Both promise clarity about AI. They deliver different things at different prices. Strategy consulting sells thinking: market context, operating model, a transformation narrative, usually open ended and five figures before anything is scoped. A readiness assessment sells a decision: which workflow to build first, what it returns, what it costs to run, and whether to build at all.
| AI strategy consulting | AI Readiness Assessment | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Typically five figures, scoped as you go | $2,500 fixed ($7,500 standard) |
| Duration | Six to twelve weeks, often longer | Two weeks |
| Deliverable | A strategy deck and recommendations | A written plan: workflows ranked by ROI and TCO, a 90 day build plan, an honest go or no-go |
| Who does the work | Analysts, reviewed by a partner | A senior engineer who would build it, in the room with the people doing the work |
| What happens next | You still need someone to build | Fee credited in full toward the build within 60 days |
| Best for | Enterprise wide operating model change | Mid market: one to three concrete systems that pay back this year |
If you are a 5,000 person company redesigning how three divisions work, buy strategy. The failure mode is buying it at mid market scale, where 95% of AI pilots already die between the deck and production (MIT NANDA, 2025), and what is missing is never another framework. It is a plan that survives contact with your real codebase, data, and team.
See exactly what the assessment produces: a redacted sample deliverable. Or run the free version first: the 20 question readiness checklist.
Two weeks. $2,500. Workflows ranked by ROI and TCO, and an honest answer. Yours to keep.
Get your AI Readiness Assessment