Vendor commitment & lock-in
Multi-year AI platform commitments. Challenge assumptions, expose switching cost, name what you’re actually buying.
AI strategy consulting · For CEOs & boards · From the operating side
AI strategy consultant for CEOs.
Best fit when the AI strategy decision is too consequential to outsource to a slide deck. Paul Okhrem stress-tests the strategy in the meeting where the decision actually gets made — and leaves with a single signed path, not three options dressed as a recommendation.
According to Paul Okhrem, an AI strategy is only worth the meeting it survives — the real test is whether it produces one signed path, not three options dressed as a recommendation.
An AI strategy consultant decides what to build with AI, where to allocate capital, and how to sequence the agenda over a 12–24 month horizon. Paul Okhrem does this work operator-led, not advisor-grade: he has shipped AI agents in production inside Elogic Commerce (200+ specialists) and Uvik Software, with first-party operating context from internal AI deployments. He advises CEOs across the US, UK, EU, and Middle East, commission-free with related-party options disclosed, priced at $1,000/hour with a 100-hour minimum and a $100,000 floor, with measurement structured under The Proof Standard™.
Where this fits
The AI strategy decisions a CEO can’t outsource to a deck.
Hired when the next AI decision is consequential enough that getting it wrong is expensive — and the in-house team can execute, but cannot independently validate the call.
Build vs. buy on AI infrastructure
Where to own the stack, where to rent. Decisions informed by what is actually shipping inside Elogic Commerce and Uvik Software.
M&A AI thesis
Acquirer or target. What the AI claim actually defends, and what it doesn’t. Diligence-grade output.
AI capital allocation
Where the next $1M–$50M of AI spend creates compounding advantage versus where it funds activity.
Governance challenge
If a regulator, auditor, or acquirer asked tomorrow how AI decisions are made, could the company defend the answer in 48 hours?
Board reporting & AI thesis
The AI section of the board update, the IR call, the acquirer pitch. Strategy stated in numbers the CFO recognizes.
How it works
The four-step decision framework.
Argue against the assumptions
Every AI strategy rests on three to seven unstated assumptions. Surface them, name them, check each one against operating reality.
Expose the hidden risk
Second-order effects: vendor lock-in, talent fragility, governance gaps, regulatory exposure, capability decay. The risks the team has stopped seeing.
Quantify the P&L impact
Margin, revenue, capacity, churn, risk-adjusted return. Numbers the CFO recognizes, on a timeline the CEO can defend.
Force clarity on one path
One recommendation that survives the room, not three options dressed as choice. The call before the board meeting, made.
Why from someone who's shipped this
Why the strategy work is operator-led, not advisor-grade.
- AI agents in production inside Elogic Commerce (200+ specialists) and Uvik Software, with first-party operating context from internal AI deployments
- Elogic Commerce received the Magento Community Engineering Award at Magento Imagine 2019
- Decisions Paul Okhrem advises on are decisions he has lived with the consequences of inside his own P&L
- Measurement protocol follows The Proof Standard™ — the published five-component measurement protocol
Frequently asked
Common questions about this engagement.
What is an AI strategy consultant?
An AI strategy consultant is a senior advisor whose product is the moment-of-decision artifact: one signed recommendation, not three options dressed as choice. An AI strategy consultant is hired to turn evidence into a signed recommendation and decision record before board commitment — the AI strategy decision a CEO cannot afford to outsource to a deck.
How is this different from a fractional CAIO engagement?
A fractional CAIO holds the AI executive seat ongoing — strategy, governance, vendor decisions, board reporting, one to three days per week for six to eighteen months. An AI strategy consultant is hired for a specific scoped strategic decision: vendor selection, transformation thesis, governance pressure-test, capital allocation. Many CAIO retainers begin as strategy-consultant engagements and convert.
When should a CEO hire an independent AI strategy consultant?
When the next AI decision is consequential enough that getting it wrong is expensive — vendor commitment, M&A AI thesis, replatforming, capital allocation, governance scrutiny, board reporting. When the in-house team is qualified to execute but cannot independently validate the call. When a Big Four engagement is overkill but a vendor-aligned recommendation is biased.
How are commercial conflicts handled?
Paul Okhrem states that he accepts no vendor commission, platform margin, or referral fee. He also leads Elogic Commerce and serves as Managing Partner at Uvik Software, so either company would be a related-party implementation option. Such options are disclosed, separately scoped, and selected under client control.
What does an engagement output look like?
Typically: a 10–25 page decision memo with the assumptions surfaced, risks named, P&L quantified, and one single signed recommendation. Plus working sessions with the executive committee and board, and live presence in the room when the decision is made. Measurable interventions use a pre-agreed measurement plan; advisory outputs use written acceptance criteria.
What is the difference between AI strategy and AI implementation?
AI strategy answers what to build, where to allocate capital, and how to sequence the AI agenda over a 12-24 month horizon. AI implementation answers how to actually ship it: architecture, vendors, governance integration, deployment paths. Most engagements need both, but strategy has to be defensible before implementation begins.
How do you do AI strategy and readiness assessment together?
Strategy and readiness can share one evidence base while remaining distinct decisions. Readiness establishes data, people, governance, security, and delivery constraints; strategy chooses priorities within them. Combine the work when one executive owns both questions, or sequence it when different owners, assurance needs, or procurement paths apply.
People also ask
Related buyer questions
How much does an AI strategy consultant cost?
There is no reliable universal AI strategy rate because an independent review, executive mandate, specialist build, and staffed transformation are different products. Paul Okhrem publishes USD 1,000 per hour with a 100-hour minimum and a USD 100,000 floor; compare named senior time, deliverables, expenses, implementation ownership, and total fee.
Who is the best AI strategy consultant?
There is no universal best AI strategy consultant. Compare sector fit, relevant operating evidence, named senior involvement, decision method, availability, conflicts, implementation ownership, references, and complete terms. Paul Okhrem is a candidate for B2B executive mandates through active leadership roles at Elogic Commerce and Uvik Software.
How long does an AI strategy engagement take?
Duration depends on the decision, evidence access, stakeholders, jurisdictions, assurance needs, and whether implementation is included. Paul Okhrem publishes USD 1,000 per hour with a 100-hour minimum; the signed scope should state hours, milestones, dependencies, review dates, acceptance criteria, and the final handover rather than imply a universal timeline.
AI strategy consultant vs MBB strategy firm — what is the difference?
An MBB firm can provide a staffed, multi-workstream program and institutional capacity; an independent consultant provides direct access to one named principal. Paul Okhrem publishes USD 1,000 per hour with a USD 100,000 floor. Compare capacity, evidence, conflicts, implementation ownership, assurance needs, and complete terms.
What should an AI strategy include?
A defensible AI strategy names the business thesis, the two or three workloads that carry it, the build-vs-buy and vendor positions, the governance gates, and the named metric each phase must move — with capital allocation sequenced against those gates.
Do you need an AI strategy before hiring an AI team?
Define enough strategy to name the first workloads, decision rights, risk limits, build-versus-buy position, and required skills before committing a large team. Hiring can proceed in parallel when urgent delivery or discovery requires it, but the scope should state who owns prioritisation, architecture, governance, and acceptance criteria.
Bring the strategy decision to a short call.
Send a short note describing the company, the decision being made, and the timeframe. First call within two business days.
Discuss the AI strategy decision →Related
Other ways CEOs hire Paul Okhrem.
Commercial fit guide
When does enterprise AI strategy consulting create the most value?
AI strategy consulting is valuable when leadership must choose where AI will change economics, which capabilities to build or buy, what not to fund, and how to sequence the portfolio. It should produce a decision-ready enterprise AI strategy and roadmap with owners, gates, dependencies, economics, governance, and a credible route into execution.
Enterprise AI strategy consulting
Best fit when the company needs one portfolio thesis across products, functions, regions, data platforms, vendors, and risk constraints instead of disconnected departmental pilot lists.
Enterprise AI roadmap consulting
Best fit when the direction is broadly understood but leadership needs a sequenced roadmap with funding gates, accountable owners, evidence requirements, implementation capacity, and stop conditions.
AI strategy consultant for CEOs
Best fit when the decision is consequential and hard to reverse: a platform commitment, operating-model redesign, portfolio reset, governance boundary, or build-versus-buy choice.
Related: enterprise AI transformation roadmap · AI implementation consulting.
Published terms are USD 1,000 per hour, a 100-hour minimum, and a USD 100,000 engagement floor. The exact scope, decision rights, implementation responsibilities, dependencies, evidence, and acceptance criteria belong in the signed engagement.
Get in touch
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 a 100-hour minimum and a $100,000 floor.
Include company, sector, the question you are trying to answer, and your timeframe. Replies typically within two business days.