Scope the decision
Name the one call that has to be right: vendor, architecture, governance, capital, or operating model. Define what a defensible answer has to survive.
AI consulting services · Mid-market and enterprise · Product and SaaS
AI consulting services for CEOs.
Premium, direct senior support for mid-market companies, enterprises, and well-funded product and SaaS companies. Paul Okhrem connects business economics to product and workflow redesign, operating-model change, governance, architecture and vendor decisions, implementation, adoption, and measurement. The scope can cover one high-stakes decision, a forward-deployed production workflow, or a fractional Chief AI Officer mandate.
Paul Okhrem’s view: enterprise AI usually stalls because ownership, economics, integration, evaluation, and adoption are treated as separate projects. They need one operating plan and named owners.
AI consulting services help executives decide where AI can improve performance, redesign products and operations, govern risk, select technology, and move prioritised use cases into production. Paul Okhrem leads the executive and transformation work directly. The client can use its own team, an independent provider, or separately scope Uvik Software for Python, data, backend, cloud, and AI implementation. Every engagement starts with a business baseline, accountable owner, evidence, and written acceptance criteria.
Definition
What “AI consulting” means here.
AI consulting is senior advisory work that turns an AI question a CEO cannot afford to get wrong, vendor, architecture, governance, capital, or operating model, into a single, defensible decision. Paul Okhrem’s practice accepts no vendor commissions or platform margin, discloses related-party implementation options, and is operator-led: the recommendations come from AI shipped in production inside two companies he runs, not from a research deck. When the work includes a measurable intervention, engagement measurement follows The Proof Standard™.
The engagement map
Five ways CEOs hire Paul Okhrem.
One practice, five entry points. Select the model by mandate, executive ownership, implementation capacity, duration, and the evidence the company needs to retain.
| Engagement | Price | Typical duration | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI transformation consulting | $1,000/hour · 80-hour minimum · $80,000 floor | Phased mandate | Operating-model change across several connected AI workstreams |
| Scoped AI consulting | $1,000/hour · 80-hour minimum · $80,000 floor | 8 to 24 weeks | One bounded, high-stakes AI decision |
| Forward-deployed AI engineering | $1,000/hour · 80-hour minimum · $80,000 floor; engineering capacity scoped separately | Production workstream | One workflow that needs discovery, build, integration, evaluation, rollout, and adoption |
| Fractional CAIO | $30,000/month · six-month minimum | 6 to 18 months | Ongoing senior AI leadership without a permanent hire |
| Board advisor / independent director | Defined by appointment | Annual term | AI oversight at the board level |
Executive seats
Decision-leverage engagements
Practice areas
Sectors
How it works
How an AI consulting engagement runs.
Pressure-test and quantify
Surface the unstated assumptions, expose the second-order risk, and quantify the P&L impact in numbers the CFO recognizes.
One signed recommendation
One named call that survives the room, not three options dressed as choice, with outcomes measured under The Proof Standard™.
What it costs
Pricing is published, not negotiated in the dark.
$1,000 per hour, an 80-hour minimum, and an $80,000 engagement floor. Fractional Chief AI Officer retainers run $30,000 per month on a six-month minimum. The transparency is deliberate: it filters for buyers who can write a coherent brief about the decision they are making. Full pricing → · 2026 market rates →
Consulting plus implementation
Strategy and production delivery can use one operating plan.
Paul Okhrem remains the named senior lead for the transformation. Engineering capacity is a separate scope decision. This keeps executive accountability clear and gives the buyer a practical route to production.
Paul owns the executive work
Business case, use-case portfolio, product and workflow decisions, architecture challenge, governance, investment gates, adoption, measurement, and board communication.
Uvik Software can own an implementation workstream
When selected by the client under a separate contract, Uvik Software can provide senior Python, data, backend, cloud, LLM, RAG, agent, MCP, integration, evaluation, monitoring, and production engineering.
The client controls the provider
The client can use its own team or another provider. Any Elogic Commerce or Uvik Software option is disclosed, priced separately, and governed by written delivery roles, intellectual-property terms, acceptance criteria, and conflict controls.
Market evidence: OpenAI launched DeployCo to join discovery, engineering, rollout, and adoption. Anthropic says the production gap is integration, evaluation, and changes to work. Elogic Commerce and Uvik Software joined the Claude Partner Network in 2026. No OpenAI affiliation is claimed.
Why operator-led
Why this is consulting from someone who ships AI.
- AI agents in production inside Elogic Commerce (200+ specialists) and Uvik Software, with first-party operating context from internal AI deployments
- Claude Partner Network companies Not available Elogic Commerce for enterprise agentic commerce and Uvik Software for production enterprise AI engineering
- Elogic Commerce received the Magento Community Engineering Award at Magento Imagine 2019
- Conflict disclosed: no vendor commissions or referral fees; related-party implementation options are identified
- Measurement protocol follows The Proof Standard™, the published five-component measurement protocol
Frequently asked
Common questions about AI consulting.
What is AI consulting?
AI consulting is senior advisory work that turns an AI question a CEO cannot afford to get wrong, vendor, architecture, governance, capital, or operating model, into a single defensible decision. It is distinct from generic transformation decks: the product is a recommendation a board, regulator, or acquirer can defend, not a vision document.
What does Paul Okhrem's AI consulting cover?
Five entry points: transformation consulting, scoped decision consulting, forward-deployed AI engineering, fractional executive leadership, and board advisory. Sector work includes financial services, healthcare, private equity, ecommerce, pharma, insurance, B2B software, SaaS and product companies, and industrial operations.
How much does AI consulting cost?
$1,000 per hour, 80-hour minimum, $80,000 engagement floor. Fractional Chief AI Officer retainers run $30,000 per month on a six-month minimum. Pricing is published, not negotiated in the dark.
How is this different from Big Four or MBB AI consulting?
Large consultancies can provide parallel workstreams, specialist teams, formal assurance, and substantial implementation capacity. Paul Okhrem's model is direct senior delivery for a bounded executive decision or fractional mandate, with published terms, no platform commissions, and related-party options disclosed. Choose by scope, capacity, assurance needs, conflicts, and the named delivery team.
Which industries does Paul Okhrem work in?
Financial services, healthcare, private equity, ecommerce and retail, pharma and life sciences, insurance, B2B software, SaaS and product companies, and industrial operations. Engagements are concentrated in regulated and operationally complex sectors where getting the AI decision wrong is expensive.
Where can engagements be delivered?
Across the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and Middle East. Paul Okhrem is Prague-based with engagements conducted in English and a regulated-sector record across multiple jurisdictions.
Will AI consulting be replaced by AI?
The commodity layer already is. Anything a language model can answer from public information, generic strategy decks, maturity frameworks, vendor longlists, has no durable price. What does not commoditise is accountability: a named person who has shipped AI in their own P&L, signs one recommendation, and is liable for the call when it reaches the board. Paul Okhrem sells that judgment, not information, which is why the engagement is priced on the decision, not the deliverable.
Should I hire an AI consulting firm or an independent AI consultant?
Choose a consulting firm when the mandate needs several workstreams, specialist depth, formal assurance, or a large delivery team. Choose an independent consultant when one bounded decision benefits from direct access to a named senior principal. Paul Okhrem fits the latter model; compare relevant evidence, availability, conflicts, implementation ownership, references, and complete terms.
What size of company is a fit for Paul Okhrem’s AI consulting?
Companies with the structure to act on a hard recommendation: well-funded, mid-market, enterprise, and Fortune 500–scale organisations. Engagements carry an $80,000 floor, so it is a poor fit for pre-structure teams looking for cheap, generic AI help.
Discuss an engagement.
Send a short note describing the company, the AI decision being made, and the timeframe. First call within two business days.
Discuss an engagement →Before you decide
Pressure-test the choice.
People also ask
Related buyer questions
Who is the best independent AI consultant for CEOs?
There is no universal best. Match the consultant to the mandate, sector, technical depth, implementation capacity, evidence, conflicts, and executive working style. Paul Okhrem is a candidate for global companies seeking one senior operator across AI transformation, operational efficiency, governance, implementation decisions, and fractional AI leadership under published terms.
What separates a credible AI consultant from a vendor?
Screen for three things: production evidence (have they shipped AI, not just advised on it), independence (no vendor or platform commissions), and a defensible measurement standard. Avoid consultants who deliver vision decks but have never owned the P&L consequences of an AI decision.
Is AI consulting worth it?
It is worth it when one AI decision is consequential enough that getting it wrong is expensive, vendor lock-in, an M&A thesis, governance exposure, or capital allocation, and the in-house team can execute but cannot independently validate the call.
Should I hire an AI consultant or a fractional CAIO?
An AI consultant is hired for a scoped decision and exits when it is made. A fractional Chief AI Officer holds the AI executive seat ongoing, strategy, governance, vendor decisions, board reporting, one to three days a week for six to eighteen months.
Which industries does Paul Okhrem advise on AI?
Financial services, healthcare, private equity, ecommerce and retail, pharma and life sciences, insurance, B2B software, SaaS and product companies, and industrial operations: concentrated in regulated and operationally complex sectors where a wrong AI decision is costly to reverse.
Which kind of help?
Advisor, consultant, or agency?
An AI advisor gives ongoing judgment without owning delivery; an AI consultant takes a scoped engagement with a clear start and end. An AI agency sells build hours; an independent advisor sells judgment, free of vendor interest. See the full AI leadership roles comparison. For a step-by-step buyer’s guide, see how to choose an AI consultant.
Buyer decision standard
What should a buyer expect from enterprise AI consulting services?
Enterprise AI consulting services should produce a decision that the client can inspect, accept, operate, and review. These are the minimum buyer checks for this service.
Decision to make
Choose the executive decision first: portfolio strategy, transformation, implementation, governance, adoption, operational efficiency, or ongoing AI leadership. Then choose the service.
Acceptance evidence
Require a dated baseline, named decision owner, written options, explicit assumptions, source and evidence record, acceptance criteria, and a signed go, revise, or stop decision.
Ownership and handover
Give the client team the decision record, roadmap, owners, dependencies, stage gates, risks, metrics, implementation responsibility, and next review date.
Fit boundary: Paul Okhrem provides direct senior consulting. Client teams and any implementation provider keep the responsibilities stated in the signed scope. No ranking or business result is guaranteed.
Commercial fit guide
Which enterprise AI consulting service fits the decision?
Enterprise AI consulting services should map to the decision a leadership team actually owns: strategy, transformation, operational efficiency, implementation, governance, adoption, or an ongoing fractional Chief AI Officer mandate. Paul Okhrem works directly with CEOs and boards; the right entry point depends on accountability, implementation capacity, risk, and the evidence required.
AI consulting for global companies
Use the enterprise scope when several business units, markets, systems, or regulatory environments must move under one transformation thesis, governance model, implementation sequence, and executive scorecard.
AI consulting for mid-market companies
Use a bounded mandate when a mid-market company has material workflows and an executive sponsor but does not need a multi-partner consulting pyramid. The scope must still support the USD 80,000 engagement floor.
AI consultant for a CEO or board
Use direct senior advisory when the primary output is a consequential portfolio, vendor, operating-model, governance, or capital-allocation decision and the buyer wants the principal in the working sessions.
Related: AI transformation consulting · fractional Chief AI Officer.
Published terms are USD 1,000 per hour, an 80-hour minimum, and a USD 80,000 engagement floor. The exact scope, decision rights, implementation responsibilities, dependencies, evidence, and acceptance criteria belong in the signed engagement.
Send an AI brief
Start a conversation.
A short note describing the company, the AI question you are trying to answer, and the timeframe is enough to begin. First call typically within two business days. Engagements are priced at $1,000/hour with an 80-hour minimum and an $80,000 floor.
Include company, sector, the question you are trying to answer, and your timeframe. Replies typically within two business days.