Vision · imagined, not a commitment

If the team became a consultancy

A thought experiment: what an entrepreneur with nine AI staff members could pass on from their experience to other companies — as advice on getting started with AI.

One thing up front, so that nothing is misunderstood: this is a vision. This consultancy does not exist, and there are no prices, no offer and no commitment. It is a picture of where the road could lead.

How it comes about

The Mac brought desktop publishing, in 1994 the internet came to businesses, and today artificial intelligence is arriving. I was there for the first two waves. In the third, I take part every day, with a team of AI staff members in a real company. Anyone who does this gathers experience that is otherwise known only from brochures.

What such a consultancy would do

• Clarify how to get started. Which tasks in a business suit AI, which do not, and where does one begin small?
• Sort through the offers. The market is full of tools and of promises. A consultancy would choose by clear criteria instead of following marketing speak.
• Name costs and time in advance. In orders of magnitude that have been measured, not estimated.
• Weigh cloud against in-house hardware. Soberly, and based on what has been tried out.
• Draw the limits. What the AI takes care of and what the human keeps for themselves: the money, the contracts, the signature.

What it would not be

It would not be a promise that AI solves every problem, nor a shortcut around one’s own work. Nor would it be an existing company. Whether anything ever comes of the thought experiment is an open question.