Not Every Problem Needs AI. Let's Figure Out Which Ones Do.
Half-day to full-day engagement delivering honest AI opportunity assessment, readiness evaluation, and prioritized next steps—no vendor bias, no cookie-cutter recommendations.
The Problem With AI Vendor Pitches
You're hearing "AI will transform everything" from every vendor with a product to sell. But you need clarity: Which opportunities are real for your organization? Which AI solutions actually deliver ROI? Where should you start?
The AI Strategy Session cuts through the hype. We assess your specific challenges, evaluate your current capabilities, and identify where AI creates genuine value versus where traditional solutions work better. You'll leave with a prioritized roadmap grounded in your operational reality—not theoretical possibilities.
This isn't a sales pitch for specific tools. It's an honest conversation with someone who's implemented AI across 10+ domains and knows when to recommend AI and when to recommend something else entirely. We use our specialized AI agent system to rapidly analyze your context and deliver insights that would take traditional consultants weeks to develop.
What You Get
✓AI Opportunity Assessment
Documented analysis of where AI could create value in your operations, including estimated impact ranges and implementation complexity for each opportunity.
✓Current State Readiness Evaluation
Honest assessment of your data maturity, technical infrastructure, team capabilities, and organizational readiness for AI adoption—including gaps that must be addressed first.
✓Prioritized Recommendation Roadmap
Sequenced next steps with clear rationale: quick wins to build momentum, foundational investments to enable future initiatives, and long-term strategic opportunities.
✓Vendor Solution Evaluation Framework
If you're evaluating AI vendors, you'll receive a customized framework for assessing solutions against your specific requirements—helping you cut through marketing claims.
✓"Should We Build vs. Buy?" Analysis
Clear guidance on which capabilities warrant custom development versus commercial solutions, based on your strategic needs, technical capacity, and budget constraints.
✓Risk and Compliance Considerations
Identification of regulatory, security, privacy, and ethical considerations specific to your industry and use cases—including HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR, or sector-specific requirements.
Example Scenarios
Multi-Location Clinic Evaluating AI for Scheduling Optimization
A seven-location pediatric therapy center was approached by three scheduling AI vendors promising 40% efficiency gains. The AI Strategy Session assessed their current scheduling workflows, patient flow patterns, and staff coordination challenges. The evaluation revealed two vendors overpromised on their pattern recognition capabilities given the clinic's irregular appointment types, while a simpler workflow automation would solve 70% of their friction points at one-tenth the cost.
Key Outcome:
Avoided $120K annual AI vendor commitment; implemented $15K workflow automation delivering 60% of promised benefits in 30 days.
Factory Exploring Predictive Maintenance AI
A precision manufacturing facility was losing $200K annually to unplanned equipment downtime. They assumed AI-powered predictive maintenance was the answer. The Strategy Session analyzed their maintenance logs, sensor data availability, and failure patterns. The assessment found they lacked sufficient historical data for ML model training but identified three equipment types where rule-based alerting would prevent 80% of failures immediately.
Key Outcome:
Launched rule-based monitoring in 45 days while building data foundation for future AI implementation; prevented $140K downtime in first 90 days.
Fintech Startup Assessing AI for Fraud Detection
A payment processing startup was building fraud detection from scratch and debating custom ML models versus commercial fraud AI platforms. The Strategy Session evaluated their transaction patterns, fraud exposure, compliance requirements, and technical team capacity. Analysis revealed their transaction volume didn't justify custom ML infrastructure yet, but a hybrid approach using commercial fraud scoring with custom rule layers would address their unique risk profile.
Key Outcome:
Selected right-sized commercial platform + custom rules; reduced fraud losses by 65% while avoiding 12+ months of custom ML development.
University Evaluating AI for Student Success Prediction
A mid-sized university wanted to implement AI for early identification of at-risk students. The Strategy Session examined their student data infrastructure, intervention capacity, and existing support programs. The assessment found significant data quality issues in their current systems and revealed their student services team lacked bandwidth to act on AI predictions. Recommendations prioritized data infrastructure cleanup and intervention workflow design before AI implementation.
Key Outcome:
Avoided premature AI investment; focused on foundational data quality and intervention processes; positioned for successful AI implementation in Year 2.
How It Works
Pre-Session Discovery (Before Meeting)
You'll complete a structured intake questionnaire covering your AI questions, current challenges, existing technical capabilities, and strategic priorities. This ensures we maximize session time on analysis rather than basic fact-gathering.
Timeline: 30-45 minutes of your time before session
Working Session (Half-Day or Full-Day)
We conduct a collaborative working session—not a presentation. You'll describe your challenges and opportunities while we assess fit for AI solutions in real-time using our agent system for rapid research, benchmarking, and feasibility analysis. Expect direct questions, honest pushback on assumptions, and working documents developed during the session.
Timeline: 4 hours (half-day) or 8 hours (full-day), depending on complexity
AI-Augmented Analysis (Post-Session)
After the session, we use our specialized AI agent system to deepen the analysis: market research on relevant AI solutions, technical feasibility assessment, ROI modeling, and risk evaluation. This AI-augmented approach delivers insights in days that would take traditional consulting weeks.
Timeline: 2-3 days post-session
Findings Delivery & Roadmap Review
You receive a comprehensive written report with all deliverables plus a follow-up session to review findings, answer questions, and refine recommendations based on your feedback. The roadmap is a working document you can use immediately to guide next steps.
Timeline: 30-60 minute review session + written deliverables
30-Day Follow-Up (Included)
Thirty days after delivery, we schedule a check-in call to answer questions that arose during implementation, provide guidance on early execution challenges, and adjust recommendations based on new information.
Timeline: 30-minute call at day 30
Is This Right For You?
This service is ideal if you...
- →Need honest evaluation before committing to AI vendors or solutions — You're being pitched AI tools but want independent assessment of fit and value before investing.
- →Have multiple AI opportunities but limited resources — You need prioritization: which AI initiatives deliver ROI versus which are interesting but low-impact?
- →Want to start your AI journey but don't know where to begin — You recognize AI's potential but need a practical entry point grounded in your current capabilities.
- →Are evaluating build vs. buy for AI capabilities — You need guidance on which AI functions warrant custom development versus commercial solutions.
Consider a different service if you...
- →Already know your AI use case and need a working prototype — The Rapid Prototype service is a better fit for validating specific AI solutions with functioning proof-of-concept.
- →Need comprehensive operational or technology assessment — The AI-Augmented Assessment provides deeper analysis of your full technology stack and business operations using our agent methodology.
- →Require ongoing AI implementation guidance — Ongoing Advisory offers continuous support for organizations actively building AI into their operations.
Related Services
Rapid Prototype
Move from "could this work?" to "here's what works" with a 1-4 week sprint delivering a working proof of concept for your specific AI use case.
$5,000–$25,000
When to choose this instead: You've already identified a specific AI opportunity and need validation with a functioning prototype before full implementation.
Learn More →AI-Augmented Assessment
Deep-dive analysis of your operations, technology, or strategic decision using our AI agent system to deliver comprehensive recommendations in 5-10 days.
$10,000–$25,000
When to choose this instead: You need thorough evaluation of complex operational challenges or major technology decisions beyond just AI opportunities.
Learn More →Ongoing Advisory
Continuous AI-augmented guidance for organizations actively implementing AI across their operations, starting with 90-day minimum commitment.
$5,000–$15,000/month
When to choose this instead: You're already implementing AI and need ongoing expert partnership for architecture, vendor selection, and strategic guidance.
Learn More →Start With an Honest Conversation
Book your AI Strategy Session to get clarity on where AI creates real value for your organization—and where it doesn't. No vendor bias. No cookie-cutter frameworks. Just honest assessment grounded in 18+ years of enterprise AI implementation.