What Does an AI Consultant Do? And When Training Is Enough
What does an AI consultant do: audit the work, pick the first use case, set rules, oversee the build and train the team. When a small company needs one.
An AI consultant looks at how work runs in your company, finds the tasks where AI saves time at an acceptable risk, picks the first one, sets the rules for tools and data, oversees the build and makes sure your team uses the result. Many small companies need less than that. If you already know which task you want to change, training on that task, plus someone to build the workflow, gets you to a working process sooner.
I do both sides. I run AI training and company programmes that start with an audit, and in Lithuania my company Retos galimybės (opens in a new tab) builds process automation and custom AI tools. I build my own companies with the same tools. On a first call I tell you whether training will fix the problem or something else will.
What does an AI consultant do, step by step
The work splits into five jobs. A full engagement covers all five; a small one covers two or three.
- Audit how work runs today. Interviews, a list of recurring tasks with hours next to them, and a map of the busiest process. How to do process mapping shows that part.
- Pick the first use case. One task that repeats, has an owner and where a mistake costs only a correction. If a consultant proposes ten projects at once, ask which one goes live first.
- Set the rules. Which tools are approved, which account type, what data may go in, who checks the output.
- Build or oversee the build. Some consultants build the workflow themselves; others write the specification and hand it to a developer or an automation team.
- Make it stick. Train the people who own the task, set a review date and come back until the new routine holds.
Jobs 1 to 3 are consulting. Job 4 is building. Job 5 is training. If you buy only the first block, you get a report, and someone on your team still has to turn it into work.
AI consultant, builder or trainer: which one you need
| Your situation | What you need first | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| "We should do something with AI" and no idea where | An audit, one to two weeks | A task list, one process map, the first use case |
| You know the task, the team does it by hand | Training on that task | Prompts and workflows people use the next day |
| You know the task and it touches several tools | A builder plus training | An automated workflow and people who can run it |
| A founder or executive drowning in email and reports | 1:1 sessions | Your own inbox, reports and offers done with AI |
| Your staff already use AI without rules | Rules plus a short training | One page of data rules and a checking habit |
The last row also matters for the law. Article 4 of the EU AI Act asks companies that use AI systems to take measures to support the AI literacy of their staff. The European Commission says there is no need for a certificate and suggests keeping an internal record of trainings. I covered the details in AI Act Article 4.
Questions to ask before you hire an AI consultant
- Which AI tools do you use in your own business, every week? Someone who doesn't use them can't teach your team to.
- What will I have in writing at the end? A process that runs beats a strategy deck.
- Who builds the workflow? If they don't build, ask who does and what it costs.
- How do you handle our data? They should ask about your account types before you share a single file.
- When do you leave? A good consultant plans the exit: the team runs the workflow without them.
How I work with a company
It starts with a 30-minute call. You tell me what slows the team down, and I tell you whether training will fix it. If it will, we agree in writing what I deliver, by when and at what price. In a company programme the audit takes one to two weeks and the first workflow goes live in month one. Then I run the sessions, build the first workflows with the team and come back until the new habits hold.
If you want to plan the rollout yourself first, how to implement AI in business has the order I follow, and AI training for employees has the one-day agenda.
Find out which one you need
Tell me how big the team is and which task eats the most hours. On the call you hear whether you need an audit, training, a build, or none of them. Sessions run in Lithuanian or English, on site in Vilnius or remote. See my AI training page or book a call.
Questions and answers
What does an AI consultant do?
An AI consultant looks at how work runs in your company, finds the tasks where AI saves time at an acceptable risk, picks the first one, sets the rules for tools and data, oversees the build and makes sure the team uses the result. A good one leaves you with a working process and people who run it.
Does a small business need an AI consultant?
Only if you don't know where AI fits. If you already know the task you want to change, such as replies to inbound requests or a monthly report, you need training on that task and maybe someone to build the workflow. Pay for an audit when the question is where to start.
What is the difference between AI consulting and AI training?
Consulting decides what to change: which process, which tool, which rules. Training changes how people work: they learn to use AI on their own tasks and check its output. In my programmes the consulting part is short, an audit of one to two weeks, and the training and coaching part runs longer.
What should I ask an AI consultant before hiring one?
Ask which AI tools they use in their own business, what you will have at the end in writing, who builds the workflow, how they handle your data, and when they will leave. If the answer to the last question is never, look elsewhere.
Can an AI consultant also train the team?
Some can, and it helps when the same person who chose the workflow teaches it. Check that the training uses your documents and ends with workflows people use the next day.