Most AI pilot projects at companies never pay off. In fact, a 2025 report from MIT’s NANDA initiative found that 95% of enterprise generative AI pilots failed to deliver a measurable return on investment.
So, why are we writing this article then if AI projects are such a failure?
Because it’s not the AI that’s failing, it’s the people who are implementing the projects.
The same research found something just as important: companies that bought AI tools through a vendor or partner succeeded about 67% of the time, while companies that tried to build everything themselves succeeded far less often.
The difference was not the technology. It was who they trusted to guide the work.
If you are a business leader in Providence, Worcester, or anywhere else in southern New England, you are probably getting pitched by AI consultants right now. Some of them know what they are doing. Some of them are riding the hype wave with a laptop and a sales deck.
Here are eight things to check before you sign a contract with anyone.
1. First Establishing: What Does an AI Consultant Actually Do?
An AI consultant helps you figure out where artificial intelligence can save you time or money, then guides you through choosing, setting up, and training your team on the right tools. That is the plain definition, and it matters because a lot of people use the title loosely. A true AI consultant looks at your business first and the technology second.
Some consultants only sell software. Others only give advice and leave the setup to you. The best ones do both. They assess your workflows, recommend tools that fit your budget and your systems, help you roll them out, and stick around to train your staff. If someone cannot explain their process in plain language, that is a warning sign, not a sign of deep expertise. Be wary of the snake oil sellers.
2. Does the Consultant Start With Your Problems or Their Product?
A good consultant starts by asking about your business, not by pitching a tool. If the first conversation is a product demo instead of a set of questions about your operations, that is backwards. You want someone who asks about your bottleneck tasks, your busiest employees, and where your team wastes the most hours before they ever mention a specific platform.
Think about it like hiring a contractor to renovate your office. You would not want someone who shows up with a truckload of materials before they have seen the space. You want someone who walks the floor, asks what you need, and then recommends a plan. AI consulting should work the same way. If a consultant recommends the exact same tool to every business they talk to, they are selling a product, not solving the challenges specific to your business.
3. How Will They Protect Your Business Data?
Any AI consultant you hire should be able to explain exactly how your data gets stored, who can access it, and whether it gets used to train outside models. Many free and low-cost AI tools use customer data to improve their own systems unless you specifically opt out, which means sensitive client information, financial records, or employee data could end up somewhere you never intended.
Ask direct questions:
- Where is our data stored, and who has access to it?
- Does this tool use our data to train its models?
- What happens to our data if we stop using the tool?
- Does this meet the compliance standards our industry requires?
This matters more than you may think too. As more and more regulated industries start to adopt AI, the more audits will look at your AI usage. And as far as that’s concerned, 78% of business leaders in the U.S. are not sure they could pass such an AI governance audit.
4. What Is Their Track Record With Businesses Like Yours?
A consultant’s past results with businesses similar to yours tell you more than any sales pitch. Ask for examples of work they have done with companies of your size, in your industry, with your kind of systems. A consultant who has helped a 15-person accounting firm streamline client intake understands a very different set of challenges than one who has only worked with large enterprise clients.
Ask for specifics. What problem did the client have? What did the consultant actually do? What changed afterward? Vague answers about “transformation” or “efficiency gains” without real numbers or examples usually mean there is not much to point to. A consultant with real, local experience in New England will also understand the labor market, vendor landscape, and pace of business here, which counts for something when you need fast answers, not a national call center.
5. Will They Train Your Team, Not Just Install a Tool?
The consultants worth hiring build training into the project from day one instead of treating it as an afterthought. Buying a tool is the easy part. Getting your team to actually use it well is where most projects stall out. A recent survey from Goldman Sachs found that while 76% of small businesses now use AI in some form, only 14% say it is fully built into their day-to-day operations, and 73% said more training and hands-on support would help them get real value from it.
That gap between owning a tool and actually using it well is exactly where good consulting earns its keep. Ask how training is structured. Is it a one-time session, or ongoing support as your team runs into questions? Will they train your managers to keep coaching staff after the engagement ends? A consultant who disappears the day after setup is finished is leaving you exactly where most companies get stuck.
6. How Do They Define and Measure Success?
Before you hire anyone, you should agree on what success looks like and how you will know if you got there. This sounds obvious, but it is the step most businesses overlook when they’re chasing shiny objects. Without a clear target, an AI project can drag on for months with nobody able to say whether it actually helped.
Good measures of success are specific: hours saved per week on a task, faster turnaround on quotes, fewer errors in invoicing, quicker response times to customer questions. A consultant should help you set these targets before the work starts, then check in against them. If a consultant cannot describe how they will measure whether the project worked, you have no way to know if you got your money’s worth.
7. Do They Understand Your Industry and Current Systems?
A consultant who understands your industry and your existing software will save you time and avoid costly mistakes. AI tools have to work alongside the systems you already use, whether that is your accounting software, your scheduling platform, or your customer database. A consultant who does not ask about your current setup before recommending a tool is guessing, not consulting.
This matters even more for businesses running older or specialized software that was not built with AI integration in mind. A consultant with general business experience across construction, manufacturing, and professional services will recognize these patterns faster than someone who has only worked in one narrow niche. Ask what other industries they have worked in and what systems they have connected AI tools to before.
8. What Happens After the Project Ends?
The best AI consulting relationships do not stop the day the tool goes live. Technology changes fast, your business changes too, and the tool that fit perfectly six months ago might need adjusting as your team grows or your workflows shift. Ask upfront what ongoing support looks like. Is there a monthly check-in? A support line for questions? A plan to revisit the setup once a year?
A consultant who treats the engagement as a one-time transaction is setting you up to be part of that 95% failure statistic down the road, even if the initial rollout goes fine. A consultant who builds in ongoing support is planning for you to actually keep getting value from the investment.
Key Takeaways
- Companies that buy AI tools through a trusted vendor or partner succeed roughly twice as often as companies that try to build everything in-house.
- A consultant who pitches a specific product before learning about your business is selling software, not solving problems.
- Most small businesses that use AI have not fully built it into daily operations, which means training and follow-through matter more than the initial tool choice.
- Clear, specific success metrics set before the work begins are the only real way to know if an AI project delivered value.
Ready to Hire the Right AI Consultant? Talk to Us for your Free AI Strategy Review
You do not have to figure this out alone, and you should not have to gamble on a consultant who is more interested in selling you software than solving your actual problem. Schedule a free AI Strategy Review Call with Attain Technology, and we will walk through where AI can actually help your business, in plain language, with no pressure to buy anything you do not need.
Schedule Your AI Review with Attain Technology Today
Why Choose Attain Technology
Attain Technology has supported business leaders across Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut for nearly 20 years. We do not sell you the first tool that comes to mind. We look at your business, your systems, and your team before we recommend anything, and we stick around to train your staff and support the rollout long after the contract is signed. If you want an AI consultant who tells you the truth instead of a sales pitch, we would love to talk.
FAQ
What does an AI consultant do?
An AI consultant looks at your business operations, finds where artificial intelligence can save time or reduce costs, and helps you choose, set up, and train your team on the right tools. A good consultant focuses on your specific problems first, not on selling a particular product, and stays involved through training and follow-up support.
How much does it cost to hire an AI consultant?
Costs vary widely based on the size of your business and the scope of the project. Some consultants charge a flat fee for a strategy assessment, while ongoing implementation and training can be billed hourly or as part of a broader IT services package. Ask for a clear quote before you commit to anything.
How do I know if an AI consultant is legitimate?
A legitimate AI consultant asks about your business before recommending any tool, explains clearly how your data will be protected, and can point to real results with businesses similar to yours. If someone pushes a single product without learning about your operations first, treat that as a red flag.
Do small businesses in Rhode Island and Massachusetts really need an AI consultant?
Many small businesses in Rhode Island and Massachusetts are already experimenting with AI tools without a clear strategy, which often wastes time and money. A consultant helps you skip the trial and error, choose tools that fit your budget and systems, and train your team so the investment actually pays off.
What is the biggest mistake businesses make when hiring an AI consultant?
The most common mistake is hiring someone who leads with a product instead of a plan. Businesses end up with a tool that does not fit their workflow and no training plan for their staff. Choosing a consultant who studies your business first and measures results afterward avoids this problem.
