AI consultancy for UK businesses.
We start with how your business actually runs, then put AI where it earns its place. The same people find it, build it and keep it running. No slide decks.
Book a free 30-minute callWhat is an AI consultancy?
An AI consultancy helps a business work out where artificial intelligence would genuinely help, then puts it to work. A good one starts with how the work actually runs, says plainly where AI isn’t worth it, builds what is, and keeps it working once your team relies on it. Propel is an AI consultancy for UK businesses, based in Grimsby: the same people find where AI helps, build it around the tools you already use and keep it running.
What a good AI consultancy should do.
Four jobs, in order. Stop after the first two and you’re left with a plan, not a working system.
Start with the work
Look at how jobs, orders and information actually move, and talk to the people doing them, before suggesting any tool.
Say where AI doesn’t help
Plenty of problems are fixed by setting up the software you already pay for properly, such as Copilot in Microsoft 365, or with simple automation. A good consultant says so.
Build it
Turn the plan into something your team uses every day, around the software you already have, tested on real examples first.
Keep it running
Monitor it, fix it when a connected tool changes, improve it and train new starters, so it doesn’t quietly break three months later.
How we’re different.
Operations first, the same people from start to finish, and something working at the end rather than a slide deck.
Where it starts
What you’ll often findA workshop about AI tools and what they can do.
With PropelHow your work actually runs: the jobs, the tools and the people doing them.
What the first stage gives you
What you’ll often findA strategy or a roadmap, sometimes as a slide deck.
With PropelA written plan in plain English: where AI would help, where it wouldn’t, and a price for anything worth building.
Who builds it
What you’ll often findA different team, a partner firm, or your own staff.
With PropelThe same people who found it: Jacob and his team. There’s no sales team and no hand-off.
Your software
What you’ll often findA new platform for your team to learn.
With PropelWe build around the tools you already use, and only suggest something new where it would clearly help.
After it goes live
What you’ll often findA handover, then you’re on your own.
With PropelOptional ongoing support: we monitor it, fix it, improve it and train your team.
- Background
- Running operations
- Based
- Grimsby, working UK-wide
- Who you work with
- Jacob and his team, from the first call to ongoing support
Run by an operations lead.
Jacob, our founder, runs operations at an agency: planning work across a team, keeping track of who has capacity, and absorbing the changes that land every week. When spreadsheets and messages stopped keeping up, he built the system the agency now runs on for planning work and team capacity.
That’s why we start with how your work actually runs, not with the technology. Then we put AI where it earns its place, and say plainly where it doesn’t.
What we’re not
- AI for AI’s sake
- A one-off chatbot
- A slide deck you’re left to implement yourself
Find, Build, Run.
Three stages. You decide after each one whether to go on.
- FindA Fit checkA paid look at how your business runs, ending in a written plan with a price for anything worth building.How the Fit check works
- BuildBuilt around your toolsAssistants, automation and software that fit the way you already work.How we build
- RunOngoing supportWe monitor, fix and improve what we’ve built, and train your team.How ongoing support works
What a first engagement looks like.
It starts small, it’s written down, and you decide at each step whether to go on.
How the cost works- 1A free 30-minute call on Google Meet. Nothing to prepare: tell us how a normal week goes.
- 2If there’s a sensible next step, we tell you what a Fit check would cover and what it costs.
- 3The Fit check: we talk to the people doing the work and look at the tools, spreadsheets and messages you use day to day.
- 4You get a written plan in plain English: where AI would help, where it wouldn’t, and a price for anything worth building.
- 5You decide. Build with us, act on the plan yourselves, or leave it there. There’s no commitment to build.
If you go on to build
- We build around the software you already have
- We test it against real examples from your business
- Where it helps, we run it alongside the old way until everyone’s comfortable
- A person approves anything that goes to a customer
- Your team is shown how it works
Who we suit.
We know businesses best where an office coordinates work done elsewhere. If yours is different, the free call is still the place to start.
A good fit
- Owner-managed UK businesses, from a handful of people to a couple of hundred
- An office keeping work moving on site, on the road or on the shop floor
- Time lost re-typing, copying and chasing information between tools
- You want something your team uses, not a report
Probably not the right fit
- You want a strategy document to carry out yourselves
- You want AI everywhere, whether or not it helps
- You want AI making customer-facing decisions with no one checking
How to choose an AI consultant.
Ten questions to ask any AI consultant or consultancy, including us. Our answers are beside each one.
Do they start with your work, or with a tool?
A consultant who leads with a product tends to find a use for that product. Ask what they’d look at first.
Our answerWe look at how jobs, orders and information move before suggesting any tool.
Will they tell you where AI isn’t worth it?
Ask for an example of when they’d advise against building something. If there isn’t one, be wary.
Our answerEvery plan says where AI wouldn’t help, as well as where it would.
Who actually does the work?
The person on the sales call isn’t always the person who builds it. Ask who you’ll deal with at each stage.
Our answerJacob and his team, from the first call to ongoing support.
What do you get from the first paid step?
“Roadmap” and “assessment” can mean anything. Ask for the written deliverable, and whether you’re committed to anything after it.
Our answerA written plan in plain English with a price for anything worth building. There’s no commitment to build.
Do they build it, or only advise?
Advice that someone else has to turn into a working system often stalls between the two.
Our answerBoth. The people who find what to change are the people who build it.
Will it work with the software you already have?
Replacing a system your team knows is expensive and disruptive. Often it isn’t needed.
Our answerWe build around the tools you already use wherever we can.
Who checks what the AI does?
AI gets things wrong. Ask where a person reviews its work before it reaches a customer.
Our answerA person approves anything that goes to a customer. Automation handles the routine.
What happens after it goes live, and what will it cost to run?
Connected tools change and subscriptions add up. Ask who fixes it, and what you’ll pay each month to the software providers.
Our answerWe monitor, fix and improve what we build if you want us to, and we point out any software subscriptions up front.
Who owns what’s built, and how is your data handled?
Get both answers in writing before any build starts, from whoever you choose.
Our answerAsk us too. Every stage is priced in writing before work starts, so ask for both answers there.
Can they show you real work?
A demo or an illustration isn’t proof. Ask what’s running in a business today and who built it.
Our answerOur founder built and runs the internal system an agency uses to plan work and team capacity. We can talk you through how it was approached, but it isn’t ours to show. Examples on this site are labelled illustrative.
Questions about AI consultancy.
More in the full list of questions.
What does an AI consultancy do?
It works out where AI would genuinely help a business, and where it wouldn’t, then helps put it to work. Some consultancies only advise. We do the whole job: we find where AI helps, build it around the tools you already use, and keep it running.
What’s the difference between an AI consultant and an AI agency?
Broadly, a consultant advises on what to do and an agency builds it. The risk with splitting the two is that the advice never quite turns into something people use. We do both, and the people who find what to change are the people who build it and look after it.
Do we need an AI strategy before we start?
Not usually, for a small or mid-sized business. A plan for the jobs that take the most effort is more useful than a strategy document. That’s what a Fit check gives you: where AI would help, where it wouldn’t, and a price for anything worth building.
How much does an AI consultant cost in the UK?
It depends on how much is involved, and firms charge in very different ways, so compare what each one delivers rather than the headline. With us, the first call is free. Afterwards we tell you what a Fit check would cover and its price, and the Fit check prices anything worth building, in writing, before work starts.
Is AI worth it for a small business?
Sometimes. AI is useful where a task needs reading, writing or judgement, like drafting a reply to an enquiry or summarising a job. Plenty of problems are better fixed by setting up the software you already pay for properly, or with simple automation. We’ll tell you which.
Will AI replace our staff?
That’s not what we build it for. We use AI and automation to take on the routine parts of a job, such as re-typing, copying and chasing, so your team can spend more time on the parts that need them. A person approves anything that goes to a customer.
Do we need to be technical to work with an AI consultant?
No. We talk in plain English, the plan is written in plain English, and we show your team how anything we build works.
Will we have to replace our software?
In most cases, no. We build around the tools you already use, and only suggest something new where it would clearly help.
Who will we actually work with?
Jacob, our founder, and his team. The people you speak to are the people who look at how your work runs, build the system and keep it running. There’s no sales team and no hand-off.
Do you work with businesses across the UK?
Yes. We’re based in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, and work with businesses anywhere in the UK. Most of the work happens remotely, in the tools you already use. If seeing the work in person would help, we can talk about visiting.
What happens once it’s built?
That’s the Run stage: ongoing support. We monitor it, fix it, improve it and train your team. It’s agreed separately, and it’s your choice.
How do we start?
Book a free 30-minute call on Google Meet, or send us a message. There’s nothing to prepare. Tell us about one job that takes more effort than it should, or how a normal week goes.
What we build.
You might need one or a mix. A Fit check works out which, and in what order.
- AI assistants and agentsAI that drafts, sorts and summarises routine work, and agents that carry a task through several steps.
- Workflow automationThe routine steps between your tools happen on their own, so details are entered once.
- Custom AI softwareDashboards, planners and internal tools built around how you work, with AI where it helps.
- Ongoing supportWe monitor, fix and improve what we’ve built, and train your team, so it keeps working.
Who we help.
Book a free 30-minute call.
On Google Meet, with Jacob. Tell us about one job that takes more effort than it should, or how a normal week goes.
Pick a timeOr email jacob@propelai.co.uk