- Consultancies are strong at strategy and large, one-off programmes.
- Your own AI people are better for continuous improvement across many workflows.
- Outsourced and project-based hiring gives you your own people without a permanent commitment.
When a company decides to "do AI", the first instinct is often to call a consultancy. Sometimes that is right. Often it is an expensive way to get a slide deck and a pilot that nobody maintains.
Side by side
| AI consultancy | Your own AI people | |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | The consultancy's team, to its methods | People inside your team, reporting to you |
| Cost structure | Day rates for a team, plus partner time | Salaries, or salary plus a service fee if outsourced |
| Best for | Strategy, large transformation programmes, complex integrations | Ongoing automation across many processes |
| Speed to start | Proposal, procurement and contracting | As fast as the right person can be hired |
| After the project | The team leaves, and the know-how leaves with it | The knowledge stays in the company |
When a consultancy makes sense
If you need a group-wide AI strategy, a major system replacement, or a programme spanning many countries, a consultancy brings scale and experience that a single hire cannot.
When your own people make more sense
If the goal is to automate one workflow after another, improve them over time and build internal capability, embedded people work better. They learn your business, your systems and your culture, and they are there when something breaks at 9 a.m. on a Monday.
The middle path
Outsourced and project-based hiring sit between the two. The person works inside your team, but is employed by a partner such as GI Executive, so you avoid a new headcount and can extend, convert or end the arrangement once you see the results.
Want this working in your company?
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