AI · AI Strategy & Consulting

AI Strategy Consulting That Ends in a Roadmap You Can Fund

For CEOs, CTOs and CFOs who need a clear answer to 'what should we do with AI, in what order, and what will it cost?' - from people who build the systems they recommend.

Maatara Consulting is an AI-native technology consultancy, with teams in Concord, California and Bengaluru, India, that designs, builds, secures and runs cloud and AI systems. Our AI strategy consulting gives you ranked use cases, a business case and a sequenced roadmap, with run-costs estimated from day one.

Readiness assessment Use-case ranking Business case Roadmap Governance
How the engagement runs
  1. Goals and constraints
  2. Discovery
  3. Readiness assessment
  4. Prioritise and cost
  5. Roadmap
  6. First project
Fixed scope Kicks off in days
Our approach

How Our AI Strategy Consulting Works

AI strategy consulting answers three questions: where AI creates value in your business, what you need in place to capture it, and what to do first. We answer them with evidence from your data and systems, not industry averages, and we test every recommendation against what it would take to build and run.

Illustration for AI Strategy & Consulting
  • 01

    Value first, technology second

    We start with your P&L, processes and customer journeys, and only then look at models and tools.

    • Use cases tied to a business metric
    • No technology chosen before the problem
  • 02

    Honest readiness check

    We assess data, systems, skills and risk appetite, so the roadmap reflects where you really are.

    • Data and platform readiness scored
    • Gaps listed with the effort to close them
  • 03

    Costed by engineers

    Every recommended use case comes with a build estimate and a run-cost estimate from the people who would build it.

    • Build and run-cost per use case
    • Stage gates before each investment
  • 04

    Governed from the start

    Risk, privacy and regulation are part of the plan, so your first project does not stall at legal review.

    • Risk tier per use case
    • Policy and control needs listed up front
  • What we assess

    Four Lenses of an AI Strategy

    Every recommendation in the roadmap is checked against all four.

    Value

    Revenue, cost or risk impact for each use case, with the metric that will prove it.

    Feasibility

    Data availability and quality, system access, and the technical approach that fits.

    Risk

    Privacy, regulatory exposure, error tolerance and the human oversight each use case needs.

    Cost

    Build effort, run-cost per month and the team needed to operate it.

    Services

    Our AI Strategy Consulting Services

    Choose a focused assessment or the full strategy; both end with decisions, not slides.

    01

    AI readiness assessment

    Data, platforms, skills and governance scored against what your use cases need.

    02

    Use-case discovery

    Interviews and workshops that surface and rank opportunities across functions.

    03

    Business case modelling

    Value, build cost and run-cost for the top use cases.

    04

    AI roadmap

    A sequenced, quarter-by-quarter plan with owners and stage gates.

    05

    Architecture direction

    The platform, model and data choices the roadmap depends on.

    06

    Build-vs-buy review

    Where off-the-shelf AI products beat custom builds, and where they do not.

    07

    AI policy and governance

    Usage policy, risk tiers and controls aligned to EU AI Act and NIST AI RMF.

    08

    Vendor and proposal review

    An independent check of AI vendor claims, pricing and contracts.

    09

    Fractional AI advisor

    Ongoing senior guidance for leadership and board as the roadmap runs.

    Why Maatara

    Why Leaders Choose Maatara for AI Strategy Consulting

    Our recommendations come from people who build and run AI systems, so they are grounded in what is feasible and what it will cost. Our CEO, Dr. Debasis Bagchi, has 25+ years in senior R&D and scientific leadership and wrote 'Application of AI on Healthcare'. Our CTO, Krish B, led engineering teams of 50+ at Dell Technologies and holds 30+ patents, and our Chief AI Advisor, Rudrendu Paul, has 15+ years in applied AI/ML.

    Meet the team
    15+ Years of combined engineering experience
    50+ Production AI and cloud programs delivered
    2 Delivery hubs, USA and India
    24/7 Support options

    Board asking for your AI plan?

    Get a ranked, costed roadmap you can present with confidence.

    Outcomes

    What Leaders Leave With

    These are the commitments every AI strategy consulting engagement works to.

    Ranked

    Use cases scored on value, feasibility, risk and cost

    Costed

    Build and run-cost estimates for every recommended use case

    1

    First project scoped and ready to start

    Quarterly

    Roadmap with owners, budgets and stage gates

    Deliverables

    Typical Deliverables

    Your AI strategy consulting outputs are written to be used by your leadership team, not filed.

    Readiness scorecard

    Data, platform, skills and governance readiness, with gaps and effort to close them.

    Ranked use-case backlog

    Every opportunity scored, with owner, metric and risk tier.

    Business cases

    Value, build cost, run-cost and payback for the top use cases.

    AI roadmap

    Quarter-by-quarter plan with dependencies, budget and stage gates.

    Target architecture

    Platform, data and model choices that support the roadmap.

    AI policy draft

    Usage rules, risk tiers and the controls each tier needs.

    Pilots everywhere, nothing in production?

    Find out which ones to scale, and which to stop.

    Business models

    AI Strategy Across How You Go to Market

    AI strategy consulting looks different depending on how you make money.

    B2B & Enterprise

    Focus on productivity in sales, service, finance and operations, plus AI features your enterprise customers will pay for and approve.

    Industries we support
    SaaS professional services insurance legal healthcare
    Discuss enterprise needs

    Vendors promising AI miracles?

    Get an independent view from engineers who build AI.

    Process

    Our AI Strategy Consulting Process

    Six steps from first interview to a roadmap your leadership team signs off.

    1. 01

      Goals and constraints

      Agree business goals, budget range, risk appetite and decision-makers.

    2. 02

      Discovery

      Interview teams, review processes and data, and list opportunities.

    3. 03

      Readiness assessment

      Score data, platforms, skills and governance against the opportunities.

    4. 04

      Prioritise and cost

      Rank use cases and build business cases with build and run-cost estimates.

    5. 05

      Roadmap

      Sequence the work into quarters with owners, budgets and stage gates.

    6. 06

      First project

      Scope the first use case so it can start immediately.

    Our engagement model

    Our Engagement Model

    How an AI strategy consulting engagement runs commercially.

    01

    Analysis

    Free strategy call and NDA, then agreement on scope, stakeholders and timeline.

    02

    Design

    A proposal with the assessment scope, workshops, deliverables and a fixed price.

    03

    Development

    Interviews, workshops and data reviews run with your team, with weekly check-ins.

    04

    Optimization

    Draft findings reviewed with leadership and refined before sign-off.

    05

    Deployment

    Final roadmap and business cases presented to leadership or the board.

    06

    Support

    Optional fractional advisor retainer, or a build team for the first project.

    Not sure your data is ready?

    A readiness assessment shows exactly what is missing.

    Engagement models

    Flexible Engagement Models

    Three ways to buy AI strategy consulting.

    Dedicated team

    A strategy-and-build team that delivers the roadmap and its first projects, billed monthly.

    Hire a team

    Fixed scope

    A readiness assessment or full AI strategy, at a fixed, milestone-based price.

    Get a quote

    Advisory & hourly

    A fractional AI advisor for leadership and board, by the hour or on retainer.

    Book advisory

    Ready to decide what to do with AI?

    Start with a free AI strategy consulting call.

    Fit check

    Is AI Strategy Consulting a Fit for You?

    A good fit if

    • Your board, owners or customers are asking for an AI plan.
    • You have several AI ideas or pilots and need to choose.
    • You want costs and risks understood before you invest.
    • You want the strategy shaped by people who can build it.

    The wrong start if

    • You already know exactly what to build - go straight to a build engagement.
    • Leadership is not available for interviews and decisions.
    • You want a generic trends report rather than decisions for your business.
    FAQs

    AI Strategy Consulting FAQs

    An AI strategy consultant helps leadership decide where AI creates value in the business, whether the organisation is ready, and what to do first. At Maatara, AI strategy consulting produces a readiness scorecard, ranked use cases, business cases with build and run-costs, and a sequenced roadmap with a first project ready to start.

    Still have a question?

    Ask an engineer, not a call centre. You get a straight answer within one business day.

    Ask our team

    An AI strategy consultant helps leadership decide where AI creates value in the business, whether the organisation is ready, and what to do first. At Maatara, AI strategy consulting produces a readiness scorecard, ranked use cases, business cases with build and run-costs, and a sequenced roadmap with a first project ready to start.

    A focused readiness assessment takes a few weeks. A full AI strategy with discovery, business cases and roadmap usually takes longer, depending on the number of business units and the availability of your leadership team. The proposal gives a dated plan.

    We price AI strategy work as a fixed-scope project, set by the number of business units, interviews and use cases to cost. Smaller companies often start with a readiness assessment. After a free call we send a fixed-price proposal with no hidden costs.

    Yes, if you want us to, but you are not obliged to. The roadmap and business cases are yours to use with any partner or internal team. Because our engineers cost each use case, the plan is realistic whoever builds it.

    Yes. Each use case gets a risk tier covering privacy, error tolerance and regulatory exposure, mapped to frameworks such as the EU AI Act and NIST AI RMF where relevant. We list the policies and controls needed so projects do not stall at legal review. We do not give legal advice.

    Yes. We have delivery hubs in Concord, California and Bengaluru, India, and work with clients across the US, Canada and India. Workshops can be run in person or remotely, and the roadmap accounts for the regulations in each market you operate in.

    Get started

    Ready to Decide What to Do With AI?

    Tell us what your board, customers or teams are asking for. An engineer replies within one business day with a first view of how we would approach it. Every AI strategy consulting engagement starts with a free consultation.

    Reply from an engineer within one business day
    NDA available before we look at your stack
    Fixed-price proposal, no hidden costs
    Book a consultation