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Find the opportunity
Trace the real workflows, measure the drag and identify where automation, better data or a process fix would pay back.
Diagnostic-first AI consulting
An AI consultancy that proves the value before you build.
Most AI consulting starts with a proposal. Clerq starts with evidence: a two-week Diagnostic that shows which workflows are worth changing and which are not.
For founder-led UK businesses with £1m to £20m revenue. Published pricing, a roadmap you keep, and a build that happens only if the evidence supports it.
Diagnostic from £2,500. No obligation to use Clerq for a later build.
What an AI consultancy does
Turn AI from a vague ambition into an operating decision.
An AI consultancy exists to answer three questions a busy management team cannot easily answer alone: where would AI genuinely help this business, what would it take to do safely, and is it worth the money?
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Design the change
Define what gets automated, what stays with people, which controls are required and who owns the result.
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Deliver and support
Build the agreed change, prove it against acceptance criteria and monitor it in live operation.
How Clerq differs
Most consultancies sell a build. Clerq sells a decision first.
The common failure in AI consulting is a proposal written before the workflow is understood. Clerq's model is built to prevent that.
The typical AI consultancy
- Free discovery call that leads to a proposal for the largest scope the buyer will accept.
- Pricing revealed late, often day-rate based, with incentives to extend the engagement.
- Recommendations that assume a build, because a build is the product.
- Deliverables that lose value if you do not continue with the same firm.
The Clerq model
- Evidence before build. A paid two-week Diagnostic tests the case before anyone commits to technology.
- Pricing published up front. The Diagnostic starts from £2,500 and build recommendations come with fixed-price quotes.
- The roadmap is yours to keep. Implement it internally, take it to another builder or ask Clerq to quote.
- Build is optional. The honest recommendation may be to fix the process or change nothing.
Fit
Built for a specific kind of business.
Clerq works with founder-led UK businesses with £1m to £20m revenue: large enough for workflow drag to cost real money, small enough that a wrong technology bet hurts.
A good fit
- Experienced people are spending time on repeatable administration, reconciliation, reporting or triage.
- Information moves between systems and the exceptions are difficult to see or own.
- The business is considering a hire, integration or automation build and needs a defensible priority.
- Management will provide access, accountable owners and time with the people doing the work.
Not a good fit
- You want a specific tool installed before the workflow and controls are understood.
- You need a guaranteed saving, headcount reduction or payback claim before evidence is reviewed.
- No one can own the result or provide the access needed to assess the current process.
- The request is for broad AI strategy without a real operating workflow or decision in scope.
Where the work happens
Six workflow areas where drag is measurable.
These are common operating problems, not pre-packaged promises. The Diagnostic tests whether each workflow is suitable, safe and commercially worthwhile in your business.
Finance and operations
Returns reconciliation
Join refund, warehouse, carrier and finance records so exceptions surface quickly and close data stays credible.
Explore the workflow →Finance
Month-end close automation
Standardise close preparation, evidence collection and exception handling while finance retains approval.
Explore the workflow →Finance
13-week cash flow forecasting
Turn current accounting, sales and payment data into a governed weekly short-term cash view.
Explore the workflow →Customer operations
Customer service triage
Classify, enrich and route incoming cases while keeping sensitive decisions with your support team.
Explore the workflow →Marketing
Marketing reporting automation
Bring channel, trading and customer data into a repeatable report with explicit definitions and owners.
Explore the workflow →Commercial operations
Supplier contract operations
Extract obligations and dates, route review and keep people accountable for renewals and exceptions.
Explore the workflow →Pricing you can see before the first call.
The engagement starts with the two-week Diagnostic. Where a build is justified, the Diagnostic includes a fixed-price quote for it, so the commercial decision is made on paper rather than mid-project.
- Two-week Diagnostic from £2,500
- No required follow-on Build
- Fixed-price Clerq recommendations where appropriate
- Three months of Run included after a Clerq Build
Buyer's checklist
How to choose an AI consultancy.
Use this checklist on any firm you speak to, including Clerq. A consultancy that resists these questions is telling you something.
Method and evidence
- Do they examine your actual workflow before proposing anything, or does the proposal arrive after one call?
- Will they show you a worked example of their analysis before you pay?
- Can they name a situation where they would recommend against building?
- Do their published examples state the context and measurement basis, or just headline percentages?
Commercial terms and control
- Is pricing visible before the sales process starts?
- Do you keep the deliverables if you walk away after the first phase?
- Who owns the result inside your business once the consultants leave, and is that written into the design?
- What happens after go-live: is monitoring included, priced or absent?
Questions
AI consultancy FAQ
How much does an AI consultancy cost in the UK?
Fees vary widely across the market, and many consultancies only quote after a sales process. Clerq publishes its starting point: the two-week Diagnostic starts from £2,500, with the final fee agreed before work begins. Any recommended build is quoted at a fixed price in the Diagnostic itself.
How long does an engagement take?
The Clerq Diagnostic is delivered in two weeks from agreed access and input. Build timing is agreed after the Diagnostic from the workflow scope, systems, controls and acceptance criteria, and every Clerq Build includes three months of Run monitoring.
What happens after the Diagnostic?
You keep the roadmap. You can implement its recommendations internally, take them to another builder or ask Clerq to deliver the fixed-price builds it recommends. There is no obligation to continue with Clerq.
Do we need to be technical to work with an AI consultancy?
No. Clerq works with the people who run the workflows, not with a technical team. What the engagement needs is a management sponsor, access to the agreed systems and time with the people who do the work. The output is written for management decisions, not for developers.
Do you work with businesses outside London?
Yes. Clerq is based in London and works with founder-led businesses across the United Kingdom. Most Diagnostic work runs remotely against your systems and calls with your team, so location rarely constrains the engagement.
How is this different from hiring an AI agency?
A typical agency sells a build. Clerq sells a decision first: a two-week Diagnostic that tests whether a build is justified at all. Pricing is published, the roadmap is yours to keep, and the recommendation may be to fix the process, improve an existing system or change nothing.
Continue exploring
Inspect the method before you talk to anyone.
The product
The Clerq Diagnostic
The full two-week method: deliverables, timetable, fit criteria and pricing.
See the Diagnostic →Illustrative sample
Sample Diagnostic
Review a fictional example of the inventory, prioritisation method, controls and roadmap.
Get the sample →Decision guide
AI ROI for UK SMEs
A practical method for testing payback without relying on unsupported benchmark claims.
Read the guide →
Start with the workflow
Test the fit before you commit to anything.
Request a short fit call. Clerq will reply to arrange a time and establish whether the operating problem is suitable.