What to ask an AI consultant before you sign
Seven questions that separate a serious AI systems partner from a demo and a retainer.
Mohamed Bellouch
Agentic AI & automation engineer
If a proposal leads with model names and slides, ask where the work will live on Tuesday morning. A serious partner can describe the workflow, the human check, and the failure case.
Ask what data they need — and what they will not take. You should not have to hand over everything to get a useful system. Good projects start with a thin slice: one inbox, one folder, one CRM object.
Ask who owns the code and the accounts. If the answer is vague, you are renting a black box.
Ask how errors are caught. AI will be wrong. The design question is whether a wrong answer is loud, reviewable, and recoverable.
Ask for a first milestone measured in days or weeks, not quarters. You want working software in the real process, not a proof of concept that never leaves a staging site.
Ask what happens after launch. Training, documentation, and a way to change the rules when the business changes. Systems rot when only the builder understands them.
Finally, ask them to say no. A partner who will not decline a bad-fit project will happily sell you a chatbot you do not need.
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