10 best AI consulting firms and companies in 2024

The current AI market size is around $300 billion globally. Bloomberg Intelligence research suggests that thanks to a massive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 40%, these figures could swell to $1.3 trillion by 2032.

While Generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini have grabbed the headlines, they only scratch the surface of what AI could achieve. Huge business opportunities lie ahead in fields like robotics, healthcare, fraud detection, predictive analysis, process optimization, automation, and more.

Capitalizing on this technology is complex, which is where AI consulting firms come in. However, as AI continues to capture the public imagination, it’s hard to know which firms you can trust.

Our list of the 10 best AI consulting firms and companies is here to help you separate the signal from the noise and get the advice and guidance you need to make sure you’re ready to compete in this exciting new frontier.

What does an AI consulting firm do?

AI holds an incredible amount of promise for both individual businesses and global economies. However, leveraging this technology involves navigating some challenges. AI consulting firms can help overcome this friction by lending advice and guidance as subject matter experts.

Some of the most considerable barriers facing AI adoption across business include:

• A lack of in-house expertise
• Fear of change among stakeholders
• Inadequate data
• Integration within legacy software
• Identifying the right use cases

AI consulting firms can help address these issues by devising and developing strategies, educating stakeholders, contributing to learning and development, overseeing the implementation of IT technologies, and providing cost-benefit analysis or return on investment (ROI) forecasts.

What to look for in an AI consulting firm?

The most important thing to consider is that AI is an umbrella term for a wide array of technologies, like machine learning, deep learning, intelligent automation, speech translation, optical character recognition, autonomous vehicles, reinforcement learning, and more.

In short, that’s a broad base of technology. We also need to consider how each technology can be applied to a specific industry or sector. So, when you’re evaluating AI consulting firms, you’ll want to find someone who not only understands the technology but also has expertise within your vertical.

• Technical expertise: A good AI consultant should have a deep understanding of data engineering, cloud computing, software development, ML and DL algorithms, and any other AI technologies that are relevant to your business goals or industry.
• Industry knowledge: Typically, it’s not enough that a consultant knows a lot about AI. They also need a working knowledge of your industry and its specific trends, pain points, and considerations.
• Problem-solving: One of the most valuable attributes to look for in an AI consulting firm is the ability to think laterally and apply creative solutions to barriers to adoption.
• Track record: Any AI consulting firm you consider should have a track record in delivering change. Look for testimonials or case studies that show their pedigree.
• Ethics: AI is a fast-growing technology with many upsides and just as much potential harm. An AI consulting firm should know the ethical conversation around this technology, existing and upcoming regulations, and anything else that could harm your business reputation.

Top 10 best AI consulting firms

Now that you understand what an AI consulting firm does and what to look for when working with the right consultant, it’s time to reveal the best AI consulting firms in business today.

Here are our top picks for the best AI consulting firms:

1. Rijin Hartman
2. Brainpool AI
3. Stepwise
4. QuantumBlack
5. Ever Efficient AI
6. ITRex Group
7. Ripik
8. Tooploox
9. Deeper Insights
10. Addepto

Alright, let's take a deeper look at each firm.

1. Rijin Hartman

• Best for: Teams who want to build AI-powered websites

Rijin Hartman is a multi-disciplinary designer from South Africa with a particular focus on delivering custom websites and AI tools. Indeed, he specializes in fusing the two concepts for his international roster of clients.

Some of Hartman’s past projects include a pharmacy website with AI-driven personalized healthcare experiences and a Natural language processing (NLP) bot for the financial services industry.

Rijin's services 

In terms of AI consultancy, Hartman's service is focused on how to integrate AI into your business. He helps teams design, develop, and implement Intelligent Robotic Process Automation (RPA) tools, chatbots, and image and voice recognition systems alongside ML-driven analytics tools for predictive analysis, marketing, and next-level customer experiences.

Hartman focuses on understanding business requirements at the ground level and building solutions to help overcome business and industry challenges.

2. Brainpool AI

• Best for Teams that need AI consulting expertise in very specific technologies or industries

Brainpool AI takes a novel approach to consulting. As the name suggests, Brainpool is a network of over 500 AI and ML experts. The obvious advantage is that it can draw upon a wide range of expertise on both a technological and industry-specific level.

Brainpool’s USP is to act as a bridge between AI academics and industry. Industries like AI and ML move fast, and a lot of the best thinking and innovation happens in an academic setting. Brainpool AI helps businesses tap this reservoir to develop strategies and build bespoke software that can make an impact across a wide range of industries.

Brainpool AI services

Brainpool AI offers three different consulting services, which include:

• Validation: A process to help teams verify their ideas, get guidance from experts, and establish proof of concept (PoC)
• Automation: AI and ML product development to help teams identify and automate various manual tasks
• Optimization: Explores business processes and workflows and guides teams on how they can become more efficient through AI

3. Stepwise

• Best for Companies that need guidance with big data-driven projects

Stepwise is an award-winning company that focuses on helping businesses achieve meaningful change through AI and ML technologies. It offers a blend of different services, including data and machine learning engineering, AI software development, and AI consulting and strategy.

Stepwise has many great AI case studies of past success in industries like manufacturing, finance, and data analytics. Overall, Stepwise is a one-stop shop for strategy, idea validation, and eventual AI software development.

Stepwise services

Stepwise provides data engineering and AI software development. However, for the purpose of this article, we’ll focus on their work as AI consultants.

The Stepwise teams offer a complete consulting service that starts with business feasibility testing before helping the team devise and implement an AI strategy roadmap. From there, they help with the research and development (R&D) of the project before finally moving on to the architecture, security, and scalability of the solution.

4. QuantumBlack

• Best for: Blue-chip firms who need an AI strategy to move into the future

McKinsey & Co. is one of the biggest names in the consulting space. QuantumBlack is the strategy and management firm's official AI branch. They use what they term a Hybrid Intelligence approach, which essentially describes the marriage of AI and human-driven strategy.

QuantumBlacks' numbers are impressive. They boast access to 4,000 industry experts and over 1,000 data science and data engineering technologists. What’s more, they have completed more than 10,000 AI-related projects in the last few years.

QuantumBlack services

QuantumBlack consults on IoT and data transformation. However, their big focus is on helping teams explore and understand the possibilities of AI before assisting teams in training their workers and testing out new applications.

5. Ever Efficient AI

• Best for: Teams that want to turn existing data into a competitive advantage

Ever Efficient AI takes a unique approach to AI consulting. Their offer is primarily aimed at businesses that have existing data that they want to leverage for greater efficiency.

While Ever Efficient is an AI consulting firm, their bread and butter is AI product development. A big part of the approach is building business process automation. However, they also specialize in chatbots and data analytics.

Ever Efficient AI services

Ever Efficient AI takes a novel approach to AI consulting. Clients can subscribe to the service for around $5,995 per month. In return, Ever Efficient will gather requirements and build business enhancing software during bi-monthly sprints.

6. ITRex Group

• Best for: Teams looking for wide-ranging projects encompassing lots of different types of AI and other emerging tech

ITRex Group is a well-established software development and consulting business specializing in AI. Established in 2009, they’ve been helping teams develop, design, and build AI solutions involving AI technologies like machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, and natural language processing (NLP).

While ITRex works across a wide variety of verticals, they specialize in e-commerce, healthcare, education, and logistics. However, ITRex also offers consulting and development in IoT, blockchain, and AR/VR, which may suggest they lack the specific focus of other, more narrowly dedicated teams.

ITRex Group services

ITRex Group has earned a strong reputation in the AI consulting game thanks to their solid services, which include:

• AI consulting services that help with ideation, employee training, and QA and architecture for data projects
• Industry-specific consulting, especially in using AI for pharmaceuticals or ML-driven e-commerce
• Assistance with developing Generative AI tools

7. Ripik

• Best for: Teams who want to deploy AI solutions across industrial and manufacturing settings

Ripik is an Indian-based IT consulting firm with a wealth of founder expertise. They specialize in building custom AI solutions for businesses in the manufacturing and industrial sectors. To achieve this objective, they build software with ML, computer vision, and advanced data analytic capabilities.

Ripik’s pedigree is not under question. Their team built and deployed predictive AI models for Tata Steel and ITC, and are leading lights in using ML to make production factories more efficient.

Ripik services

Ripik can help industrial and manufacturing businesses optimize their shop floors from initial concepts all the way to delivering value. They offer both custom and pre-built SaaS solutions for these industries, designed to optimize processes, improve decisions, boost quality control with computer vision, and improve profitability and uptime with predictive maintenance.

8. Tooploox

• Best for: Startups looking to make an impact in the AI space

Tooploox is a software development and consulting firm based in Poland. Their aim is to help innovators and startups use AI to bring their wildest dreams to life. Tooploox’s approach involves improving existing workflows with cutting-edge AI tools.

Some of the most notable Tooploox projects include the Lilli AI system built for McKinsey & Co. consultants, cameras for Light’s automated vehicles, and AI-imaging assistance for Vitrum, a company working on halting cancer through early medical imaging.

Tooploox services

Tooploox has some great projects under its belt, which helps it consult on a variety of AI-related issues, including:

• Advising teams on how to implement and solve problems with Generative AI
• Computer vision and machine learning consultation for engineering projects
• Product design across a wide array of platforms with assistance in reinforcement learning, NLP, data insights, and much more

9. Deeper Insights

• Best for: Huge firms looking for cutting-edge AI consultancy

Deeper Insights is a well-regarded UK AI consultancy firm with a superb client list. They’ve helped companies as diverse as Microsoft, the BBC, and Deloitte with AI projects. Deeper Insights helps teams understand how they can unlock the potential of AI and build customer software to help their clients achieve their goals.

While many of Deeper Insights' past projects are shrouded in secrecy, one high-profile project they worked on was helping Smith&Nephew use computer vision for real-time image segmentation in medical procedures.

Deeper Insights services

Deeper Insights offers an end-to-end approach to AI projects, from initial ideation and development all the way to deployment. Some of the areas they specialize in include:

• Develop AI strategies for clients
• Extracting and preparing client data
• Developing ML models for advanced analytics

10. Addepto

• Best for: Teams that want to make the most of AI technologies like computer vision and NLP

Addepto is an IT consulting firm that specializes in advising global firms on the potential of artificial intelligence and related technologies. A big part of Addepto’s expertise lies in examining existing processes and workflows and recommending improvements based on optimization and automation.

The team at Addepto has a lot of credibility due to working with big-name clients like InPost, Continental, and Hertz. They’ve delivered excellent full-stack AI/ML software solutions to clients over the years, using computer vision and NLP to give their clients a competitive advantage.

Addepto services

Addepto has proven competence across a range of AI issues, such as:

• Using Generative AI to optimize business operations
• Improving customer service through NLP
• Boosting decision-making through computer vision technology
• Using AI and ML to provide predictive analytics

Conclusion

The world of artificial intelligence is vast and full of endless potential. However, most businesses lack the knowledge or expertise to take advantage of these revolutionary tools to the full extent. AI consulting firms are a great way to make up for a lack of subject matter expertise because they give businesses access to people working on the bleeding edges of these spaces.

Of course, any technology with sufficient hype can cause businesses to act irrationally and pile in, hoping to hit the goldmine. However, these situations can expose businesses to unacceptable levels of risk. A good consultant with expertise in both AI and your industry can help you realize opportunities in the space without making expensive mistakes.