How do I choose an AI consulting partner for my dev team?

Do they build, or just advise?

The credible signal is whether the partner ships AI in production on their own products. People who've hit every wall — context, cost, reliability, coordination — and built past them are worth more than people who've read about it.

Do they transfer the capability?

Ask what your team can do after the engagement. A partner whose model is capability-transfer leaves your developers operating agents; one whose model is delivery leaves you renting your own AI workflow.

Will they work in your environment?

Your stack, your standards, your controls — or a greenfield they're comfortable in? The work that matters happens in your real codebase, not a clean slate that dodges the hard parts.

Straight answers.

Should I pick the biggest name?

Brand buys procurement comfort, not necessarily outcome. A large firm fits org-wide transformation; for getting one dev team genuinely running agents, builders who do this themselves usually beat a strategy-led program. See our honest comparisons under /vs.

What questions separate the good partners?

Who does the actual work? Do you ship agents in production on your own products? Will you work in our repo and standards? What can our team do without you afterwards? Vague answers to those are the tell.

Cheapest vs best fit?

Cheapest often means seats or a junior delivery tier and leaves your team at autocomplete. Best fit is the partner who leaves your team capable; that's the cost that actually pays back.