--- title: "AI Consulting · 316Software" description: "A short, paid project that ends with a clear answer: which parts of your work AI can take on, which it can’t, and which one is worth building first." canonical: "https://316software.com/services/ai-consulting" last_updated: "2026-10-21" --- # AI Consulting A short, paid project that ends with a clear answer: which parts of your work AI can take on, which it can’t, and which one is worth building first. ![A stack of a company’s own paperwork with a hand lens on it, beside a laptop showing a short list with two items ticked and one crossed out.](https://316software.com/img/services/ai-consulting-1536.webp) I read your actual paperwork, then hand back a short list: what to automate, and what to leave alone. ## What you get - **A map of the work**: Where your team’s time goes, based on watching the work being done. - **A ranked shortlist**: What to automate first, second and never, each with the reason and a rough cost. - **A written recommendation**: Including the parts I think you shouldn’t build, and what to buy instead. - **A fixed-price proposal, if one is worth making**: If there’s nothing worth building, I’ll say so. I time each task while your team does it, then rank what to automate, with the reason for each. ## Pricing Fixed prices for the common jobs, and a quote after discovery for anything bigger. Prices in CAD, plus GST. - 01 **Second opinion** A quote or a decision, looked at by someone who isn’t selling it. $1,500 3 business days · credited One decision: the quote or proposal read with its context, a 20-minute call to go through it, and a written answer within 3 business days: sign it, change it, or walk away, and why. Credited in full against the Advisor within 90 days. - The quote or proposal read, with its context - A 20-minute call to go through it - A written answer within 3 business days - Credited in full against the Advisor within 90 days [Start with Second opinion](https://316software.com/contact?service=ai-consulting) - 02 **The answer** Which parts of your work AI should take on, and which it shouldn’t. $3,500 2 days · credited 2 days with your real paperwork: a map of where your team’s time goes, a ranked shortlist with rough costs, and a written recommendation including what not to build. Credited against a build within 90 days. - A map of where your team’s time goes, from watching the work - A ranked shortlist with a rough cost each - A written recommendation, including what not to build - Credited against a build within 90 days [Start with The answer](https://316software.com/contact?service=ai-consulting) - 03 Fits most businesses **The plan** The answer, plus a plan for the next 12 months. $10,000 1 week · credited One week: the answer, plus a pilot design, a data-readiness check, tool and vendor choice, a 12-month sequence with a budget, and a working session with your leadership team. Credited against a build. - Everything in The answer - A pilot design and a data-readiness check - Tool and vendor choice, without a vendor in the room - A 12-month sequence with a budget, and a session with your leadership team [Start with The plan](https://316software.com/contact?service=ai-consulting) - 04 **The prototype** See it working on your own documents before you decide. $20,000 2 weeks · credited Two weeks: the plan, plus one shortlisted item working on your own documents, so the decision to build is made on evidence. Credited against the build. - Everything in The plan - One shortlisted item working on your own documents - Measured against how the work is done today - Credited against the build [Start with The prototype](https://316software.com/contact?service=ai-consulting) - **Advisor · $18,000 a year**: Someone on your side for every software and AI decision, who isn’t selling you anything. Questions by email, answered within 1 business day. A 20-minute call whenever a decision needs one, with nothing to count. Every quote read before you sign it. A quarterly review of what shipped and what it saved. Advice and review only: anything that needs building gets its own fixed price. Cancel at any renewal. −19 points **The same AI helped on one task and hurt on the next.** In a preregistered experiment, 758 BCG consultants were given GPT-4. On tasks inside what it does well, they finished 12.2% more of them, 25.1% faster, and scored more than 30% higher on quality. On a task that looked no harder but sat outside it, they were 19 percentage points less likely to get the right answer than consultants working without it. Telling those two kinds of work apart in your business, before you pay for a build, is what the days with your paperwork are for. [Dell’Acqua et al., Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier, Organization Science, March 2026. 758 consultants.](https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/dell-acqua-et-al-2026-navigating-the-jagged-technological-frontier_5c589c8c-fbb5-458f-b285-c944746cd717.pdf) ## When it’s the right choice - Someone has asked about your AI strategy, and the honest answer is that you don’t have one. - You’ve been quoted for a software or AI project and want a second opinion from someone who isn’t selling it. - You want to know what it would save before you commit to a build. ### When it isn’t If you already know exactly what you want built, skip this and go straight to a build. The discovery that comes with a build costs less than doing this separately. ## Get in touch [Talk about AI consulting](https://316software.com/contact?service=ai-consulting) I’ll read your message myself and reply within 2 business days. ## Related services [All 8 services](https://316software.com/services) - ### [AI Agents & Automation](https://316software.com/services/ai-agents-automation) The usual next step, once the shortlist names a task worth automating. - ### [Software Development](https://316software.com/services/software-development) When the shortlist points to a custom system. - ### [Integrations](https://316software.com/services/integrations) When the time goes on copying data between tools you already have. --- Page: https://316software.com/services/ai-consulting The whole site for agents: https://316software.com/llms.txt