1
You
2
Project
3
Results

First, the basics about your company

The cost of AI varies wildly by company size and industry — this lets us give you numbers that actually match your situation, not a generic range.

What's the project, and what did the vendor quote?

If you have a quote in hand, we'll compare it against what projects like yours actually cost — most vendor quotes cover only 20–40% of the real 3-year spend.

$

If yes, we'll shift from "negotiate" to "protect" recommendations. Your leverage changes the moment you sign.

A few things that quietly decide whether this works

Most AI projects fail for reasons that have nothing to do with the model. Your answers below drive the biggest variances in our cost and success ranges.

Data spread across many systems is the #1 hidden cost — every additional system adds integration time, sometimes 0–$200K of it.

Data prep typically eats 40–65% of the project budget. Messy data pushes that to 60–80% — often more than the vendor fees themselves.

Prior experience is the single biggest predictor of success. First-time AI projects fail at roughly 2x the rate of repeat efforts.

AI projects live or die by sponsorship. "One person pushing it" is the highest-risk pattern — when that person leaves or loses political capital, the project usually dies.

You don't need them if you're buying — but you do if you're building.

Needed to move data from source systems into something a model can use.

Sources

1 Ryseff, J., De Bruhl, B.F., & Newberry, S.J. (2024). The Root Causes of Failure for Artificial Intelligence Projects and How They Can Succeed. RAND Corporation. rand.org

2 S&P Global Market Intelligence (2025). AI project failure survey. Via CIO Dive

3 Pertama Partners (2025). AI Total Cost of Ownership: Beyond the License Fee. "License fees represent only 20–40% of true AI costs… True AI costs typically run 2–5× the sticker price." pertamapartners.com

4 Gowan, I. (2026). AI Integration Costs: The Hidden Expenses of AI Adoption. Opagio. "The licensing fee represents 20–30% of the total cost." opag.io

5 Keyhole Software (2026). AI Software Development Costs 2026. "Nearly a quarter of organizations underestimate costs by 50% or more." keyholesoftware.com