AI consulting: strategy and advice
AI consulting is the delivery of strategic guidance, roadmaps, and recommendations. A consulting engagement typically results in a document: an AI strategy, an opportunity assessment, a vendor evaluation, or a transformation roadmap.
What you get: advice about what to do and how to think about AI in your organization.
What you do not get: working software, deployed systems, or production AI.
When it makes sense: when you need to understand the landscape, build internal alignment, or make a buy vs. build decision. When you have executive buy-in but no AI technical leadership.
When it does not make sense: when you already know what you want to build and need someone to build it.
- •Typical deliverable: strategy document, roadmap, opportunity assessment
- •Typical engagement length: 4-12 weeks
- •Typical team: former Big Tech executives, MBAs, strategy consultants
- •Typical pricing: $50-500K for a strategy engagement
- •Red flag: the engagement ends when the document is delivered
AI implementation: building the system
AI implementation is the delivery of software — the actual build. An implementation engagement results in code, deployed infrastructure, and a working AI system.
What you get: a built system. Sometimes with training, sometimes with documentation, sometimes with a brief handoff period.
What you do not get (usually): ongoing operational support, continuous improvement, or accountability for production outcomes.
When it makes sense: when you have internal technical teams who can own and operate the system after handoff.
When it does not make sense: when you do not have the internal capability to maintain what gets built.
- •Typical deliverable: working software, deployed infrastructure, documentation
- •Typical engagement length: 8-24 weeks
- •Typical team: software engineers, ML engineers, data engineers
- •Typical pricing: $100K-1M depending on scope
- •Red flag: the engagement ends at launch, not at production stability
AI services: building and operating the system
AI services is the ongoing delivery of AI capability — not just the initial build, but the deployment, operation, monitoring, and continuous improvement of the system over time.
What you get: a production AI system that the services company is accountable for operating and improving.
What you do not get: a handoff. The services company stays involved.
When it makes sense: when you want a production AI system but do not want to build and maintain it internally. When speed to production matters more than internal ownership.
When it does not make sense: when you have strong internal AI engineering capability and want to own the system entirely.
- •Typical deliverable: production AI system, ongoing operation, monthly impact reporting
- •Typical engagement length: quarterly or annual, ongoing
- •Typical team: forward-deployed engineers who stay embedded
- •Typical pricing: usage-based or retainer, aligned to outcomes
- •Green flag: the services company is measured on business outcomes, not deliverables
The comparison in one table
| AI Consulting | AI Implementation | AI Services | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deliverable | Strategy document | Working software | Production system |
| Outcome ownership | Client | Client (after handoff) | Shared |
| Engagement end | Document delivery | Launch | When you choose to end it |
| What happens at 2am | Client calls their team | Client calls their team | Services company handles it |
| Business outcome accountability | Low | Medium | High |
| Best for | Direction-setting | Building with internal ops | Building without internal ops |
| Failure risk | Low (just advice) | Medium (build risks) | Low (outcomes aligned) |
The questions that reveal which one you are actually buying
Every vendor will call what they do "AI services." These questions cut through the positioning:
- "What does the engagement look like after go-live?" — Consulting ends before launch. Implementation ends at launch. Services continues after launch. The answer to this question tells you what you are buying.
- "How is your success measured?" — If the answer is deliverables (documents, code, deployment), you are buying consulting or implementation. If the answer is business outcomes (time saved, cost reduced, accuracy achieved), you are buying services.
- "Who is on the hook if the system stops working in production?" — If the answer is "your team," it is consulting or implementation. If the answer is "us," it is services.
- "What is your standard engagement length?" — Consulting: weeks. Implementation: months. Services: quarters to years.
- "Can I see your pricing structure?" — Consulting and implementation: project-based. Services: usage-based or retainer.
What Altor is (and is not)
Altor is an AI services company. We build production AI systems and operate them — we do not hand off at launch and move on.
We are not AI consultants. We do not produce strategy documents or roadmaps. If you need help deciding whether and what to build, we are not the right fit.
We are not pure AI implementors. We do not build and hand off. If you have strong internal engineering capability and want to own the system entirely, we are not the right fit.
We are right for teams that want a production AI system and are not planning to build and maintain it internally. We embed alongside your team, deploy in 3 weeks, and stay accountable for the system running and improving over time.