AI Consulting Proposal Template — Free

What to include in your ai consulting proposal template

Use case discovery and prioritization
Build vs buy vs fine-tune analysis
Model selection (OpenAI vs Anthropic vs open source)
Cost projections (token usage, infrastructure)
Data security and compliance review
Prompt engineering and evaluation framework
Integration scope (existing tools, APIs)
Ongoing monitoring and prompt iteration

How to price it

AI consulting: $5K-$25K (initial assessment + roadmap), $25K-$150K (proof of concept + measurement), $150K+ (production deployment). Hourly: $300-$800/hr. Avoid hourly for novices — they don't understand the value.

Common mistakes to avoid

Promising 'AI will do X' without measuring baseline
Including ongoing token costs in your fee (variable, unbounded)
Skipping the eval framework (you can't iterate without it)
Vague success criteria — clients claim AI 'didn't work'
Not addressing data privacy upfront (legal blocker)

Sample template content

Here's an example of what a complete proposal looks like for this niche. Use it as a starting point — you'll fill in your own details when you create one.

Scope of Work

Customer support AI assistant for [Client]: Phase 1 — Discovery (week 1): • Audit existing support tickets (volume, top 10 categories) • Define success metrics (deflection rate, CSAT impact) • Data security and PII handling review Phase 2 — PoC (weeks 2-4): • RAG setup over knowledge base • Prompt design and few-shot examples • Integration with help desk (Zendesk/Intercom) • Eval suite (50 representative tickets) • Deflection rate baseline measurement Phase 3 — Iteration (weeks 5-7): • A/B test prompt variations • Improve weak categories • Stakeholder review and approval Phase 4 — Production (weeks 8-9): • Production deployment with kill switch • Monitoring dashboard • Team training • 30-day post-launch hypercare

Sample Line Items

Description	Qty	Total
Phase 1 — Discovery	1	$7,000.00
Phase 2 — PoC build	1	$18,000.00
Phase 3 — Iteration	1	$12,000.00
Phase 4 — Production launch	1	$9,000.00
Total		$46,000.00

Sample timeline: 9 weeks

Terms & Conditions

Engagement fee: 30% on signing, 30% at PoC end, 25% at production launch, 15% at end of hypercare. LLM API costs (OpenAI/Anthropic) billed direct to client. We do not pay these. We target 30%+ deflection rate. If not achieved by end of iteration phase, additional weeks at $250/hr or scope adjusted with credit. Client retains all prompts, evals, and code. Consultant retains right to use methodology in future engagements.

Frequently asked questions

▸ Should I include API token costs in my fee?

No. Token costs are variable and can spike. Pass through to client at cost. Set up your own consultancy account for development and bill separately.

▸ Build, buy, or fine-tune?

Buy (existing tools) for 70% of use cases. RAG over existing models for 25%. Fine-tuning for the last 5% where you have unique data + scale to justify.

▸ How do I handle hallucinations?

Eval framework + RAG + temperature controls + 'I don't know' fallbacks. Build evals BEFORE prompting. Set acceptable error rate explicitly with client.

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