Insights for a productive workflow
Most AI firms sell strategy decks and proof of concepts that never ship. Here's what actually matters when you're buying AI work.
Published by
Daniel
on
May 28, 2026
The AI Consulting Industry Has a Problem
Most AI consulting firms operate the same way. They sell a discovery phase, deliver a strategy deck full of buzzwords, maybe build a proof of concept that demos well but never makes it to production, and then bill monthly for "ongoing advisory."
The client ends up with a nice PDF and no actual change to how their business operates.
What Actually Matters
When you're evaluating AI work, there are only three questions that matter:
Does it ship? Not a demo. Not a prototype. Something your team actually uses on Monday morning.
Does it move a number? Revenue up, costs down, hours saved. If nobody can point to a metric that changed, the project failed.
Can your team run it without the consultant? If you need the firm on retainer forever just to keep the lights on, they built a dependency, not a solution.
Everything else is noise.
The Real Test
Ask any AI firm you're talking to: "Show me a client where you shipped something, moved a number, and left."
If they can't answer that clearly, you know what you're dealing with.