AI consultant, AI agency or your IT company?
Hire an AI consultant when you need someone to work out where AI fits in your business and build it, and an AI agency when a defined build needs a team. Your IT company runs the computers, accounts and security everything else sits on, so it can work alongside either one.
I’m an AI consultant, so read this knowing which column I’m in.
By Alex Smith, founder of spktr · Updated September 25, 2026
At a glance
| AI consultant | AI agency | IT company | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main job | AI consultantWorks out where AI fits in your business. Many also build it and keep it running. | AI agencyBuilds AI automations and tools as projects. | IT companyKeeps your computers, network, email, accounts and security running. |
| Who you work with | AI consultantUsually one senior person from start to finish. | AI agencyA team, usually a project lead and several builders. | IT companyA help desk, plus a named contact for your account. |
| How they usually charge | AI consultantA fixed project price, a monthly fee or an hourly rate. | AI agencyA project price, sometimes with a monthly fee for upkeep. | IT companyA monthly contract for managed IT. |
| Best when | AI consultantYou know AI could help but not exactly where, or you want one person accountable from plan to support. | AI agencyThe project is defined and big enough to need several people at once. | IT companyThe problem is devices, the network, email, backups, security or software licences. |
| Ask them | AI consultantWhether they build as well as advise, and who takes over if they’re unavailable. | AI agencyWho builds your project, and whose accounts it runs in. | IT companyWhether they build workflow tools themselves or bring in a partner. |
When to hire an AI consultant
Hire an AI consultant when work is eating hours and you can’t yet say which of it AI should take, or when you want the same person to plan it, build it and support it. Some consultants only advise: they hand you a plan and leave you to find a builder. Ask which kind you’re talking to.
When an AI agency is the better choice
An agency is the better choice when the project is already defined and needs several people on it at once. I work alone and take on one workstream at a time, or two in parallel, so a build that needs five people at the same time is agency work.
What your IT company handles
Your IT company keeps the foundation running: devices, the network, email, user accounts, backups and security. An AI tool sits on that foundation. It signs in with accounts your IT company manages and follows the security rules they set, so the two jobs fit together.
When I build something, it’s documented and lives in your accounts, so your IT provider can support it and pick it up if I’m unavailable. If your IT company offers AI work of its own, ask whether that means building tools for your workflows or setting up ready-made AI products, since both go by the same name.
Can you use more than one?
Yes. Your IT company stays in charge of the foundation, and a consultant or an agency builds on top of it. Agree up front who owns each account and who gets the call when something breaks.
Where I fit
I’m an AI consultant who builds. I find the work worth automating, build the tool and keep it running, and you deal with the same person from the first call to the last fix. My prices are on what an AI consultant costs, and the questions to ask before you hire work for any of the three.
If you’re still weighing the three, book the free call. I’ll learn how your business runs and where AI would help, if it would.