Notes · Note 11

Hiring an AI consultant in Austin: what to ask first

Five questions to ask before you sign, and the answers worth hearing.

Plenty of people offer AI help in Austin right now, from solo freelancers to large firms with local offices. For an owner-run business, the right fit usually looks the same: one senior person, a fixed scope, and something working by the end of the month. These are the questions we would ask if we were hiring us.

1. What have you built that is still running?

Ask for a real system at a real business, and ask how long it has been in use. A good answer names the job it does and what it saved, like forty thousand support tickets a month or weekly reporting cut to twenty minutes. Our case studies list three.

2. Who does the work?

Find out whether the person on the sales call is the person who builds. For a small business, one senior person from start to finish works best, because they already know your business when something needs to change.

3. Whose accounts is it built on?

Everything should run on your accounts: your AI subscriptions, your automation tools, your data. Then you own it, and you can keep it running if you ever part ways.

4. What does it cost, and what is guaranteed?

Ask for one number up front and what it includes. Then ask what happens if the result falls short. Our answer is the AI Once-Over: $5,000 flat for four weeks, with the fee refunded if the Opportunity Map finds less than $25,000 of value in your own numbers.

5. Do you meet in person?

Kickoffs, walkthroughs and team training go better in the room. A consultant based here can be at your office in Round Rock, Georgetown or Cedar Park the same week, with everything in between handled by text.

If you want to put these questions to us, book a 15-minute call.