AI consultancy for SMEs.
How to choose a partner that ships.
An AI consultancy helps a business decide where AI is worth using and then puts it to work. For an SME that usually means three things: a short assessment of your work processes, one system built and tested on real cases, and a handoff so your team can run it. You can buy that from a small founder-led studio like innops, from a larger agency or IT integrator, or start with a public programme. They suit different needs. This page compares them honestly, lists six questions to ask any AI partner, and shows our own prices so you have a reference point.
Which kind of AI partner fits an SME?
None is better in general. The right one depends on the size of the job and who has to own the result.
The person you meet does the work
Who: One senior engineer, sometimes with specialists per project.
Best for: One or two workflows that need to reach production fast, with a fixed price.
Watch for: Limited capacity: one or two builds at a time. Not built for multi-team rollouts.
A team, a process, a project manager
Who: Account manager, project manager and engineers who may change during the project.
Best for: Large rollouts, many systems, formal procurement and long support contracts.
Watch for: Day rates without an end date, and discovery phases that become the deliverable.
Awareness, training and first tests
Who: Organisations such as VLAIO, hub.brussels, sector federations and the Flanders AI EDIH network.
Best for: Learning what AI can do, finding subsidies, and testing an idea before you invest.
Watch for: Offers change with funding periods, and they don't build and run your system. Check what's on offer now.
Six questions to ask any AI consultancy.
Good answers are short and specific. Vague answers to these six usually mean the project ends as a pilot.
- 01
Who does the work, and will that person stay on the project until handoff?
- 02
Is the price fixed per deliverable, or an open-ended day rate?
- 03
What does "production" mean? Ask for the checklist.
- 04
Can I see a system you built that is still running today?
- 05
Whose name are the code, the accounts and the data in?
- 06
What happens after launch, and can we leave without an exit fee?
Three steps, public prices.
innops is a small AI consultancy in Antwerp. The founder does the audit, the engineering and the handoff. Proof: a travel agency's AI assistant and a construction company's site and assistant.
Workshop
Two hands-on tracks. Foundations to get past the chat box, Cowork to build a working AI helper on your real workflow. €525 flat each.
AI Audit
Operator-first. We sit with the people doing the work. You leave with a memo: build, skip, not now. Walk-away allowed.
Build
Engineered, tested on your real workflow, documented for handoff. Production-grade from day one. Assistants, automation, vision, internal tools.
Read more: what it costs to build an AI agent and implementing AI in an SME, with subsidies.
What SMEs ask about AI consultancy.
What does an AI consultant cost in Belgium?
It depends on what you buy: advice, training or a working system. Day rates for independent AI consultants and agencies vary widely and are rarely published, which makes comparing hard. innops publishes its prices: a hands-on workshop costs €525 per track, an AI audit of your workflows starts at €1,000 flat, and a build of one workflow typically costs €5,000–15,000, fixed before work starts. Optional hosting and maintenance through Operate starts at €60 a month. Whoever you talk to, ask for a fixed price per deliverable rather than an open-ended day rate, and ask what is included: testing on real data, documentation, handoff and support after launch. A low day rate with no end date often costs more than a fixed fee with a clear finish line.
Can our IT supplier do this instead of an AI consultancy?
Sometimes, and it's worth asking. Your IT supplier knows your systems, accounts and security setup, which matters for any AI project. The difference is usually in the work itself. Connecting a model to a mailbox is quick; making it reliable takes a different skill: building a test set from real cases, measuring how often the output is wrong, designing where a person approves, and monitoring cost and quality after launch. Many IT suppliers resell AI licences or set up a standard assistant, which is fine when that's what you need. If your workflow needs a custom agent tested on your own data, ask the supplier to show one they built and still run. A good split is common: the IT supplier manages accounts and security, the AI partner builds and hands over the workflow.
What should an AI consultancy deliver?
Something your team uses on a normal Monday, not a strategy deck. For an assessment, that's a short written memo: which workflow to automate first, which to skip, what it would cost and who would own it. For a build, it's a working system in production plus the parts that keep it alive: tests on real cases, monitoring with alerts, a runbook someone on your team can follow, and accounts and code in your name. Ask any consultancy to define "done" before you sign, as a checklist rather than a feeling. innops uses a six-box production gate for every build and publishes it on the custom AI development page. If a supplier can't say what will be live and who will own it, the engagement will probably end in a pilot.