What does an AI consultant actually do?

A good one does four things, in order: audits your workflows and systems to find where AI genuinely pays off (and says so honestly when it doesn't), designs the architecture — agent, automation, or plain old workflow — that fits the problem, builds it using tools you already have where possible, and stays around long enough to make sure it survives contact with the real world. That last part is the one most firms skip. A slide deck that says "you should adopt AI" isn't consulting. It's a horoscope with a logo on it.

How much does AI consulting cost?

Independent AI consultants typically run $150–$350/hour, and custom agent builds usually land between $15,000 and $75,000 for mid-market scope — climbing past $500,000 for enterprise-grade, multi-agent systems with compliance layers. Supergood is built for teams that don't need a six-month transformation program. Here's what engagements actually cost:

Quick Scan

$500

A live working session on your actual workflows. 3 prioritized recommendations on the call, a one-page summary the next business day — and the full $500 credited toward any engagement within 30 days.

Readiness Assessment

$2.5k–$6k

1–2 weeks. A prioritized opportunity map with ROI estimates and a build-vs-buy call on each item.

Workflow / Agent Build

$8k–$40k

3–8 weeks, project-based. Scope depends on how many systems it touches and whether it's an agent or a flow.

Monthly Retainer

$3k–$8k/mo

Ongoing agent ops, automation maintenance, new workflow identification, and team training.

These are flat fees, not hourly billing — there's no incentive to pad hours when the price is fixed up front. For context on market rates, see guides from Leanware and DevCom on independent consulting rates and agent development costs. Every engagement starts with a conversation about scope before any number gets attached to it.

One senior practitioner. No committee.

builds_

We build, not just advise

Every engagement ships working code or a running workflow — not a roadmap you forget by Thursday. If it can't run in production, it doesn't count as done.

tools_

Your stack, not ours

We build with the tools you already pay for — M365, your CRM, your existing model provider — instead of selling you a new platform you'll be stuck maintaining.

judgment_

14 years of product judgment

AI can automate a report. It can't tell you which reports matter. That's the part that comes from shipping real products at Viking Cruises, Live Nation, Ticketmaster, and Logitech.

RS

Ryan Sandoval, Founder. Fourteen years building digital products before starting Supergood — enough time in standups to know that half of what teams call "AI strategy" is a slide deck nobody will act on. Read more about Ryan and how Supergood works.

Questions we get on every call.

What does an AI consultant do?

Audits your workflows, finds where AI genuinely pays off, designs and builds the solution, and stays around to make sure it survives production — not just a demo.

Do I need an AI consultant, or can I just use ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is fine for one-off answers. A workflow that has to run reliably every day — pulling data, routing leads, calling internal systems without a human babysitting it — needs architecture, guardrails, and monitoring a chat window doesn't provide.

How is Supergood different from a big consulting firm?

No committee, no army of junior analysts, no six-figure floor. One senior practitioner builds the thing himself and stays reachable after it ships.

How long does an engagement take?

Quick Scan: 30 minutes. Readiness Assessment: 1–2 weeks. A build: 3–8 weeks depending on scope. Retainers run monthly with no fixed end date.

What industries does Supergood work with?

Mid-market marketing and ops teams are the core focus, drawing on experience from travel, live entertainment, and consumer hardware — but the audit-build-govern approach applies to any team drowning in manual work.

What if the assessment says I don't need AI?

Then that's what gets said. Half the value of an honest readiness assessment is being told "automate this with a spreadsheet formula, not an agent" — it saves you from building something you didn't need.

Let's find out what you actually need.

A free intro call. No pitch, no pressure — we'll tell you honestly whether AI is the right tool and whether we're the right people to help, even if the answer is no.

Book an intro call

Not ready for a full engagement?

The Quick Scan is a live working session on your actual workflows: 3 prioritized recommendations on the call, plus a one-page summary in your inbox the next business day — written to be forwarded to your boss.

$500 — and it counts toward whatever we build next