How much does an AI strategy cost?
What AI strategy consulting actually costs in the US market, why the big-firm version runs to six figures, and my published fixed-scope pricing, including what you get for it.
A real one: fixed-scope, from $20K. A big-firm one: six figures.
AI strategy consulting spans an absurd price range because the label covers everything from a workshop to a six-month engagement with a staffed team. Big consulting firms routinely price AI strategy work well into six figures. Boutiques and independents usually land between $20,000 and $100,000 depending on depth.
My pricing is published and fixed-scope: the Diagnostic from $20,000 establishes where AI creates leverage in your business, and the AI-Native Roadmap & Architecture Sprint from $35,000 delivers the complete strategy — sequenced roadmap, architecture and model choices, and the economics — ready to build against in four to six weeks.
One thing the fee should always buy: a strategy the author is willing to build. Mine converts directly into delivery at $18,000 a month as your fractional AI CTO, which keeps the strategy honest. Nobody writes fantasy roadmaps they'll be accountable for shipping.
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What I charge, exactly.
Strategy is fixed-scope; delivery is monthly. All prices USD.
The Diagnostic
The Business-Down read on system, org, spend and AI leverage, plus a 90-day plan you can act on with or without me. The best first step.
AI-Native Roadmap & Architecture Sprint
The full AI strategy: opportunity audit, sequenced roadmap, architecture and model choices, and the economics. Ready to build against.
Fractional AI CTO
I stay to lead the build: architecture, hiring, delivery and the operating-model change. Hands-on, until the leverage is real.
All prices USD. The full offering is on the AI Strategy page. Email me ↗
What founders & boards ask about price.
How much does an AI strategy cost?
My published pricing: a fixed-fee Diagnostic from $20,000 (two to four weeks), and the full AI-Native Roadmap & Architecture Sprint from $35,000 (four to six weeks). In the wider market, boutiques run $20,000–$100,000 and big consulting firms routinely charge six figures for staffed engagements. All prices USD.
Why do big-firm AI strategy engagements cost so much more?
You're paying for a staffed team, a partner margin, and a brand the board recognizes. What you're usually not paying for is the person who will build it. The strategy is priced as a document; execution is a second, larger engagement, often with a different team.
What does the $35K sprint actually include?
The complete strategy: an opportunity audit grounded in your data and margins, a roadmap sequenced by P&L impact and feasibility, architecture and model choices with evals and cost controls specified, the AI economics, and the team and governance plan. It's written to be built against, not presented and shelved.
How much does it cost to execute the strategy?
Ongoing delivery leadership runs $18,000 a month at roughly two days a week as your fractional AI CTO, scaling to $30,000 a month embedded if the transformation needs near-full-time leadership. Engagements that continue into delivery usually run six to eighteen months.
Is a cheap AI strategy worth buying?
A workshop or a template roadmap costs less and is usually worth what it costs. The expensive part of a bad AI strategy isn't the fee; it's the year your team spends building the wrong things while competitors compound. Judge the price against who is accountable for the outcome, not against other decks.
Related reading & paths.
Budgeting an AI strategy
for this year?
Tell me the shape of the business and where AI is on the board agenda. I'll tell you what the right scope costs, in writing.