Key points
- A firm of fifty to two hundred and forty-nine staff can do real good with AI, or badly mishandle it. Nearly half of firms this size used AI in twenty twenty-six, so the usual question is how to use it well, not whether.
- The trap is lots of pilots, or trial projects, that never reach everyday use. A pilot with no owner or way to measure success is likely to fade once the person behind it gets busy.
- A good first project spans teams, has one owner and measurable results, like contract search or drafting customer replies. Ask every department head which slow task they repeat most.
- To buy help, write a brief: the problem, the data, how you'll judge success, and a budget range. Ask two or three suppliers to bid, put the same questions to each, score the replies and check references.
- Put your security questions in writing, such as how your data is handled and how the supplier guards against prompt injection: hidden instructions that fool an AI tool.
- Most firms this size can do without a full-time AI leader, but need someone senior to own the plan, pick projects and keep suppliers in check. That could be a fractional chief AI officer, part-time for several firms, often a handful of days each month.
- Your board or owners should know where AI is used, what risks come with it and who answers for it. A single-page report each quarter is usually enough.
- No typical AI project price at this size has been published. Medium firms using AI spent on average eleven thousand pounds on all AI in twenty twenty-five, software included, and a few big spenders lift that average.
- Read the full guide, AI for medium-sized businesses, on AI Consultancy Finder.
Transcript
A firm of fifty to two hundred and forty-nine staff can do real good with AI, or badly mishandle it. Nearly half of firms this size used AI in twenty twenty-six, so the usual question is how to use it well, not whether. The trap is lots of pilots, or trial projects, that never reach everyday use.
A pilot with no owner or way to measure success is likely to fade once the person behind it gets busy. A good first project spans teams, has one owner and measurable results, like contract search or drafting customer replies. Ask every department head which slow task they repeat most.
To buy help, write a brief: the problem, the data, how you'll judge success, and a budget range. Ask two or three suppliers to bid, put the same questions to each, score the replies and check references. Put your security questions in writing, such as how your data is handled and how the supplier guards against prompt injection: hidden instructions that fool an AI tool.
Most firms this size can do without a full-time AI leader, but need someone senior to own the plan, pick projects and keep suppliers in check. That could be a fractional chief AI officer, part-time for several firms, often a handful of days each month.
Your board or owners should know where AI is used, what risks come with it and who answers for it. A single-page report each quarter is usually enough. No typical AI project price at this size has been published. Medium firms using AI spent on average eleven thousand pounds on all AI in twenty twenty-five, software included, and a few big spenders lift that average.
Read the full guide, AI for medium-sized businesses, on AI Consultancy Finder.