Updated September 2026 · Written and maintained by the Progression Agency strategy team
Progression Agency provides AI consulting services for businesses: an honest assessment of where AI will pay off in your operations, a strategy and roadmap, data readiness, vendor and model selection, and custom AI development by the same team when you are ready to build.
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The short answerAI consulting is advisory work that identifies which business problems AI can solve profitably, what data and systems that requires, and how to deliver and govern it, before money is spent on tools. A typical engagement moves from an assessment ($5,000-$15,000 as a planning figure) to a roadmap ($10,000-$40,000) and, where justified, a first custom AI build ($40,000-$200,000).
Cost ranges are US planning figures, not quotes.
What is AI consulting?
AI consulting is expert advice on where and how to use artificial intelligence in a business: identifying and prioritizing use cases, assessing data and systems, choosing between vendors, models and custom development, and setting up the governance to run AI safely.
Most companies do not need a model built; they need a clear answer on which three processes AI will change, what it costs and what could go wrong. We give that answer in writing, and we can build it. For process automation see AI automation; for engineering services see AI app development, AI integration and AI agent development.
AI consulting and development services
Projects we are most often asked to build.
AI strategy consulting
A prioritized list of use cases scored by value, feasibility and risk, with a phased roadmap and budget a board can approve.
AI readiness and data assessment
What data you have, its quality, where it lives and what must change before AI is reliable.
Vendor, model and build-vs-buy selection
Independent comparison of SaaS AI features, model providers and custom development for your case.
Custom AI and machine learning development
Assistants grounded in your documents, classification and extraction, forecasting and recommendation models, built and integrated by our engineers.
Generative AI consulting
Where large language models help, how to ground them in your data, and the guardrails, testing and cost controls production use needs.
AI governance and policy
Usage policies, risk assessment and monitoring aligned with recognized frameworks.
Where large language models help, how to ground them in your data, and the guardrails, testing and cost controls production use needs.
Key features and components
What separates a useful build from a costly one.
| Feature | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Use cases scored | Money goes to the best case first |
| Written recommendation | A decision you can act on |
| Data readiness plan | No surprises in the build |
| Independent vendor view | No commission bias |
| Measurable pilot | Evidence before scale |
| Cost model | Model and infrastructure costs known |
| Risk register | What could go wrong, and controls |
| Build option | Same team can deliver |
Common integrations
Where the value usually comes from.
| System | What we connect |
|---|---|
| Data | Warehouses, CRMs, ERPs, documents |
| Models | OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, open-weight models |
| Cloud | AWS, Azure, Google Cloud AI services |
| Business apps | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, HubSpot |
| Automation | Workflow tools and RPA |
| Analytics | BI platforms |
Governance and risk
AI advice is only useful if it includes what could go wrong.
- Risk assessment and governance follow the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.
- Data handling respects the privacy obligations your industry already carries (for example HIPAA in healthcare).
- Model outputs are evaluated against test sets before and after launch, with human review where decisions affect people.
- We state when we would also like to build; the written recommendation stands either way.
Our AI consulting process
We start from the business goals, score candidate use cases by value and feasibility, assess data and systems, compare vendors, models and custom options, deliver a written strategy and roadmap, run a measurable pilot and, if you choose, build and govern the production system.
How much do AI consulting services cost?
As planning figures, an AI readiness assessment commonly costs $5,000-$15,000, an AI strategy and roadmap $10,000-$40,000, a measurable pilot $20,000-$60,000 and a first custom AI build $40,000-$200,000 depending on data and integrations.
| Scope | Typical range | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| AI readiness assessment | $5,000-$15,000 | 2-3 weeks |
| AI strategy and roadmap | $10,000-$40,000 | 3-6 weeks |
| Measurable pilot | $20,000-$60,000 | 4-8 weeks |
| Custom AI development | $40,000-$200,000 | 2-6 months |
Technology we typically use
Mainstream, maintainable choices.
| Layer | Choice |
|---|---|
| Models | Commercial and open-weight LLMs, classic ML |
| Retrieval | Vector search over your documents |
| Data | SQL, warehouses, pipelines |
| Cloud | AWS, Azure, Google Cloud |
| Evaluation | Test sets, human review |
| Governance | NIST AI RMF-aligned policies |
Mistakes to avoid
Common causes of overruns and low adoption.
- Starting with a tool instead of a problem.
- Piloting a use case with no baseline to measure against.
- Ignoring data quality until the model fails.
- Buying AI features you cannot connect to your data.
- No governance for staff use of AI tools.
- Treating an LLM demo as a production system.
Why choose Progression Agency for AI consulting?
Engineering, design and go-to-market in one team.
- Consultants who also engineer AI systems, so advice is grounded in what ships.
- Independent of vendors; recommendations in writing.
- Governance included, not bolted on.
- You own the code, data and accounts.
- Headquartered in New York City, working nationwide.
Related services
See software consulting, AI app development, AI integration services, AI agent development and AI automation.
Ready to scope it?
Tell us the users, workflow and systems involved. We will propose a first release and planning estimate.
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Frequently asked questions
What do AI consulting firms do?
How much do AI consulting services cost?
What is an AI strategy consultant?
Do you provide AI consulting for businesses of my size?
Do you build custom AI as well as advise?
What is custom AI development?
Are you a machine learning consulting company?
How do you choose between buying an AI product and building?
How long does an AI strategy take?
What is AI readiness?
Do you help with generative AI?
How do you measure an AI pilot?
What frameworks do you use for governance?
Do you work with our existing vendors?
Can you train our staff?
How do you rank among top AI consulting firms?
Do you sign NDAs?
Who owns the deliverables?
Can you also automate processes?
Where is Progression Agency located?
What do AI strategy consulting services include?
How do machine learning consulting companies differ from AI consulting firms?
Need software built?We design, build and support custom software, web apps and SaaS platforms, with a written scope first.
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