How should a small business compare AI consulting firms?

Search for AI consulting companies and you'll find everyone from household names to one-person outfits. Broadly, they fall into five groups:

• Strategy consultancies. Big-name firms that advise boards on AI strategy and restructuring. Built for large organisations, and priced that way.
• IT and systems firms. Large companies that roll out and connect enterprise software. Brilliant for big, multi-year projects across thousands of staff.
• Specialist AI and data science companies. Teams of engineers who build custom models and data systems. Worth it when you need something genuinely new, and most small businesses don't.
• Software and digital agencies. Agencies that have added AI to what they already sell. Good at building, but check they'll look at how your business works first, not just what they can build.
• Small and independent AI consultancies. One person or a small team who look at your business, recommend what's worth doing and help build it. Usually the best fit for a business of 5 to 50 people.

Here's the thing: most small businesses don't need a custom AI model or a transformation programme. They need someone to find where the team is losing time, pick the few changes worth making, and get them working with the tools the business already has.

That's advice plus practical building, at a small-business scale. Small consultancies tend to do exactly that, and you usually speak to the person doing the work. Bigger firms can do it too, but you'll often be paying for overheads and processes designed for much larger clients.

Use them as a starting point, not a verdict. Directory rankings tend to favour firms with lots of reviews and big teams, which isn't the same as being right for a small business. And plenty of "best AI consulting firms" articles are written by one of the firms on the list. Have a look at who published it before you take the order too seriously.

Put the same questions to each firm on your shortlist and compare the answers side by side:

1. Who will actually do the work? The person on the sales call, or someone you haven't met yet?
2. What do they want to know first? Questions about your business are a good sign. A product demo isn't.
3. What have they built? Ask to see real tools that real people use.
4. Will they tell you when AI isn't the answer? Ask them straight out.
5. How is the price worked out? Day rate, fixed price or monthly fee, and is it all in writing?
6. What happens when you stop? Notice periods, and what happens to anything they've built.

There's more on questions and red flags in how to choose the right AI consultant, and on pricing in how much an AI consultant costs.

HappyOwl is a small UK AI consultancy for small businesses, based in Manchester and founded by Thomas Davis. You deal with Thomas directly, from the first call to the build. It starts with a free 20-minute call, then the Owl's Eye view, a half-day deep dive by video call for a fixed fee agreed on the call, which produces a prioritised, plain-English roadmap. If you'd rather take that roadmap to a different firm, that's fine too.

Rather than a list of client logos, here are tools the founder has built and other people use:

• Made By Loop: A toolkit for Adobe After Effects that automates the most tedious, repetitive tasks in a motion designer's day. Used by over 6,000 motion designers.
• Ferguson: An AI landing-page auditor: it reviews a landing page and reports on it. Has reviewed 200+ landing pages.
• Warble: Uses AI to turn voice notes into captioned video posts.
• RollBot: Makes reels and GIFs in seconds.