How much can you earn as an AI consultant in 2024?
The global market for AI consultants is growing at a rate of 39% annually and expected to reach $630 billion by 2028. Over 50% of large enterprises are already using AI consulting services.
AI consulting is serious business. Not only are there multiple facets of artificial intelligence including machine learning, deep learning, neural networks and natural language processing (NLP), but there’s AI for big businesses, small businesses, AI for coaches, educators, and every other type of profession.
But what kind of expertise do you need to be an AI consultant, and how much can you earn? Do you need to have years of experience training models, coding, and understanding every facet of AI?
AI consulting: much more than prompting ChatGPT
Contrary to what you might see on LinkedIn, you can’t just try a few ChatGPT prompts and declare yourself a professional. You also don’t have to be self-employed to be an AI consultant. Consultants work at the big three consulting firms (McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Company) as well as other smaller outfits.
There are dev shops working on AI projects, and people focused on a specific industry, role or category. Then there are instructors running workshops for companies and individuals acting as coaches and tutors.
With the industry exploding, there’s a lot of work to go around. I asked five self-employed AI consultants to share their offers, rates and experience and they were generous with the information.
Their examples demonstrate what’s possible, but there are many other ways to make this your thing.
How much are AI consultants earning? Experts share their offers.
Helping non-technical people learn tech - $530 per hour
AI consultants aren’t just working with technical founders. They’re bridging the gap for newbies to the topic. Learn the work, then teach what you know. You only need to be a few steps ahead.
AI integration specialist Heather Murray, founder of AI For Non Techies, works with the UK government, local authorities, and agencies to implement AI solutions. "I help them understand and integrate all things AI, guiding their AI champions and task forces through how to apply AI to their specific situations," she explained. Her services include building custom GPTs, assessing and recommending tools, developing AI policies, and creating AI literacy programs.
"I charge $530 per consultancy hour," Murray said. With 20 years of marketing experience, she said she leveraged AI to generate $75 million in client pipeline for her previous agency, and is building programs for brands including Toyota and Mitsubishi. "I spent two intensive years upskilling: integrating AI into my own business, and sharing what I learnt along the way," she added, highlighting her practical experience in AI implementation and education.
Helping agencies implement AI - $10,000 per month
The riches are in the niches. AI consultants are going for specific industries to make the most impact with their work. Could you apply AI to your industry to revamp your offer and unlock a new level?
AI operations specialist Rachel Woods founded DiviUp, an agency that implements AI solutions for marketing agencies and B2B services. "We work alongside an agency’s team, helping them identify, define and implement AI across their services and operations. Our packages are $5-10k per month.” The goal is to quickly identify opportunities and implement solutions using AI.
Woods, a former Facebook data scientist on their AI research team, developed methodologies for operationalizing AI across various business facets. "We specialized earlier this year so that we can make a bigger impact with our clients, while creating a sustainable and healthy business for ourselves," she said. For ad-hoc sessions, Woods charges $1500 for a 1-hour consultation or $10k for a team training “that includes 60-minutes of instruction with 30 minutes of Q&A.”
Solving critical business challenges - $175,000 per project
Forget testing out every new tool that pops up. For best results, start with your existing business challenges. AI consultants are working with companies to find a lucrative problem and solving it with AI, then sharing the upside with their clients.
AI strategist Ashley Gross, board member at Chief AI Officer, helps mid-sized companies leverage artificial intelligence to solve critical business challenges. She focuses on three main issues: unclear customer journey insights, unstructured data management, and prolonged sales cycles, teaching businesses how to implement AI solutions while ensuring team alignment and training.
"I offer various engagement models based on project complexity," Gross explained. "A 3-month data cleaning and enrichment project typically costs around $50,000, while addressing customer journey insights is valued at $75,000. Larger challenges like slow sales cycles may require a 9-month contract at $175,000. Or we charge a 10% fee based on pipeline growth, ensuring AI implementation is tied to measurable business outcomes."
As part of the work, Gross identifies the main business challenge, looks at existing data, maps out the customer journey and transforms specific elements of it using AI tools and processes. Gross has 10 years of marketing experience and AI expertise since 2020.
Scaling your business with intensive AI practices - $7,999 per day
How long does it take to transform your business? In years gone by, maybe months. Then the internet made it faster, and AI is making it faster still. AI consultants are working with scaling founders to find opportunities and capitalize on them within the very same day.
AI adoption specialist Jared Bonilla, founder of DoINeedAI.com, offers a unique 1-day AI Hackathon for scaling founders. "We help businesses go from 0-1 in AI in just one day," he explained. "They grasp the fundamentals of AI, identify immediate opportunities for quick-wins followed by collaborative exercises to get the team comfortable using AI by building something the business could use."
"The 1-Day Hackathon starts at $7,999, and we offer post-hackathon monthly advice at $3,000," Bonilla said. He also provides AI strategy sessions at $799 per hour. Bonilla shared a success story of a growing insurance company that participated in the hackathon: "In that one day, we pinpointed the quickest win with the highest ROI and built an AI solution that automated the consolidation of quotes from various insurance providers into a single summary for clients. This transformed a process that used to take hours into one completed in minutes."
Automation for professional service companies - $4,500 per audit
If humans are doing things that robots could do, there’s an AI consultant to help you change that. They come in, take a look around and automate your business so it runs like clockwork. Reducing headaches and headcount and charging well for doing so.
Automation specialist Grant Hushek founded GrantBot to help professional services firms increase productivity and business outcomes through AI and automation solutions. "We deliver increased productivity and business outcomes without needing to increase headcount," he explained. "We focus on agencies, law firms, and accountants.”
"Automations-in-a-box start at $899, audits are $4,500, and implementations start at $6,750," Hushek said. An implementation includes setup, training, documentation, and onboarding assistance to a custom software environment and achieves a reduction in manual tasks and improvement in profitability. "But the real value of AI and automation is the reduction in distraction and context switching,” said Hushek. “The unsung hero that enables entire teams to thrive." Hushek’s experience stems from being the first employee at Hampton, a high net worth community of founders, where his task was to "automate everything."
How much can you earn as a self-employed AI consultant?
According to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, approximately 45% of activities performed by consultants could be automated using existing technology. But not AI consultants. They’re the people telling you which of the other consultants you don’t need to hire. They’re the ones at the top of the tree.
Whatever your profession, the message is clear. Adapt with the age of AI. Progress along with the technology. Forget what used to work, keep learning, and find your place in the new world. Take inspiration from those already winning the field.