Anywhere from $3,500 to $250,000+ in the first year — depending on company size, scope, and whether you're trying to retrofit AI into an existing org or stand up an AI-native function from scratch. Here are the realistic benchmarks at each tier, plus the costs most articles conveniently forget to mention.
Pricing for AI implementation scales with three things: how many workflows you want deployed, how many people you need trained, and how much custom integration work is involved. Here's the realistic range at each tier.
| Company size | Typical implementation cost | What's included | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–10 people (small business) | $3,500 – $7,500 | 3–5 Claude Projects, system prompts, basic knowledge base, team training session, 30-day support | 2–4 weeks |
| 10–50 people (growing SMB) | $8,000 – $25,000 | Multi-function deployment (sales, marketing, ops, customer service), shared Projects, role-based prompts, training cohorts, 90-day optimization | 4–8 weeks |
| 50–250 people (mid-market) | $30,000 – $80,000 | Full GTM-stack deployment, custom integrations (CRM, knowledge base, ticketing), governance & policy work, executive training, dedicated retainer | 2–4 months |
| 250+ people (enterprise) | $80,000 – $250,000+ | Enterprise Claude contract, SSO/SCIM, audit infrastructure, multiple training cohorts, change management, ongoing center-of-excellence support | 3–6 months for initial wave |
Important calibration: these numbers exclude the cost of the Claude (or other AI) subscription itself, which is separate and paid to the vendor. See how much Claude costs for business for that breakdown.
Most pricing articles tell you about the consultancy fee and the subscription cost. There are four additional costs that show up later and surprise people. Knowing them up front lets you budget for them properly.
System prompts degrade. Not because Claude changes — because your business changes. Your ICP shifts, your messaging evolves, your competitors do something new. The prompts you wrote in January need a refresh by June. Budget ~$200–$500/month per active workflow for ongoing optimization, or roll it into a retainer.
A one-time training session has roughly a 30-day half-life. People remember the workflows for a month, then revert to old habits unless reinforced. Real adoption requires either (a) a "champion" embedded on your team who keeps reminding people, or (b) a quarterly refresh from the consultancy. Budget $500–$2,000/quarter for option (b).
For any business handling client data — finance, healthcare, legal, agencies — you'll eventually need a written AI usage policy. What can the team paste in? What can't? How are records retained? Most companies underbudget this until a client asks them about it. Budget $1,500–$5,000 for a policy + training in year one.
This is the largest cost and the one nobody itemizes. If your competitors deploy Claude six months before you do and their team produces 40% more output for the same headcount, the cost of your delay isn't measured in dollars — it's measured in market share you stop being able to win back. Pay attention to this one.
A common question once budget starts approaching $50K+: would I be better off hiring a full-time AI person?
For most companies under 100 employees, the answer is no — for two reasons:
1. Cost. A mid-level AI hire fully loaded is $130K–$180K/year. A serious consultancy engagement is $20K–$30K/year. The headcount math doesn't pencil unless you have 3+ years of continuous, multi-function AI deployment ahead.
2. Pattern exposure. One new AI hire has the patterns from their last company. A consultancy with active engagements at 8–20 companies has seen what works across industries, sizes, and stacks. For your first 18 months, that pattern library is worth more than dedicated headcount.
The inflection point is usually around 100 employees or $20M+ in revenue, where the volume of AI workflows justifies a dedicated full-time hire — and at that point the consultancy stays involved as the strategic guidepost above the hire. See AI consultant vs. DIY for more on that decision.
For comparison, here's how our productized engagements map to the table above:
Full pricing breakdown on the pricing page.