Mac Sweeny
What it is
How I would work through the decision
The starting point is your work, rather than a particular tool.
- 01
Show the workflow
Bring a real example, the tools involved and where you get stuck.
- 02
Choose an approach
Compare a simpler process, an existing tool and a separately scoped build.
- 03
Review what happened
Try the agreed next step and use the result to guide the next decision.
A useful next step has an owner, a clear purpose and a way to check whether it helped.
What is AI consulting?
Quick answer
AI consulting is paid advice on where AI fits in your business, which tools to use, and what order to do things in. A good consultant maps how you work now, picks the two or three workflows AI will genuinely improve, and gives you a plan you can act on yourself or hand to a builder. AI Consulting is A$1,195 per month + GST, with a call each fortnight, clarity on what to build in Claude or ChatGPT and practical guidance on how to do it. No lock-in. I don’t sell the software I recommend, so the plan is allowed to say wait, or do nothing yet.
Most people come to AI consulting after a few months of noise. Someone on the team has been pasting things into ChatGPT, a vendor has quoted a five-figure build, and nobody in the room can say whether that quote makes any sense. The job is to take that pile and turn it into a short ordered list: this first, this second, and these three ideas are not worth your money.
That is different from most of what the market sells. Agencies and development shops earn their money building, so their advice tends to finish as a statement of work. The large firms do run real strategy engagements, but their minimum project sizes rule out anyone under a few hundred staff. AI consulting for a founder or operator sits in the gap between those two: one experienced person, your actual workflows, an hour of proper thinking, and something written down at the end.
A session usually covers three things. Where the time goes in your business now, which of those places a language model or an automation can carry, and what it would take to get it running. We talk about your quoting, your inbox, your reporting, your onboarding, whatever the real bottleneck is. You get named tools with reasons attached, not a category list, and I will tell you when the honest answer is that the tool you already pay for is enough.
Learning and advice are included in the consulting subscription. Implementation has its own service price and agreed scope. AI Consulting is A$1,195 per month + GST, with a call each fortnight, clarity on what to build in Claude or ChatGPT and practical guidance on how to do it. No lock-in.
Custom builds are available separately from the advisory subscription. If a session ends with you wanting software, that is a separate engagement with its own scope, price and contract. Keeping those apart is the point: advice you pay for directly is advice nobody has a reason to bend.
What you walk away with
Three things you can use the same week, all written down so you are not relying on your memory of a call.
A short list, not a wish list
Most businesses can name twenty things AI might do for them. You leave with the two or three worth doing now, and a clear reason why the rest can wait.
The order to do it in
Sequence is most of the value. The plan says what comes first, what has to be true before the next step starts, and roughly how long each one takes.
The expensive mistakes you get to skip
Half of a useful session is what not to build: tools you don’t need, seats nobody logs into, and custom work an off-the-shelf product already does.
Common questions
What is AI consulting?
AI consulting is paid advice on where AI fits in your business, which tools to use and what order to do things in. A consultant looks at how you actually work, finds the few places AI earns its keep, and hands you a plan. The advice is the deliverable, not the software.
What does AI consulting cost?
AI Consulting is A$1,195 per month + GST, with a call each fortnight, clarity on what to build in Claude or ChatGPT and practical guidance on how to do it. No lock-in. Custom development is A$150/hour + GST, with a separate project scope, estimated hours and terms before work starts.
Do you build the AI systems as well?
Consulting covers advice and planning. Custom development is A$150/hour + GST, with a separate project scope, estimated hours and terms before work starts. Development is a separate engagement with agreed scope and terms.
How is this different from hiring an AI agency?
An agency sells builds, so the answer at the end of an agency call is usually a build. I sell an hour of thinking and a written plan, and I take no margin on any tool or platform I recommend. Sometimes the honest answer is that you need a subscription and two hours of training rather than a project.
Official resources
Explore the tools and check current details with the people who make them.
