The Real Cost of AI Consulting in South Florida

Most articles on this topic give you a "$5,000 to $50,000" range and call it a day. That is useless. Here is the real breakdown of what AI consulting costs for small and mid-sized businesses in Palm Beach County and South Florida, including what you should and should not be paying for.

The structure of a real AI engagement

A legitimate AI consulting engagement for a small or mid-sized business has three parts:

1. Assessment. A free or low-cost discovery call where the consultant learns your business and recommends specific tools.
2. Installation. A one-time project to install, configure, and train your team on the recommended tools.
3. Ongoing retainer. A monthly relationship to keep tools current, fix issues, and add new capabilities.

If a consultant is offering only one of these, be skeptical. The three pieces work together.

Real prices in South Florida

Assessment

• Reputable local consultant (us, others): Free, 30 minutes
• Bigger national firms: $500 to $2,500 paid discovery
• Sketchy "AI growth hacker" types: Free, but the assessment is just a sales pitch

Aslan AI offers a free 30-minute assessment with written recommendations.

Installation (one-time)

• Solo or 2-3 person business, 2-3 tools: $2,500 to $5,000
• Small team (5-15 people), 4-6 tools: $5,000 to $15,000
• Mid-sized business (15-50 people), full install: $15,000 to $50,000
• Practice with compliance requirements (HIPAA, FINRA, Bar): Add 25 to 50 percent

Watch out for vague proposals that do not name specific tools or specific deliverables.

Monthly retainer

• Light (one check-in per month, basic support): $500 to $1,500 / month
• Standard (monthly strategy meeting, ongoing optimization): $1,500 to $3,500 / month
• Heavy (weekly check-ins, custom builds, multiple stakeholders): $3,500 to $8,000+ / month

What you should NOT be paying for

• "AI Strategy Document" for $5,000 with no implementation
• "AI Readiness Assessment" for thousands of dollars (it should be free)
• Per-seat fees on top of consulting fees beyond the underlying tools
• Six-month minimum contracts. Reasonable consultants do not lock you in.
• Proprietary "AI platforms" that are basically a $50/month markup on a free tool

What you SHOULD be paying for

• Specific tool selection with named tools, costs, and rationale
• Hands-on installation, configuration, integration
• In-person team training (not just Zoom)
• Written documentation
• Compliance review (if regulated)
• Ongoing access to the consultant

What we charge at Aslan AI

• Assessment: Free.
• Installation: Typically $4,000 to $12,000 for most SMB engagements, scoped after the assessment.
• Monthly retainer: Typically $1,500 to $3,500 / month for SMB clients, scoped after install.
• No long-term contracts. Month-to-month after the install.

For most clients, the math works out to spending $5,000 to $15,000 in year one and saving $25,000 to $100,000+ in recovered time. Use our AI ROI calculator to estimate your numbers.

The honest answer to "what does AI consulting cost?" is: depends on your business. The fastest way to get a real number for your specific situation is a free 30-minute assessment.