultant for startups
How to choose an AI consultant for startups: product or operations work, fractional CTO or agency, owning your code, lock-in and investor readiness.
Choosing a consultant · Guide 6 of 7
AI consultant vs agency vs freelancer: which fits?
AI consultant, AI automation agency or freelance AI consultant? How they differ in cost, scope and risk, and which kind of help your project needs.
Working in AI
AI consultant's guidebook: scoping, pricing and ethics
A guidebook for AI consultants working with UK businesses, covering scoping, pricing approaches, clear proposals, ethics and honest evidence.
AI for small business
AI for small businesses (10 to 49 staff)
For firms with 10 to 49 staff: realistic first AI projects, how to buy help, what businesses this size spend and the free support available.
AI in practice
AI for large organisations and public bodies
AI for large organisations with 250+ staff and public bodies: buying through frameworks such as G-Cloud, supplier security checks, board oversight and AI NEDs.
AI in practice
AI for medium-sized businesses (50 to 249 staff)
AI for medium-sized businesses with 50 to 249 staff: first projects, running a supplier process, security checks, fractional leadership and board oversight.
AI for small business
AI for micro businesses and sole traders
What AI can realistically do for a sole trader or a business with up to 9 staff, where to start, what help costs and where to find free support.
AI for small business
AI for small business: a plain-English guide
What AI can and cannot do for a small business today, where to start, and how to tell a useful tool from an expensive distraction.
AI support and funding
AI grants and funding for UK SMEs
What AI grants UK SMEs can apply for, including Innovate UK BridgeAI, what grants rarely cover, and how to read a competition brief before you apply.
AI roles and leadership
AI non-executive director: when your board needs one
When an AI non-executive director makes sense for a UK business, what to look for, the cheaper alternatives, and how to find and brief one.
AI in practice
AI security for small businesses: a practical guide
Practical AI security for small businesses: securing accounts and settings, stopping data leaks, prompt injection, AI agents and Cyber Essentials.
Choosing a consultant
Security questions to ask an AI supplier or consultant
The security questions to ask an AI supplier or consultant before you sign, with what good and worrying answers look like.
AI for small business
Becoming an AI-enabled business: beyond the tools
AI transformation for a small business changes more than software: how work, ownership and know-how are organised, and what you can skip.
AI roles and leadership
Board oversight of AI: a plain guide for SME boards
How a small or mid-sized board can oversee AI in plain terms, with questions to ask, a simple AI register, risk appetite and regular reporting.
AI in practice
Bringing your team with you: people and change in AI
AI tools fail when staff do not trust or use them. How a small business can involve its team, talk honestly about change and build skills in everyday work.
Choosing a consultant
Build, buy or bring in help: choosing your AI route
Check the AI in tools you already pay for first. When to buy a product, build something custom, or bring in AI consulting services.
AI roles and leadership
Fractional chief AI officer: when it makes sense
When a fractional chief AI officer (fractional CAIO) suits a UK business, how to scope the role, common cost models, and how to avoid becoming dependent.
AI roles and leadership
Fractional CTO, CIO or CAIO: which do you need?
The difference between a fractional CTO, CIO and chief AI officer, in plain terms, and how a UK business can tell which part-time leader it needs.
AI support and funding
Free AI training in the UK for your team
How to use the UK's free AI training, AI Skills Boost on the AI Skills Hub, to build your small team's AI skills, plus the badge and the AI apprenticeship.
AI in practice
Getting your data ready for AI without a big clean-up
You do not need perfect data to start with AI. How to tidy just the information your first use needs, and avoid the mistakes that make AI confidently wrong.
Choosing a consultant · Guide 4 of 7
How much does an AI consultant cost in the UK?
Dated UK day rates and typical small-business AI spend from named sources, and what that budget buys from an AI consultant.
Choosing a consultant
How to avoid AI lock-in when you hire outside help
What AI lock-in looks like for a small business, and the questions about your data, exports and handover to settle before you sign anything.
Working in AI
How to become an AI non-executive director
How to become an AI non-executive director in the UK, from routes in and what boards expect, to time, liability and handling conflicts if you also consult.
Choosing a consultant · Guide 7 of 7
How to check an AI consultant's credentials
How to check an AI consultant's experience, references and case studies before you sign, and which claims are worth checking first.
Choosing a consultant · Guide 1 of 7
How to choose an AI consultant
How to choose an AI consultant or AI consultancy in the UK: define the problem, compare fairly and start with a small, paid first project.
Choosing a consultant
How to tell if an AI demo will work for your business
A polished demo shows an AI tool can work, not that it will work on your data. How to test a demo properly before you sign anything.
AI for small business
How to use AI to grow a business: a 90-day plan
How to use AI to grow a business: pick one or two growth levers, run a 90-day test, measure payback honestly. The full guide is a book.
Choosing a consultant · Guide 5 of 7
How to write an AI project brief
A one-page brief gets you better proposals and fairer quotes. What to put in each section, with a free template to download.
Choosing a consultant
How will your AI consultant measure success?
The questions to ask before an AI project starts about baselines, measures and review dates, so you and your consultant agree what success means.
AI in practice
How to tell whether AI is paying off
Logins and time saved do not prove an AI tool is worth it. Measure the full cost of each finished task against a baseline, and how often people overrule it.
AI in practice
Keeping a human in charge: simple AI guardrails
Practical guardrails for AI tools and agents in a small business. Decide what AI may do alone, what needs a person's approval, and how to undo mistakes.
Working in AI
How to offer fractional AI leadership services
How to offer fractional AI leadership to UK businesses, from defining scope and contracts to employment status, conflicts of interest and ending well.
AI in practice
Prompt injection explained for small businesses
Prompt injection explained in plain English, with small-business examples, what the NCSC says about it and the questions to ask an AI supplier.
Choosing a consultant · Guide 2 of 7
Questions to ask an AI consultant before you hire
Before you hire an AI consultant, ask these questions. They separate a good adviser from a good salesperson, with what a strong answer sounds like.
Choosing a consultant · Guide 3 of 7
Red flags when hiring an AI consultant
Warning signs that an AI consultant is overselling, under-qualified or about to lock you in, and what to do when you spot one.
AI for small business
Start with the problem, not the tool: your first AI use
How to pick a first AI use case that is worth doing, from a short list of everyday tasks, and how to check that AI is the right answer at all.
AI support and funding
The UK's AI plans: what they mean for SMEs
What the AI Opportunities Action Plan and the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce actually announced, what is only recommended, and what it means for SMEs now.
AI support and funding
AI support for small businesses in the UK: free help
Where UK small businesses can get free AI help and support from government, from business.gov.uk and Growth Hubs to free training and cyber advice.
AI in practice
What a good first AI project looks like
How to pick, size and measure a first AI project in a small business, with clear rules for when to stop and when to scale up.
AI in practice
Why AI pilots stall, and how to stop yours stalling
Most AI trials that go nowhere fail for ordinary reasons. How to run a small pilot that ends in a clear yes or no, and survives contact with real work.
Choosing a consultant
Why we ask each question in the AI project brief
What each section of our free AI project brief template is for, what a good answer looks like and where to read more before you fill it in.