What does an AI strategy consultant do for a small business?

An AI strategy consultant helps small and medium-sized businesses work out where AI can genuinely make a difference and then helps them act on it. At Yea I Consulting we start with an honest assessment, build a practical plan, and support you through delivery.

How do I know if my business is ready for AI?

AI readiness covers six dimensions: strategy, data quality, technology infrastructure, team AI literacy, process automation, and leadership culture. Our free AI Readiness Diagnostic scores your business across six categories on screen as soon as you finish, follows up with an email that goes into more detail and you can book a 20-minute call with me to go through it.

How much does AI consultancy cost for a small business?

The diagnostic and first call are free. A Snapshot Report costs £500 and a Full AI Strategy Report costs from £3,000. Implementation and workshops are priced once we know what the work involves.

AI strategy for growing businesses

AI works when your peopleare on board first.

Most of the AI advice aimed at businesses your size was written for companies with an IT department and a budget to match. I've spent 20 years working with multinational brands including The Coca-Cola Company, Nestlé and the BBC, as well as plenty of smaller companies, and I now help SMEs work out where AI fits, starting with the people who'll be using it rather than the software, because that's what decides whether it gets used.

See how AI-ready your business is → Book a free 20-minute call

A clear path leading into ancient woodland at dawn

Where most businesses get stuck

Three places most businesses get stuck.

Doing nothing

Waiting until it's clearer what AI is for, which is fair enough, except that some useful tools are already sitting unused in the software you pay for.

Buying tools

That nobody in the office ends up using, because nobody asked them what they needed first.

Running pilots

That start with excitement and end with a slide deck no one acts on. Gartner says at least 50% of generative AI projects are abandoned after proof of concept, and predicts that over 40% of agentic AI projects will be cancelled by the end of 2027.

None of those gets you anywhere, whereas AI used well takes away the more boring parts of the job, the contact reports, the timesheets nobody fills in and the copying of data from one system to another, so your people can spend their time on the work they're good at.

You don't need to become a technology expert, and you don't need to fix all your data first either. You need your staff behind it, because without them the data never gets fixed properly, and that's where I start.

1 in 4

Companies that have moved 40% or more of their AI pilots into production. (Deloitte, 2026)

Companies that see AI pay back within the first year. For most, real returns take two to four years. (Deloitte, 2025)

20 yrs

Working with multinational brands including The Coca-Cola Company, Nestlé and the BBC

How it works

A clear price at every stage, and you can stop at any of them.

Each step gives you something useful on its own, whether or not you go further, and most clients start with the free diagnostic.

Free AI Readiness Diagnostic

A 15-minute online assessment across six dimensions of your business. You get a scored read on screen straight away and an email with more detail, plus a 20-minute call with me to talk through what it means. No cost, no obligation and no sales pitch.

Take the diagnostic →

AI Snapshot Report · £500

A concise, bespoke written report based on your diagnostic results and a discovery conversation. Covers your readiness across all six dimensions, the two or three highest-priority opportunities, a suggested first move, and what a full strategy would add. Delivered within five working days.

Get started →

Full AI Strategy Report · from £3,000

The complete picture. Deep-dive analysis of every dimension, head-to-head tool comparisons with pricing, a prioritised 90-day action plan with named owners, how the tools fit with the systems you already use, likely savings shown as ranges, and a working session to walk through the findings together.

Find out more →

Implementation & Advisory

Choosing the tools, getting them working with your existing systems, bringing your staff on board and ongoing support as things develop. I scope it from what the strategy shows, so you won't get a figure pulled from a rate card.

Find out more →

AI Literacy Workshops

Practical, hands-on workshops based on your business, your tools and the questions your team hasn't been able to ask anywhere else. Half-day or full-day, in person or remote, and built for the people in the room rather than pulled off a shelf.

Find out more →

Start with the free diagnostic →

Free · No obligation · 15 minutes

Find out how AI-ready your business is

The free AI Readiness Diagnostic takes around 15 minutes and scores your business on six things: strategy, data, technology, your team's AI skills, how much of your process could be automated, and leadership.

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An immediate maturity tier and readiness score across all six dimensions

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A free 20-minute call to go through what your score means for your business

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A clear view of your highest-priority opportunities and what to tackle first

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The starting point for a Snapshot Report if you want to go deeper, at £500

Your score appears on screen as soon as you finish, an email with more detail follows, and you can book the call whenever suits you.

Take the free diagnostic → Confidential · No obligation · No sales pitch

Brass compass on an antique map, find your bearing

Justin Yeaman

Founder, Yea I Consulting

Why Yea I Consulting?

What 20 years of agency client service taught me about how companies work, and how they can adapt to AI.

Most AI consultants are either technologists who know the tools but struggle to speak the language of business, or generalists who've read the right reports but haven't spent years inside businesses with tight budgets and staff to keep on side.

"Agency life teaches you to learn how a client's business works fast, because you're no use to their marketing until you do, and AI is the same. I've also spent 20 years around a fair amount of bullshit, which turns out to be good training for the AI market, so I start with how your business runs and who does what, and only then look at which tools might help."

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Straight talk

If AI isn't the right answer for something, I'll tell you, and I'll tell you why.

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20 years with multinational brands

I've worked with The Coca-Cola Company, Nestlé, the BBC and Pokémon, and agency client service is mostly learning how someone else's business works, which is most of what AI strategy needs.

✦

You talk to the person doing the work

I take every call, write every report and lead every workshop myself, and the only help I have is with admin, so you'll deal with me throughout.

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AI shouldn't cost anyone their job

I won't help a business make someone redundant so that AI can do their job. Done right, AI lets the people you already have take on more work, and that's the version I help build.

Let's talk →

Practical thinking on AI for growing businesses

Short articles on the questions SME owners keep asking me.

Browse all Insights →

Strategy & Planning

Your AI writes faster. Your emails still go out late.

New research shows AI sped up drafting and nothing after it. Where marketing stalls in an SME, and the order to fix it in.

September 2026 · 8 minRead →

Strategy & Planning

The AI policy your business needs but probably doesn't have.

Your team is using AI whether you have a policy or not. Six areas to cover, two pages of A4, and no lawyer required.

September 2026 · 8 minRead →

Real-World Results

How to tell whether your AI investment is actually working.

Most SMEs have spent money on AI by now. Few can say whether it's paying off. A four-question framework with real numbers.

August 2026 · 8 minRead →

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Not sure where to start?
That's what the first call is for.

The first conversation is free. Tell me about your business, where things are getting stuck and what you're hoping AI might do, and I'll give you an honest view on where to begin.

I reply to every enquiry myself, usually within one working day.

Book a free 20-minute call → Or take the free diagnostic first →

justin@yea-i.com LinkedIn

Send a message

Tell me a bit about your situation, and the more honest you are, the more useful I can be.

AI works when your peopleare on board first.

Three places most businesses get stuck.

A clear price at every stage, and you can stop at any of them.

Find out how AI-ready your business is

What 20 years of agency client service taught me about how companies work, and how they can adapt to AI.

Two recent projects, and what the numbers look like.

Short articles on the questions SME owners keep asking me.

Not sure where to start?That's what the first call is for.

Not sure where to start?
That's what the first call is for.