AI consulting from people who also build
Most AI consulting ends in a slide deck. Ours ends in working software, because the consultants are the engineers who build it. We tell you when not to build, which model to use, and what it will really cost before you spend the budget.
Engagement · Scope
Fixed price. Shipped in 3 to 6 weeks.
What you get
- Consultants who write the code
- Recommendations with real build prices
- No-go calls in writing
- No vendor resale incentives
Why AI Consulting Has a Bad Name
The failure modes are predictable, and most start before any code is written:
01
Strategy Decks Nobody Can Build
Consultants who have never deployed a model produce roadmaps their own firm cannot deliver. The deck is impressive; the project dies in engineering.
02
Discovery That Never Ends
Months of workshops and interviews billed by the hour, producing requirements documents instead of working software.
03
Nobody Says No
Every use case gets a green light because saying no ends the engagement. Many troubled AI projects should have been stopped at scoping.
04
Technology Picked Before the Problem
Vendors recommend whatever they resell. The right answer is sometimes RAG, sometimes fine-tuning, sometimes a SQL query and no AI at all.
Enterprise AI Consulting EngagementsFour engagements we run, each scoped to end in a decision or a build:
1 · AI Strategy and Roadmap
From Use-Case List to Build Order
- Score your use cases by payback, data readiness, and risk
- Sequence a roadmap your team can actually deliver
- Define accuracy targets and success metrics before any build
- Grounded in patterns from projects we have built
2 · Build vs Buy vs Partner
The Decision Before the Budget
- Evaluate off-the-shelf tools against a custom build, with the numbers
- Total cost modeling, licensing versus ownership
- Vendor evaluation without resale incentives
- We recommend buying when buying is right
3 · Generative AI Consulting
LLMs Applied Where They Pay
- Model selection across GPT-4, Claude, Llama, and Mistral
- RAG versus fine-tuning versus prompt engineering, decided on your data
- Cost modeling and optimization for LLM workloads
- Security, privacy, and compliance review for generative AI use
4 · AI Project Rescue
When the First Attempt Stalled
- Audit of a stalled or underperforming AI project
- Root-cause findings on accuracy, data, and architecture
- A concrete fix-or-stop recommendation with cost to finish
- Re-architecture and delivery by the same team that audited
What we measureset against your baseline in discovery
Every engagement is scoped to a fixed price and an outcome you can measure, not billable hours.
Timeline
3 to 6 weeks
to a defensible decision
Team
Engineers
the consultants also build the systems
Deliverable
1
written recommendation per engagement
THE EDGEFIRM DIFFERENCE
Unlike strategy consultancies:
- The consultants are the engineers
- Recommendations come with a fixed build price
- We say no to use cases that will fail
Unlike vendor consultants:
- No products to resell
- Model and tool choices on merit
- Buy recommendations when buying wins
Unlike hourly advisors:
- Fixed-scope engagements with deliverables
- Weeks, not quarters
- Every engagement ends in a decision
Common Questions About AI Consulting Services
Four engagement types: AI strategy and roadmap (which use cases, in what order, at what cost), build versus buy evaluation, generative AI adoption (model selection, RAG versus fine-tuning, security review), and rescue of stalled AI projects. Every engagement is fixed-scope and ends in a written recommendation with evidence.
The consultants are the engineers. The people who assess your use cases are the same people who build AI systems, so every recommendation comes with a real cost, a real timeline, and optionally a fixed-price build quote. We have no products to resell, and we put no-go calls in writing when a use case will fail.
Yes, and it happens regularly. Many troubled AI projects should have been stopped at scoping: the data was not ready, the accuracy ceiling was too low, or a simpler tool already did the job. A no-build recommendation costs you a few weeks of consulting instead of a year of engineering.
Yes. Generative AI consulting covers model selection across GPT-4, Claude, Llama, and Mistral, the RAG versus fine-tuning versus prompt engineering decision made against your actual data, LLM cost modeling and optimization, and security and compliance review before anything customer-facing ships.
Engagements run $20,000 to $75,000 fixed price and take 3 to 6 weeks depending on scope. If the recommendation is to build and you want us to build it, the consulting findings carry straight into a fixed-price delivery proposal with no re-discovery.
No. That's exactly what the AI Strategy and Roadmap engagement is for: scoring your use cases by payback, data readiness, and risk, and sequencing a build order. If you're not sure AI is the right answer at all, that's also a fit, we will tell you if a simpler tool or no build does the job.
The same team that ran the consulting engagement, if you want that. The findings carry straight into a fixed-price build quote with no re-discovery, because the people who evaluated your use case are the engineers who would deliver it. You're also free to take the written recommendation and build elsewhere; it's yours either way.
Yes, that's what AI Project Rescue covers. We audit the stalled or underperforming project, find the root cause in the data, architecture, or evaluation setup, and give you a fix-or-stop recommendation with a cost to finish. We don't need to have built the original system to assess it.
A fractional CTO or advisor is usually an ongoing, hourly relationship. Our consulting engagements are fixed-scope and end in a specific written decision within weeks, not an open-ended retainer. You get a result you can act on immediately, with no ongoing hourly clock.
Where Consulting Leads:
Custom LLM Applications
When the recommendation is a custom build, this is how we deliver it.
AI Integration Services
When the gap is connecting AI to your existing systems, not strategy.
Guide: Build vs Buy vs Partner
Our public decision framework, free before you ever talk to us.
Guide: Why Enterprise AI Projects Fail
The failure modes we screen for in every scoping engagement.
Get AI live in months, not years.
Book a 30-minute strategy call with the founders who will write your code.
