Who it's for
The assessment fits Kansas City businesses with roughly 10 to 250 employees that are in one of these spots:
- You've tried ChatGPT and it didn't stick. A few people use it, most don't, and nobody knows what works.
- You're about to buy licenses. Copilot, ChatGPT Business, Gemini or something else, and you want to know who actually needs a seat.
- Your team is already using AI without rules. You suspect client data is going into free accounts and want to get ahead of it.
- A vendor pitched you an AI product. You want a neutral read before you sign.
It's a poor fit if you already know exactly what you want built. In that case, skip ahead to workflow automation or a custom assistant and we'll scope it directly.
The process, week by week
Most assessments run two weeks. Larger teams or multiple locations take three.
Week 1: Map the work
- Kickoff with the owner or GM (60–90 minutes). Goals, constraints, budget and what's off-limits.
- Interviews with the people doing the work (30–45 minutes each). Usually 5 to 12 people across departments. We ask what they do every day, what they repeat, what they wait on and what they'd hand off if they could.
- Tool and data review. Which software you run, where documents live, who has access to what, and what AI tools people already use on their own.
Week 2: Rank and plan
- Score every opportunity. Each candidate job gets rated on hours saved per month, difficulty, data risk and cost to build.
- Pick the top three. Not the flashiest three. The three with the best ratio of hours saved to risk and effort.
- Draft the roadmap. What to do in days 1–30, 31–60 and 61–90, who owns each step and what it should cost.
Readout (60–90 minutes)
We walk your leadership team through the findings, answer questions and adjust the plan. You keep every document.
What you get
| Deliverable | What's in it |
|---|---|
| Opportunity map | Every task we found that AI could help with, by department, with estimated hours per month and a difficulty rating |
| Top three projects | The three jobs to tackle first, why, and what "done" looks like for each |
| Tool shortlist | Which AI and automation tools fit your stack, who needs a license and what each costs per month |
| Data and privacy risk list | Where client, employee or financial data could leak into AI tools today, and what to change |
| 90-day roadmap | Steps, owners, timeline and budget ranges for each project |
| Baseline numbers | Current time spent on each top-three task, so you can measure results later |
The hour estimates are estimates. We build them from your team's own answers and say so on every page. Once a project goes live, we measure against the baseline instead of guessing.
What we look for
Patterns we see again and again in Kansas City businesses:
- Re-typing. The same information entered in two or three systems: a CRM, a scheduling tool, an invoice.
- First drafts. Quotes, proposals, job summaries, policy answers and customer emails that start from a blank page every time.
- Searching. Staff asking the same three people the same questions because the answers live in someone's head or a shared drive nobody can search.
- Follow-up. Leads, estimates and invoices that go cold because nobody had time to chase them.
- Reporting. Someone spending Friday afternoon pulling numbers from four places into a spreadsheet.
Some of these need AI. Some only need a simple automation. Some need a process fix and no software at all. We'll tell you which is which.
What it costs
Most Kansas City assessments land between $2,500 and $6,000, depending on team size, number of departments and locations. Smaller single-location teams sit at the low end. Multi-department or multi-site companies sit at the high end.
The price is fixed before we start. If you go on to a build project with us, the assessment work carries into it, so you don't pay twice to explain your business. See the full pricing table and how this compares with market rates for AI consultants.
What happens after
Most clients move into one of these next:
- Workflow automation for the repetitive work at the top of the list
- Copilot or Gemini rollout if the shortlist points to your existing Microsoft or Google stack
- AI policy and governance if the risk list turned up client data in free tools
You're under no obligation to continue with us. The roadmap is written so your own team or another firm can carry it out.
Comparing firms before you book? Our guide on how to choose an AI consultant lists 12 questions to ask, including what a good assessment should produce.
Frequently asked questions
How much of my team's time does the assessment take?
The owner or GM spends about three to four hours across the kickoff, a mid-point check and the readout. Each interviewed staff member spends 30 to 45 minutes. For a typical team that's under 15 staff hours in total. We schedule interviews around your busy periods, and most can happen remotely if on-site time is tight.
Do you need access to our systems?
Read-only access to a few things helps: a look at your main software, a sample of documents and an export of any AI tools already in use. We don't need admin passwords during the assessment. If something is sensitive, we review it with you on screen instead of taking a copy.
What if the assessment says AI isn't worth it for us?
Then you've spent a few thousand dollars instead of tens of thousands on tools and builds that wouldn't pay off. It happens. Sometimes the right answer is a simpler automation, a process change or waiting a year. We'll tell you that plainly, and the opportunity map still shows where your hours go.
Can we skip the assessment and go straight to a build?
Yes, if you already know the job you want automated and the data it needs. We'll do a short scoping session instead. Most clients who skip it end up building the second-best project first, so we only recommend skipping when the target is obvious and narrow.
Is the assessment remote or on-site?
Either. Kickoff and readout work best in person, and we do those across the Kansas City metro. Staff interviews can be on-site, on video or mixed. Fully remote assessments cost the same and take the same time; on-site simply makes it easier to watch the work happen.
Will you recommend tools you get paid to sell?
No. The shortlist is based on what you already run, what the task needs and what it costs per seat. If the best answer is a tool you already pay for, like Gemini inside Google Workspace, that's what we'll recommend. Any license we would supply is itemized separately so you can compare it with buying direct.
Ready to find your first three?
A free 30-minute call is the first step. We'll ask what's eating your team's time and tell you whether an assessment makes sense.