Questions to ask any AI consultant in Jersey before you sign anything

A few months ago a Jersey business owner told KPAI about their first “AI project” with another local company. It sounded impressive on paper: a big proposal, lots of diagrams, a promise to “transform operations”. Six months and a five‑figure invoice later, everyday work looked almost exactly the same. The team was tired, the budget was gone, and nobody could explain what had actually changed.

If you are thinking about working with an AI consultant in Jersey, you deserve better than that. The right questions up‑front can save a lot of money, time and frustration. Here are the questions KPAI would ask in your position - and the kind of answers you should look for.

1. “What specific workflows will this change in the first three months?”

Why this matters:
Vague talk of “transformation” is how people end up paying for slide decks instead of working systems. You want to know exactly what part of the day will be different.

A good answer sounds like:
“We’ll focus on two workflows: handling new enquiries and creating your weekly management reports. By the end of month three, those should involve far less manual sorting and copy & paste.”

Red flag:
“We’re still defining that” or “it will touch every part of your business” with no concrete examples.

2. “How will we measure success - in hours saved, errors reduced, or revenue created?”

Why this matters:
If success is not defined, it will quietly slide into “we did some work” instead of “this is paying for itself”.

A good answer sounds like:
“We’ll agree to simple measures before we start, such as hours of admin saved per week in the operations team, reduction in invoice errors, and faster response times to enquiries. If we can’t see movement on those, we’ll review.”

Red flag:
“We’ll know it’s working when the team feels more productive” or “success is hard to measure with AI”.

3. “What happens if we decide to stop after the first phase?”

Why this matters:
You want options. Long, locked‑in commitments are risky when you are still learning what AI can do for your business.

A good answer sounds like:
“The work is structured in phases. After the first phase you will already have X and Y live. If you stop there, you keep everything we’ve built and the documentation. There are no penalties for not continuing.”

Red flag:
“You really need to commit to the full twelve‑month roadmap” or complex termination clauses you do not fully understand.

4. “Who in our team needs to be involved - realistically?”

Why this matters:
AI and automation touch real people’s work. If the plan ignores them, adoption will fail.

A good answer sounds like:
“We’ll need one senior sponsor, plus people who actually do the work we’re changing - someone from operations, someone from finance, and maybe a front‑line team member. We’ll keep meetings short and focused, and we’ll handle the technical heavy lifting.”

Red flag:
“We mainly work with leadership; your team doesn't really need to be involved” or the opposite: a vague requirement for “a cross‑functional project group” with no sense of time cost.

5. “What parts of our business should definitely stay human?”

Why this matters:
A trustworthy AI consultancy in Jersey will be clear about limits. If everything sounds “AI‑ready”, be wary.

A good answer sounds like:
“AI is great for reading, sorting and drafting. It should not be making final decisions on pricing, contracts, HR matters or key client relationships. Those stay with you; we’ll just make it easier to get the information you need.”

Red flag:
“Given enough data, AI can handle almost anything” or a clear push to automate sensitive decisions.

6. “Which tools and platforms will you build on, and who owns the set-up?”

Why this matters:
You need to know whether you are being tied to a particular vendor and whether you can take what’s built with you.

A good answer sounds like:
“We prefer to build on tools you already use, plus widely‑adopted AI and automation platforms. You’ll own the accounts, configurations and documentation, so you’re not stuck with us if things change.”

Red flag:
“You’ll need to move everything onto our proprietary platform” or “we manage all the accounts under our name”.

7. “How will you handle our data and security?”

Why this matters:
AI projects often touch customer data, financials and internal documents. You must be comfortable with how that is stored and processed.

A good answer sounds like:
“We’ll map what data is used where, avoid sending sensitive data to consumer tools, and, where needed, use enterprise‑grade AI services with clear data‑handling policies. You’ll get this documented before we start.”

Red flag:
“All the data just goes into the AI” or no written explanation of security and privacy.

8. “What will daily work life look like once this is live?”

Why this matters:
You are not buying a model; you are buying a change in how work feels.

A good answer sounds like:
“For your operations team, mornings will start with a short summary of new enquiries and key numbers, rather than an hour in the inbox. For customer support, more of their time will be spent on tricky issues instead of repeating standard answers.”

Red flag:
“It will just be smoother” with no description of what staff will actually experience.

9. “When something breaks, who fixes it and how quickly?”

Why this matters:
AI and automation flows will break at some point - a changed field, a new policy, a tool update. You need to know what happens then.

A good answer sounds like:
“We include a support window after launch and can offer a simple retainer after that. You’ll also have clear documentation so minor issues can be handled in‑house if you prefer.”

Red flag:
“It should just keep running” or support that is only available on expensive long‑term retainers.

10. “What similar projects have you done, and what actually changed for those clients?”

Why this matters:
Case studies show whether an AI consultancy Jersey‑side has done more than talk about possibilities.

A good answer sounds like:
“We helped a JERSEY / CHANNEL ISLANDS CLIENT reduce manual reporting time by around X hours a week and cut response times to new enquiries by Y%. Here’s roughly what we did and what went wrong along the way.”

Red flag:
Only generic examples (“we worked with a large bank”) or case studies that never mention specific workflows or outcomes.

If an AI consultant can’t answer these clearly, think twice

Choosing an AI consultant in Jersey is not about who has the flashiest demo. It is about who can explain, in plain language:

- What will change

- How you will measure it

- What happens if you stop

- Where AI helps - and where it has no business being involved

If a consultant struggles with these questions, or tries to talk around them, it is a useful signal.

At KPAI, these are exactly the questions expected and welcomed. They lead to smaller, clearer projects that actually make your business easier to run. If you would like to walk through them together for your own situation, a short conversation is often the best place to start.