Can a workshop replace hiring a consultant?

For a lot of small businesses, yes. If the list from the day is all things your team can do with tools you own, you do not need anyone after that.

Is it cheaper to hire a consultant by the hour or on a monthly seat?

By the hour for a question or two. A monthly seat when you need someone in every vendor call and every decision for a while.

Should the owner attend the AI workshop?

Yes, for the opening and the decision at the end. The middle goes better when the people who do the work talk without the boss in the chair.

What if we did a workshop elsewhere and nothing happened after?

That usually means nobody owned the list. Bring the list to a one-hour second opinion, $150, and we pick the one item worth doing.

Do I need a consultant before I buy an AI tool?

Not for a tool under a few hundred dollars a month. For a contract with a long term or customer data in it, get someone to read it first.

AI workshop, AI consultant, or do it myself?

Do it yourself if you are the only one who needs it. Book a workshop, $1,500 to $6,500 with me, when the whole team needs to start in the same place. Hire a consultant, by the hour at $150 or a fractional seat from $3,500 a month (about two days a month), when someone has to own the plan and the vendors for months. Most businesses should start with the cheapest one that fits.

Should I book an AI workshop, hire an AI consultant, or do it myself?

The three side by side:

Do it yourself. Cost: your evenings. Fits an owner who is curious and a team of a few people. Breaks when the team grows and everybody uses the tools a different way.
AI workshop. Cost: $1,500 for a half day, $3,500 for a day, $6,500 for two days with maps and a plan. Fits a team that needs a shared starting point and one decision. Breaks if nobody owns the follow-through.
AI consultant. Cost: $150 an hour, or a fractional Chief AI Officer seat at $3,500 a month for about two days a month, $6,500 for about a day a week, or $11,000 for about two days a week. Fits a business spending real money on AI tools or builds, where somebody has to pick vendors and answer for them. Breaks if you hire one before you know what problem you are solving.

When is doing it myself enough?

When you are the main user. If the work AI helps with is mostly yours (writing, quoting, research, email), you can get very good at it on your own and you do not need me. Can't I just do the AI stuff myself goes through where that stops working, which is usually the day you try to hand it to someone else.

When is a workshop the right call?

When the team is the problem. People are using different tools, a few are scared of it, and one or two are pasting customer data where it should not go. A workshop puts everyone in one room with the work on the wall. You leave with a ranked list and a decision.

A workshop is a one-time cost and does not come with someone to manage what happens next. If a person on staff can own the list, that is enough. What an AI workshop costs breaks down each size.

When do I need a consultant?

When money is moving and nobody is answering for it. Signs:

You are about to sign a contract with an AI vendor and nobody on staff can read it.
You have a build in progress and the developers are grading their own work.
Three departments want three different tools and someone has to say no to two of them.

That calls for a fractional seat: about two days a month at $3,500, up to two days a week at $11,000.

What order should I do them in?

Cheapest first. Use the tools yourself. If you want the team doing the same, book a workshop. If the workshop list has a build or a vendor decision on it, bring in a consultant. The workshop page has the sizes, and if you are not sure which you need, say so on the start form.

Answered by Jared Lukes, Minneapolis. Twenty-five years in brand, UX, and technology, currently holding fractional AI and technology seats at three companies. About Jared.