Brief an AI Consultant Properly
A good brief gets you a comparable quote, a faster start and a consultant who solves the right problem. A vague one gets you a discovery phase you pay for. This checklist covers the twenty-three things worth writing down before the first call.
Most of this fits on two pages. If you cannot fill in an item, write that down too. Unknowns are useful information for a consultant.
AI Consultant Brief Checklist
Twenty-three items. Most fit on two pages.
Your ticks are saved in this browser, so you can work through the list over several sessions.
01The problem
0/5What is wrong, how it works today, and what it costs.
02Systems and data
0/5Where the work and the information actually live.
03Constraints and compliance
0/5The things that change the design, best known early.
04Money, people and time
0/5Who decides, who does the work, and by when.
05Success
0/3How the work will be judged, decided before it starts.
A preparation list, not a procurement process or legal advice. Items on privacy and compliance are general guidance; check your own obligations. Your ticks are stored in this browser only and nothing is transmitted.
Why the Brief Matters
Consultants quote against what they are told. The quality of the brief sets the accuracy of the quote, the speed of the start and the chance the work solves your problem.
One sentence saves a fortnight
A problem stated in one sentence the business owner agrees with removes the most expensive part of most engagements: the weeks spent working out what the client wants. If you cannot write the sentence, that is the first thing to sort out.
Volumes and systems set the price
How many items per week, which systems hold them and whether those systems have export or API access decide most of the cost. A brief without these forces the consultant to guess, and a guess is padded.
Constraints stop surprises
Privacy obligations, client contracts, budget range, timeline and who has to say yes. Every one of these left out of the brief turns up later as a variation, a delay or a project that cannot go live.
The Five Sections
Twenty-three items across five sections, in the order a consultant will read them. Each item is a sentence or a number, not a document.
The problem
One sentence, the current process, the volumes, what it costs today and what has already been tried.
Systems and data
The systems in use, the data available, where it lives, its quality and whether it can be reached.
Constraints and compliance
Personal information, sector rules, client contracts, data location and anything that must not change.
Money, people and time
Budget range, decision makers, the day-to-day owner, the timeline and what is driving it.
Success
The measure that will be used to judge the work, the baseline today, and what would make you stop.
The Items Consultants Wish Were There
Four things missing from most briefs we receive. Each one changes the quote or the approach.
What has already been tried
If a previous vendor built something that was abandoned, if a team member set up an automation that broke, or if you trialled a product and dropped it, say so and say why. It stops the consultant proposing the same thing, and the reason it failed is often the real constraint.
- Name the tool or approach and roughly when
- Say why it stopped: cost, accuracy, adoption, data, a person leaving
- Note anything from it that still runs or still holds data
- Include internal attempts, not just paid ones
Where the data actually lives
The brief says the data is in the CRM. On the first day it turns out half of it is in email, a quarter is in spreadsheets on a shared drive, and the CRM licence does not include API access. Listing the real locations and checking the licence tier before the brief goes out avoids the most common early variation.
- List every place the data lives, including inboxes and spreadsheets
- Check whether each system allows export or API access on your plan
- Say honestly how clean the data is: duplicates, gaps, free text
- Note any data that is scanned or image-based
A budget range
Clients often withhold the budget to avoid anchoring the quote. The effect is the opposite: without a range, the consultant either proposes something too small to matter or too large to approve, and a second round of scoping follows. A range lets them propose the right shape of work. Our own audit is a fixed $3,000 plus GST, and builds are quoted from it.
- Give a range, not a single number, and say what it includes
- Say whether internal time is counted in it
- Separate one-off build budget from ongoing running cost
- Say who approves it and at what level a second approval is needed
Who decides, and who does the work
Two names: the person who can approve the engagement and the person who owns the process day to day. When these are the same person, say so. When they are different, both need to be at the first meeting, because the approver buys the outcome and the owner knows whether it will work.
- Name the decision maker and their availability
- Name the process owner who will answer questions and test output
- Say who else must be consulted: IT, legal, a franchisor, a board
- Say how long approval usually takes in your business
Next Steps
How to Choose an AI Consultant
What to look for, and what to avoid, once the brief is ready.
Read the guide →AI Consultant Cost in Australia
What AI consulting costs locally, so your budget range is realistic.
Read the guide →What Does an AI Consultant Do?
The kinds of work you can brief, and the kinds you should not.
Read the guide →Frequently Asked Questions
How long should the brief be?
Two pages is plenty and one is often enough. The checklist items are sentences and numbers, not sections. A consultant reading it wants to know the problem, the volumes, the systems, the constraints, the budget range and who decides, in that order. Attachments such as a process map, a sample of the data or an export of last month’s volumes are more useful than extra pages of prose.
Should I say what solution I want?
Say what outcome you want and, if you have a solution in mind, say that too, but label it as a preference rather than a requirement. Briefs written as a specification for a particular product tend to get exactly that product, whether or not it is the best answer. Briefs written as a problem with a measure get a recommendation, which may be cheaper than what you had in mind. Our fixed-price audit exists so that the recommendation does not depend on the fee.
What if I do not know the volumes?
Estimate, say it is an estimate, and note how you could find the real figure. A week of counting by the people who do the work is usually enough and can happen while quotes come in. Consultants would rather have an honest estimate with a plan to confirm it than a confident number that turns out to be wrong in week two.
Do I need to mention privacy and compliance in the brief?
Yes, briefly. Say whether the data includes personal information, which brings obligations under the Privacy Act 1988, and whether health, financial or legally privileged information is involved. Name any sector rules, client contracts or data location requirements that apply. These change the design and the cost, and finding them out after the quote is the most common cause of a project that cannot go live. This is general guidance, not legal advice.
Should I send the same brief to several consultants?
Yes. The point of a written brief is that quotes come back against the same scope and can be compared. If quotes vary widely, the consultants have read the brief differently, which usually means an item is missing or ambiguous. Ask each one which items they assumed and fix the brief before choosing. Two or three quotes is enough; more than that costs you time without improving the decision.
What happens if I send this brief to you?
We read it, have a free first conversation with you about it, and tell you whether we think the problem is worth solving with AI at all. If it is, we propose the fixed-price audit at $3,000 plus GST, which produces a roadmap and a quoted build. If it is not, we say so. The brief makes that first conversation shorter and more useful for both sides.
Sources and further reading
- The Privacy Act 1988 (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner)
Brief Ready, or Nearly?
Send it as it stands, gaps included. The free first conversation is where we work out whether the problem is worth solving and what the audit would cover.