You already have an AI leader in seat
A senior AI lead, an engineering team that ships, and a working eval bar. You want an outside frame to sharpen the strategy or run a board-prep session.
Comparison 01 · Strategy consultant
Fractional AIvs a strategy consultant.
Strategy consultants write the plan and hand it over. I write the plan and ship against it. Both are legitimate. The right one depends on whether your strategy needs sharpening or building.
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If a consultant is the better call, I will say so and name two I trust.
01 · Side by side
Same questions.Both sides.
Strategy consultant
- Deliverable. Strategy deck, roadmap, board memo, sometimes a workshop.
- Engagement. One to six weeks, project fee.
- Method. Varies. Many use a generic AI maturity model or a repurposed digital transformation frame.
- Sits where. External advisor. Presents to the exec staff and does not sit in it.
- Handoff. The deck and the recommendations. Execution is your team's problem.
GAT →
- Deliverable. A workflow map and a 90-day sequence with an owner, a baseline, and a build type on every line. Then the build ships into your stack and gets measured against that baseline.
- Engagement. A two-week diagnostic first. Then a build priced per workflow, or the Fractional retainer at 1 to 3 days a week.
- Method. Your system data plus interviews with the people who do the work. No survey, no maturity score.
- Sits where. On the retainer, inside the exec staff. Reports to the CEO, CTO, or COO.
- Handoff. Your team owns the plan, the runbook, and the evals after I leave. AI Workforce Training gets the rest of the company using what shipped.
Before you askEvery engagement starts with the AI Program Diagnostic: $2,500 flat, two weeks, credited in full if you move to the build or a retainer within 30 days. Builds run from $7,500 a workflow with a two-workflow minimum. The Fractional retainer runs from $12,000 a month for one day a week, up to three days, 6-month minimum, with a 14-day mutual exit from day one.
02 · What to look for
How to scorewhoever you hire.
Use these on me too.
- Has the firm shipped production AI in the last 12 months? If not, the strategy will be theoretical.
- Is the plan built from your data? A maturity model filled in from a survey is a yellow flag. Ask whether they pull system data and interview the people who do the work.
- Does every recommendation carry an owner and a baseline? If nobody writes down today's number, nobody can say later whether it worked.
- What does your team own after? If the answer is the deck, you bought a workshop.
03 · Pick the consultant
When a consultantis the right call.
You need a deck, and your team can build
The board is asking for a strategy. Your team can execute once it is written. The bottleneck is articulation.
You want a name-brand firm for the logo
McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Deloitte. If the board memo needs a top-tier logo on the cover, hire one. I do not compete on logo.
You want a half-day workshop
A half-day offsite or a facilitated session is consultant work. My smallest engagement is the two-week diagnostic, and it ends in a plan with owners.
04 · Pick GAT
When I amthe right call.
If two or more of these show up, a strategy-only engagement leaves the work on the floor.
No AI lead in seat, and the strategy has to ship
A senior AI hire takes about nine weeks to find and six months to ramp. The diagnostic puts a plan on the table in two weeks, and the Fractional retainer keeps me in the seat after it.
Past pilots stalled on the process
You bought tools, ran pilots, and hit a 20% adoption ceiling. The pilot sped up one step and left the handoffs around it where they were. A deck will not move that. Mapping the workflow and rebuilding it will.
Something has to ship this quarter
The build ships the first lines of the plan into the stack your team already runs, priced per workflow and fixed in writing before work starts. I build it myself.
The board is watching the AI line item
Spend is up and nobody can show a number. The plan gives every line a measured baseline, the kill list stops what has none, and the build reports against where you started.
05 · FAQ
Questions.
What is the difference between a Fractional Head of AI Transformation and an AI strategy consultant?
An AI strategy consultant scopes the strategy and delivers a deck. I start with a two-week diagnostic that produces a plan with an owner, a baseline, and a build type on every line, then ship the builds against it and hand them to your team. The plan and the build come from the same person.
When is an AI strategy consultant the right call?
When you already have an AI engineering team and an AI lead in seat, and you need an outside frame to sharpen the strategy, run a workshop, or write a board memo. A one-to-two-week engagement with no build attached.
When is a Fractional Head of AI Transformation the right call?
When the strategy needs to be built and shipped as well as written. When there is no senior AI leader in-house to own the production build, vendor calls, hiring, and adoption. When the gap between the plan and the shipped system is what is actually broken.
GAT.
Your room. I'll name the fit. Even when it isn't me.
If a strategy consultant is right, I will say so and name two I trust.
Book 30 minutes with EdwinWeighing other options? See the other comparisons.