Updated
AI consultant UK who turns ideas into working systems.
I help UK teams choose where AI is worth using, test the risks and plan the implementation. When the case is clear, I can build the workflow, document it and train the people who will own it. No vague transformation programme. Each decision leads to a working next step.
Tools that save your team time.
Small AI tools for one painful job at a time. The kind that take a slow, manual workflow and make it fast - so a person spends minutes reviewing instead of hours doing. Here are the ones I see most.
| Workflow | Manual reality | After | Time back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pitch decksFor big-business proposals | 3 weeks of inbox tennis chasing case studies, pricing and legal blocks. | AI assembles 80% from your sales library before anyone opens PowerPoint. | 3 wks→4 hrs |
| Invoice triageFor finance + ops | Copy/paste from email, check the PO, chase missing fields. | AI extracts the data, applies your rules, flags only the exceptions. | ~6 hrs/wk→30 min |
| SEO content briefsFor marketing teams | Manual SERP digs, competitor scrapes, write the brief by hand. | AI builds the brief from real search data with the structure you use. | ~3 hrs→15 min |
| Lead triageFor sales + intake | Read every enquiry, score fit, draft the first reply manually. | AI scores fit, suggests the next step, drafts the reply for review. | ~10 min→30 sec |
| Weekly reportingFor client + internal | Pull the data, write the narrative, hope someone reads it. | AI drafts the commentary from the data; you spend the time on the takeaway. | ~2 hrs/wk→20 min |
| Internal "where's that SOP?"For ops + support | Slack pings, repeat questions, half-answers from people guessing. | AI answers from your real docs - SOPs, templates, policies. | Endless→Instant |
Not on the list? Tell me what your team chases and I will tell you whether AI is the right fix.
What does an AI consultant actually do?
An AI consultant helps a business choose where AI can create useful value, tests the data and risk, plans the implementation and supports adoption. The job joins business decisions to technical delivery. When a repeated process is ready to build, my AI automation consulting covers the detailed workflow work.
Map the work the team repeats. Identify which tasks have clear inputs, clear outputs, and a low blast radius if a draft goes wrong. Pick one to start with - not a programme of ten.
Choose the model (GPT-5.5, Claude, Gemini for off-the-shelf - Llama, Mistral, Qwen for local). Write the prompt system. Define human review checkpoints. Decide where the system stops and the person picks up.
Glue code in n8n, Laravel, Python scripts - whatever already lives in the stack. Connect the workflow to real sources of data. Test against real edge cases. No fragile demos that work once.
Operating guide, prompt library with version control, training session for the team, and a measurement loop. The team owns it from week one - the consultant just gets them to the working version faster.
The shape that does not work: hire a consultant to "transform the business with AI". Too broad. Too vague. Six months later, twelve workshops have happened and nothing ships. The shape that does work: pick one painful repeating task, build the workflow that handles it, prove the saving, then do the next one. Compound from there.
How much does an AI consultant cost in the UK?
Three standard engagement shapes for an independent senior IC consultant. Enterprise transformation programmes (BCG, McKinsey, Accenture tier) sit at 10-50x these numbers for similar outcomes on smaller scope problems - most SMEs do not need that overhead.
| Engagement | UK range | Best fit when |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly advisorySpecific decisions, no minimum | £200 to £400 per hourSenior IC time | The leadership team needs senior input on a specific AI decision - vendor selection, governance design, build-vs-buy review, AI policy drafting. Sharp, narrow, billable in 30-minute blocks. |
| Fixed-scope projectOne workflow, built and handed over | £5,000 to £20,000 per project3-8 weeks typical | A defined workflow build - process map, prompts, glue code, human review checkpoints, training, handover. Fixed scope, fixed fee, predictable timeline. Most common engagement shape for a first project. |
| Embedded retainerOngoing senior input across multiple builds | £2,000 to £6,000+ per monthHalf-day to two days a week | The team has multiple workflow candidates and wants a senior consultant embedded - usually 3 to 6 months - to ship two or three in sequence and train the team to take it forward. |
| Enterprise transformationWhat BCG/McKinsey/Accenture sell | £150,000+ per programme6-18 months, large team | Multi-business-unit AI transformation, organisational restructuring, large-scale change management. Real work, real outcomes - but for SMEs and mid-market it is the wrong shape and 10-50x the cost of the same workflow built by one senior IC. |
My own rates fall inside the first three rows. Send me the workflow you want to build and I will tell you whether it is a project or a retainer shape, and roughly what it costs.
Which one are you living with?
Three time-sucks I see in almost every business - whether you run a skip hire firm on Excel, a garage on a wall planner, or a 50-person agency. Click the one that hurts most.
Linda answers every call - availability, prices, "where's my skip?", "are you open Saturday?". The actual work waits until evening. Customers who call after 5pm just give up.
- Quotes given from memory - inconsistent pricing
- Bookings missed when nobody's at the desk
- Same five questions answered ten times a day
- 01Missed call lands. Voicemail or text gets transcribed automatically.
- 02Match against your price list + diary. Postcode, size, dates, availability.
- 03Text the customer back. Quote + a booking link, within 60 seconds.
- 04You take the calls that need a human. The rest take care of themselves.
Enquiries come in by phone, WhatsApp, email and the website. Then someone retypes everything into the booking sheet. Same data, three times, with typos.
- Customer details typed 4 times - call, sheet, invoice, follow-up
- The sheet is always "just slightly out of date"
- Driver gets sent yesterday's version on the wrong WhatsApp
- 01Enquiry arrives. Phone, email, WhatsApp, web form - any channel.
- 02AI extracts the booking. Who, what, where, when, how much.
- 03Drops it into your sheet. Still your sheet - not a new tool to learn.
- 04You confirm or edit. One click before the driver gets dispatched.
Job ends Friday. Someone needs to type the invoice, work out the price including the extras the driver added, send it, then chase. Most of the delay isn't the customer paying - it's you sending it late.
- Variations and extras forgotten by the time you invoice
- Different prices charged to similar customers
- Chases never happen until cash flow gets tight
- 01Job marked done. By driver, by sheet update, or by voice note.
- 02AI pulls the details. Customer, base price, extras, any notes.
- 03Drafts the invoice. Your format, line items, dates, payment terms.
- 04You approve, it sends. Auto-chase if unpaid after 14 days.
Find it. Build it. Hand it over.
Three steps. Skip any one and you end up with a clever demo nobody uses on a Tuesday.
Find it
I look at how your team actually spends its time. The tasks done by hand 5 times a week that AI could handle in seconds. That is where AI earns its keep.
Build it
I write the prompts, the rules, the checks and the human review points. So when AI gets it right it ships, and when it might get it wrong, a person looks first.
Hand it over
I leave you with a tool your team can run on a Tuesday. Plus the docs to change it next month when something inevitably shifts.
How it works, with a real example.
Same shape every time. To make it concrete, here is the pitch-deck workflow from the case study below - step by step.
Read the brief
Sales lead pastes the opportunity notes - deal size, target persona, what the buyer cares about. AI parses it.
Pull the right blocks
AI fetches the matching case studies, pricing modules and legal-approved boilerplate from your real sales library. Nothing made up.
Build the deck
Slides + speaker notes assembled in your template, your tone of voice. ~85% of the deck done before anyone opens PowerPoint.
Senior reviews, then ship
A human edits the 20% AI got wrong, signs off, and the team walks into the room with hours of focus left for rehearsal.
Same shape works for invoice triage, content briefs, lead replies, weekly reports and internal Q&A. The work changes. The discipline does not.
5 hours a day on the phone.
Now down to 45 minutes.
6 trucks, 4 staff, every booking through the office line. By 3pm Anna had answered 40 calls, the diary was three entries behind, the driver was on WhatsApp asking "where am I going next?" and no invoices had gone out.
I built them a missed-call-to-text booking system. Customers get a quote within 60 seconds of trying to call. The booking lands in the Excel diary they already use. The driver's next job pings to their phone. Anna takes the calls that actually need a human.
How a missed call becomes a booking.
Missed call lands
Customer calls, hits voicemail or rings out. The call ID + transcript drop into the system within seconds.
AI works out what they want
Skip size, postcode, dates - matched against your live price list and the diary. Edge cases flagged for Anna.
Text out within 60 seconds
"Hi - 8yd skip in Stockport on Tuesday £210 ex VAT. Book here:" with a one-tap booking link.
Booking lands, driver pinged
Confirmed booking drops into the Excel diary you already use. Driver gets the next job on their phone.
Best fit.
A quick sanity check before we talk - so you know whether this is the right engagement for what you actually need.
Right project for me
- You have one or two repeated, painful tasks worth automating first.
- You want AI integrated, but with human review where it matters.
- You need senior judgement on what AI should and should not do.
Not the right brief
- You want a chatbot for the website.
- You want AI to replace your editorial team.
- You want a single tool recommendation without the workflow.
AI consulting FAQ.
What does an AI consultant do?
How quickly can you find the first useful project?
Will this replace my team?
What tools do you use?
Choose the AI problem worth solving first.
Bring the brief, the audit findings, the broken process or the AI idea. The first reply focuses on what is realistic.
Book a call