Hire Generative AI Consultant — strategy before spend, systems after pilots

If the use case, model choice, and success metrics are already clear, build. If you are choosing between several ideas or unsure which model fits, a consulting engagement of one to three weeks usually saves months of wrong-direction engineering.

There is no universal answer: Claude leads on careful reasoning and long context, GPT models on tool use and ecosystem, Gemini on multimodal and price. The right choice depends on your workload, latency needs, and data policies — which is exactly what the audit determines.

Model API costs are usually the smallest line item — a few hundred dollars for a pilot. Engineering time dominates. A well-scoped pilot runs two to six weeks; I model the full cost before you commit.

We classify your data first, then choose deployment accordingly: API models with zero-retention agreements for low-sensitivity work, VPC or self-hosted open-weight models where regulation demands it. Nothing sensitive goes to a vendor by default.

Then you have saved the build budget — that is a successful engagement. About a third of the use cases I audit do not clear the bar, and killing them early is one of the most valuable outcomes.