Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed a surge of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in businesses across sectors, from Duolingo for education to CodePilot serving software development. It’s undeniable that AI technology has already established itself as an integral part of our daily business operations.
However, this does not mean AI adoption in every organization will sail smoothly. Quite to the contrary, many companies face a huge obstacle while attempting to leverage AI due to their limited technical expertise, especially AI’s rapidly changing nature.
That’s when AI consulting comes to the rescue. Yet, selecting an appropriate AI consulting company is also a formidable challenge.
To make things easier for you, this in-depth article covers all the fundamentals you need to know about AI consulting. Additionally, we curated a list of the top 9 AI consulting firms in the market in 2024, accompanied by detailed guidance on choosing the ideal consultant for your business.
So, let’s get started now!
Why Are AI Consulting Firms Important?
AI consulting firms are crucial for businesses desiring to harness the power of artificial intelligence but may not be sure how. These companies, staffed with knowledgeable AI engineers and experts, assist organizations from different industries in actualizing AI strategies to achieve their goals.
Here are major reasons why the market of AI consulting services is booming like never before:
- Expert AI knowledge: While the benefits of artificial intelligence for businesses are well-known, not every owner is an expert in this field. Many companies want to leverage AI development to improve their operations but lack the know-how. AI consulting companies play a key role in helping businesses integrate AI into their processes, systems, and products efficiently and effectively.
- Staying updated with technology: The AI landscape is always changing, with new technologies and techniques emerging all the time. AI consulting firms constantly stay updated with these developments, ensuring they provide businesses with the most advanced and effective AI solutions. What’s more, they also offer training programs to empower in-house staff, helping them understand and use AI tools effectively.
- Cost-effective solutions: Some believe implementing AI is expensive, but the truth is the other way around since truthful AI consulting service providers always seek to help businesses make cost-effective choices. From process automation and supply chain optimization to in-depth data analysis, these firms guide your business in investing wisely in AI solutions. This, in turn, reduces costs and even leads to increased revenue for your company.
Key Functions of an AI Consulting Company
An AI or data science consulting company enables you to understand and apply AI technology to enhance your business operations. Typically, it holds four main functions as follows:
1. Strategy Development
First and foremost, AI consultants collaborate closely with you to devise a strategic plan for integrating AI into your operations. Through in-depth discussions, they identify the best areas for AI integration, prioritize them, and list the necessary tools.
The main goal is to design the right path, considering all key factors like available resources, project cost, duration, and infrastructure needed to integrate AI tools with your existing systems.
2. Execution
Once the AI consulting firm has AI strategies approved, the next step is to build, integrate, customize, and deploy the AI project.
For instance, if a business wants to use chatbots for customer support, the AI development team will set up the framework and automate the chatbots to help the customer care team.
3. Training and Maintenance
AI consulting companies go beyond just getting things set up. They also help boost the knowledge and skills of your own teams. In the limited talent pool of AI, these firms are crucial for ensuring your team knows how to use all the technologies you’ll be working with.
If you want, the consulting company can help with their maintenance services. They will regularly check the systems for errors and update features to keep everything updated.
4. Governance and Compliance
The AI consulting company also ensures that the artificial intelligence systems they create or customize for you follow the rules and meet global guidelines.
This process includes ensuring data security and setting up systems or protocols for data governance. Here, AI consultants may need to add extra security layers in case of dealing with highly confidential data.
Top 9 Recommended AI Consulting Firms in 2024
Now, let’s explore the 9 best consultants that can facilitate your enterprise’s AI adoption.
But first, here are the key factors we considered when selecting these leading AI companies:
- Years of experience in the industry
- Feedback from clients
- Quality of products and services delivered
- The range of industries served
- Technical proficiency
- Pricing of services
- Adherence to ethical standards
1. IBM Consulting
IBM, a renowned global leader in AI consultancy service, offers comprehensive strategy, implementation, and management solutions to help businesses integrate and expand AI capabilities. Their expertise includes chatbots, computer vision, and driving machine learning initiatives from pilot phases to full-scale operation.
For example, IBM Consulting collaborated with ABN AMRO Bank N.V. in the Netherlands to enhance the bank’s digital customer experience by employing IBM Watson’s natural language processing and analytics. This allowed the system to understand and respond to massive routine queries while directing complex requests to the appropriate expert.
2. Accenture
Accenture offers diverse artificial intelligence (AI) services, blending strategy, consulting, and interactive technology. Their AI capabilities enable businesses to leverage technology and human creativity, paving the way for future transformations. Various services are available, including strategy formulation, implementation, and ongoing maintenance.
An example of their work includes transforming the Siam Commercial Bank in Thailand. In short, Accenture helped migrate the bank’s data to a cloud-based AI-powered warehouse using Microsoft Azure Cloud and Power BI. This transformation empowered Siam Commercial Bank to scale operations and access analytics efficiently, marking a new era of innovation in Thailand.
3. Neurond AI
Next up is an excellent choice for those looking to adopt AI technology in a reliable and budget-friendly way – Neurond AI, a leading AI solution provider in Vietnam.
Vietnam has increasingly gained recognition for offering high-quality and cost-effective software development solutions globally, ranking 5th in the best countries to outsource by MarketInsider in 2019. Just a rundown: when outsourcing to Vietnam, not only do you tap into a skilled and growing workforce, but you also benefit from competitive labor costs without compromising quality. Besides, Vietnam’s strategic location ensures convenient time zone alignment, promoting effective global collaboration.
As for Neurond, the company boasts over 15 years of unparalleled experience in enhancing businesses’ creativity, productivity, and potential through AI adoption. Utilizing machine learning, forecasting and optimization, computer vision, natural language processing, chatbots, and much more, they’re committed to providing cutting-edge AI solutions responsibly and ethically.
Taking a consultative approach with each partner, Neurond AI offers end-to-end consultation services from AI strategy development to product launch.
An illustrative example is their OPAL2.0 project with Conexus – a leading Norwegian education company. Since Conexus wanted to get insights into customer behavior on their e-learning platform, Neurond employed not just AI sentiment analysis but also data engineering and data analytics technologies to classify the emotional tone of learners’ comments in multiple languages, including English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil, successfully bringing Conexus valuable real-time insights from large datasets. Their team also developed multi-language models with high accuracy and used BERT to speed up data integration.
4. EY
EY comes to the plate as a global consultancy organization present in 150 countries. Their wide reach in international business markets enables them to understand the benefits of AI and other transformative technologies like robotics and quantum computing in various industries.
It helps companies and governments enhance their economies by applying AI. For example, EY is currently aiding Malta’s public and private sectors in a digital transformation. This collaboration focuses on creating practical examples and prototypes for implementing AI across different government and public administration areas. Six pilot projects cater to intelligent traffic management, healthcare, education, customer service, tourism, and energy management. The program also identifies private sector industries that can benefit from new technologies, explores policies to encourage AI investment, strengthens the education system to attract AI researchers, equips higher education students with AI skills, and establishes a national certification framework for ethical and trustworthy AI.
5. Deloitte
Deloitte stands as one of the largest business services networks globally, earning the trust of both small and large businesses over its long history.
The firm has successfully integrated AI systems into various projects, such as aiding the NIAID institute in its global tuberculosis research. There, Deloitte created a single platform for gathering and analyzing worldwide data about the disease from both the public and private sectors.
6. Cambridge Consultants
Headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom, Cambridge Consultants is a renowned technology and development consultancy with over six decades of experience helping businesses adopt cutting-edge technology. Having partnered with 500+ clients and worked on numerous projects, the company has a reputation for AI breakthroughs across various industries.
One such project is their work with the UK Ministry of Defense to address cyberattacks and develop advanced AI applications to bolster the military’s internal systems.
7. Boston Consulting Group
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is known for leading the charge in what they call “AI at Scale.” This means BCG’s team supports clients swiftly implementing large-scale AI projects using various techniques like machine learning, large-scale optimization, and simulations.
The company doesn’t just concentrate on automating processes. It prioritizes learning and transforming organizations. Its AI solutions serve a variety of business needs, from retail, program management, and marketing personalization to automotive, banking, customer management, and even reducing CO2 emissions.
8. LeewayHertz
It’d be missing without mentioning LeewayHertz, a technology consulting and development company. It delivers digital solutions to enterprises and startups using AI, blockchain, and IoT. With a team of AI consultants, engineers, and developers, LeewayHertz has tackled complex challenges and improved operational efficiency for clients in the healthcare, automotive, finance, manufacturing, and e-commerce industries.
One notable milestone of LeewayHertz is its creation of the world’s first robotic tea maker, HiArya – which employs face recognition, machine learning to predict user behavior, and speech recognition to detect voice.
Its impressive portfolio also includes partnerships with well-known organizations like ESPN, Shell, P&G, 3M, GETTR, Siemens, TraceRx, Hawaii, and NASCAR.
9. Infosys
Infosys has successfully established its AI consultancy service around three pillars:
- Enabling intelligent enterprise automation
- Creating new revenue models
- Promoting ethical AI use
An illustrative example is pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which has made tangible improvements since working with Infosys. The team productivity increased by 15%, along with a 10% reduction in total cost of ownership, automation of 17+ business processes, 100% FDA regulatory compliance for automated tickets, and a 22% increase in productivity related to critical operations requirements.
How to Choose the Right Consultant for Your AI Project
Among the various options discussed earlier, many more competitive AI consulting firms still exist to explore. The pressing question now is: who is the best AI partner for you?
To help you find the ideal match, here are some key steps you should follow:
1. Clearly Define your Needs and Goals
Firstly, stay clear about your AI project’s requirements and objectives. Understanding your goals will guide you in finding AI firms that align perfectly with your business strategies.
2. Research and Shortlist
Next, you need to conduct thorough research to find potential AI consulting companies. Remember to examine their case studies, experience, and skills. Then, make sure to compile a list of potential candidates that you believe best match your project’s requirements.
3. Assess Cultural Fit
The next step is often overlooked – evaluating if the AI consulting firm aligns with your company culture. This is because the relationship you have with an AI consultant goes beyond just commercial transactions.
Examining their communication style, values, and collaboration approach is highly recommended.
4. Request and Evaluate Proposals
Once you have a shortlist of AI consulting companies, it’s time to ask them for specific proposals. Here, you should compare what each firm offers, their methods, deadlines, and pricing. Also, we suggest you look at the cost and value they provide for that price for a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis.
5. Check Credentials and References
To make an informed decision, don’t hesitate to request references and verify their qualifications. You might consider speaking with their past clients or reviewing their credentials to have a solid grasp of their reliability and quality of work.
6. Consider Post-Implementation Support
Lastly, don’t underestimate the importance of post-implementation support. You should analyze the level of ongoing assistance, maintenance, and upgrades offered, as these factors are critical for the long-term success of your AI project.
6 Important Criteria for Choosing the Best AI Consultant
In this section, we’ve put together a checklist of 6 crucial factors to guide you in selecting the most suitable AI consultant.
1. Technical Expertise
First, you should search for experienced AI consulting firms with a track record of successfully delivering similar custom projects. Start by asking questions like:
- Does the consulting company offer niche-based services?
- Do their AI engineers have the right experience in your industry to work on your projects?
2. Customization
Customization is essential for maximizing the benefits of an application or tool. Ensure you know whether the AI company provides tailored services and solutions that meet your specific needs.
Aim for an AI company offering flexibility, scalability, and customization based on your business requirements.
3. Transparency
Next, transparency and effective communication are crucial factors in choosing the right AI partner. Thus, check if the AI consulting company is open about its project portfolio and willing to share information about past or current clients.
4. Pricing and Budget
Make sure you understand the pricing system of the AI consulting provider. Is it flexible and cost-effective for you? Can you negotiate and request specific services from professionals? A trustworthy AI company typically tends to have flexible pricing models to accommodate your budget and needs.
5. Testimonials
Don’t forget to explore what previous clients say about the company. You might try speaking directly with them to gather insights on hidden costs, service quality, support, and more. This way, you will have valuable information to make a well-informed decision.
6. Security
Last, but not least, opt for an AI solution provider that prioritizes data privacy and security. You should review their data protection policies, regulatory compliance practices, and past experiences managing sensitive data. One tip for you to recognize reliable AI consulting firms is that they always guarantee their partners’ data security before developing any new AI solutions.
Kickstart Your First AI Initiative with Neurond AI Today!
AI consulting firms play a vital role in helping organizations tap into the potential of AI for steady growth in the digital world. If you’ve been meaning to realize any AI startup ideas or strategies in mind, it’s time to take action and make them a reality! If you struggle with limited AI technical expertise, one of the most effective ways is to seek help from leading AI consulting companies.
Neurond AI, as a distinguished AI consultant locally and globally, stands out with its trusted advisory approach and unrivaled expertise. We take pride in our end-to-end AI consultation service that leverages all sorts of AI technologies for truly impactful solutions. We’re dedicated to delivering only the best and most responsible AI solutions to revolutionize the way you work and thrive.
So, what are you waiting for? Drop us a line now for further information!