How to Hire the Best AI and Machine Learning Consultants (February 2025)

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) projects are the key to success for many of today’s businesses. In our data-driven world, AI and machine learning provide incredibly valuable insights that were previously unattainable by humans alone. Companies that fail to implement AI and ML projects risk falling behind their competition.

All major tech companies have entire departments dedicated to AI and ML, but so do many businesses of all sizes, using AI and ML to innovate their business models.

When you decide to undertake some AI and ML development, it is important to build the right team, starting with AI and machine learning consultants. By finding the right specialists, you reduce risk and effort.

What are AI/ML consultants?

As AI and machine learning continue to take over entire industries, starting with the power of predictive analytics and processes, AI consulting firms are becoming even more important.

AI and Machine Learning Consultants are skilled and experienced designers, developers, and other AI experts who help design, implement, and integrate AI solutions into the enterprise business environment. They can provide, develop, and advise on a wide range of AI capabilities such as predictive analytics, data science, natural language processing (NLP), computer vision, process automation, voice-enabled technology, and much more.

These consultants can assess the potential of data, software infrastructure, and technology to effectively implement AI systems and workflows.

More than a data scientist

When hiring the best AI and machine learning consultants, you should look for specialists who go beyond data science. Most AI and machine learning projects involve much more than just data science. For example, they involve engineering and aggregating data and formatting it to teach an AI system.

These types of projects often also involve hardware, wireless, and networking, meaning the consultant needs to be an expert in cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT). If you want to further increase your chances of success, look for a consultant who understands the business implications of your requirements and can discuss budgeting, planning, and solution architecture.

The various stages of planning and implementation

The role of AI and ML consultants can be divided into a few main stages, but they are by no means the only stages.

Formulation Strategy

Your AI/ML consultant will start by understanding how implementing an AI project can help achieve business goals and drive business growth. This stage typically involves a lot of research, where you will work with the consultant to identify bottlenecks or other challenges that the AI ​​development solutions could help address and solve. The consultant will also deliver a proof of concept that can help demonstrate the value of the AI ​​project to stakeholders.

AI and machine learning consultants typically formulate strategies using the following steps:

• Understanding the current state of your company: The consultant analyzes your company’s strategy to understand its current state.
• Building a portfolio: The next step is to identify your pain points and understand how AI can contribute to your business success.
• Determining the value of a project: The vast majority of AI projects fail or do not generate value. The consultant will help your company predict the value of the project so that you do not invest more than the expected result.

Another aspect of the strategy stage is due diligence. It is important to have a solid understanding of AI marketing to conduct effective due diligence, as AI success factors differ from those in other fields.

One reason for this difference is that deep learning-based AI solutions require more or better labeled data. Unlike regular software, which improves as product owners learn from usage patterns, AI requires more unique data to improve the accuracy of model predictions.

Implementation

After the strategy stage, the consultant will move on to implementation, which is based on determining key areas where technology can transform your business. This stage involves a comprehensive implementation plan, and the consultant will gain the skills and tools needed to bring the AI ​​strategy to life.

The strategy stage above can result in several initiatives, and implementation is best thought of as multiple activities involving planning, vendor selection, development, project management, and more.

There are a few options when it comes to implementation. All or part of the services can be performed by the consultant. Another option is to carry out the implementation in-house, which is often the case. That said, if your company does not have the capacity to implement certain initiatives, consultants help speed up the process.

Training

Once your Ai Development Services is implemented, it’s important to maintain and scale it internally. The best consulting projects improve company culture and skills, which is crucial in the AI ​​field as talent can be hard to find.

The best AI and machine learning consultants ensure that once the project is implemented, the company’s teams are capable and knowledgeable about the technology and solutions. This often requires well-documented and organized training materials, along with a knowledge transfer process.

Questions to ask before choosing AI/ML consultants

When considering AI and machine learning consultants for your company’s project, there are a few key questions you should ask yourself and the company:

Is it going to be a positive return?

This is the first and most important question. You need to make sure that there is a high probability of positive returns in the short term. You can achieve this by asking the consultant about short, medium and long term projections.

Does the company have the required human capital?

After creating a solution, you will need to decide whether it will be done in-house or outsourced. This means making sure you have the right people with the right skills, which will make it easier to evaluate the consultant’s performance.

What is the consultant’s experience?

Another key issue concerns the consultant’s experience. There are many AI and machine learning consultants on the market, both large and small. You need to consider your industry and make sure you select the right one. Each industry will have its own set of requirements, and a consultant’s experience is the best indicator of future performance.

How do AI/ML consultants price their services?

The price of AI/ML consulting services will vary widely depending on the company or platform you go with. Many AI consulting companies also have their own AI products and technology. When it comes to these companies, they often offer AI consulting for free to power their own products.

Other companies base their pricing around a few key factors:

• Time and Material: Most AI and machine learning consulting projects are based on the time and materials required for the project, which is estimated by the consultant. These prices are negotiated before the project begins.
• Success: Some consultants base their pricing on success. Success-based projects are not very common as they create uncertainty and imperfect measurements. This is because many metrics do not accurately measure success. There are many unreliable factors such as seasonality, unexpected downturns, workforce turnover, and more.

The rise of independent networks

There is another option when it comes to hiring an AI consultant: freelance networks and platforms. These exclusive networks have gained popularity in recent years thanks to their simplicity and wide range of offerings.

We present the two best.

1. Sparkout
One of the best ways to ensure you’re hiring top AI and machine learning engineers and consultants is to search for developers with a platform like Sparkout, which connects companies with the top 3% of design, development, project management, and finance talent worldwide. For companies looking to hire AI and machine learning engineers, they’ll want to focus on Sparkout developers, who offer full-stack development, machine learning, AI, and blockchain services.

Since its founding in 2017, Sparkout has served over 2,000 customers across a variety of industries. Some of the biggest names the company has brought on as clients include AirBnB, Bridgestone, Walt Disney, HP Enterprise, JPMorgan Chase, and Zendesk.

Sparkout relies on an intensive screening process to source talent, and the entire process typically takes 0–3 weeks. Their global talent network is made up of remote freelancers who go through this screening process. Sparkout then selects from this talent network based on their needs before passing it on to your company. Your company can then interview the selected talent and decide if they are worth moving forward with.

To ensure Sparkout gets the best talent for your company’s needs, you’ll be asked a series of discovery questions: