With the growth in artificial intelligence and machine learning these days, more companies are leveraging AI for their processes. Although more people are adopting artificial intelligence, experts in the field such as data engineers, data scientists, and machine learning engineers are still rare, making it expensive to hire them.
So, before you make any investment in hiring artificial intelligence consulting services, you need to consider a number of factors. They include:
AI knowledge and Experience
While there are companies with comprehensive AI knowledge, some others only have surface knowledge. Many AI companies offer singular solutions for all kinds of problems, but some others go the extra mile to specialize in solving particular issues, cracking problems, and thinking beyond the challenges.
While some companies investigate the problems to find new solutions, some others have already designed workable approaches. There are advantages and disadvantages to these two options. While some problems can be solved using the existing techniques, uncommon problems need solutions that don’t exist in the handbook and would need out-of-the-box approaches.
You will also find companies with brilliant team members that will create super technological solutions from scratch. However, such solutions are always expensive, and they might not always be necessary.
Domain knowledge
Artificial intelligence techniques can solve problems in any domain, which makes them interesting. They can go from spotting road signs in a car system to detecting cancer.
However, while the model is domain-agnostic, the implementation needs domain and company experience.
Industries have their unique technologies, legal frameworks, and issues, and all of these must be considered when creating new solutions. For instance, in the medical world, there is a lot of information. However, laying hands on the bulk of information can prove difficult due to the legal restrictions that make it difficult to access the necessary dataset for the model.
When dealing with a highly specialized industry, slight overfitting is possible. When the challenge can’t be seen through new lenses, it becomes difficult or even impossible to solve the problem.
So, when it comes to considering domain expertise in choosing an AI consulting partner, there are two sides to the decision, both risks, and opportunities. Choosing a domain expert can lead to inflexibility and overfitting of the problem. On the other hand, picking an inexperienced company might result in reinventing the wheel.
Problem-solving approach
Proficiency in AI-based technologies and domain knowledge doesn’t amount to problem-solving in the advent of an issue. There needs to be a workable problem-solving attitude and approach to delivering a solution.
When working on an artificial intelligence project, the challenge should be well-defined, and the approach clarified before deciding on a company. You want to avoid overpaying a company that doesn’t need to do so much or working with a team that’s unable to solve your problem
Perfect fit for the company
After concluding on the qualifications and competencies of the companies you’re considering, you then need to consider how they fit your company. You’ll need to consider areas like company principles, work ethics, and style of communication style.
As a company owner, you also need to be sure that you’re comfortable with the team you’re working with, whether they are startups or corporate AI Services.
While some people want to work as coworkers, some others would prefer a technocratic arrangement.
The key is agreeing on what works for both parties.
