Ongoing AI support that keeps your team moving forward
Craig Hartzel founded Hartz AI to give UK SMEs the ongoing AI support they need after the initial project wraps up. Regular check-ins keep strategy, governance and tooling aligned with your evolving business goals - so progress continues without adding a permanent hire.
According to McKinsey's State of AI report, organisations that maintain continuous AI guidance after deployment are 2.6× more likely to scale successfully.
Hartz AI provides ongoing AI support through regular advisory check-ins - typically monthly or quarterly. Sessions cover strategy alignment, governance, tooling reviews and decision coaching. Three tiers (Foundations, Growth, Leadership Partner) let you match the cadence to your AI maturity. Advisory keeps you in the driving seat; for deeper involvement, consider the Fractional CAIO service.
What Is The Rhythm Of Ongoing AI Advisory?
Ongoing AI support works best as a regular rhythm rather than a one-off conversation. Each session builds on the last, giving you continuous AI guidance that adapts as your organisation learns and grows.
Quarterly AI check-ins
Review progress, unblock decisions and update your roadmap.
Workflow & tooling reviews
Sense-check tools, prompts and processes against your goals.
Risk & governance support
Keep policy, ethics and controls in step with new use cases.
On-call thinking partner
A sounding board for live questions between sessions.
Ideal if you already have some AI activity in place and want guidance as things grow - without adding another permanent role to your payroll.
Who Needs AI Support After Implementation?
Most organisations that seek AI support after implementation already have experiments, pilots or early workflows running. They want a calm outside perspective to help them choose priorities, avoid blind spots and keep people engaged. Without continued guidance, even successful pilots can stall - which is why ongoing support matters most in the months after go-live. See how AI implementation support lays the groundwork that advisory builds on.
SME leadership teams
Owners, MDs and exec teams who want to bring AI into strategy, planning and board-level decisions without spinning up a large internal programme.
Heads of function
Marketing, operations, HR or finance leaders who are already experimenting with AI and want help shaping direction and guardrails.
Teams needing AI support after implementation
Organisations that have completed AI training, an audit or an initial implementation and want ongoing support to keep momentum and track impact.
What Does An AI Advisory Engagement Include?
Hartz AI provides AI advisory services across the UK, tailored to each organisation's stage of AI maturity. Each engagement touches the same core themes: priorities, workflows, people and risk.
An AI retainer service differs from an AI managed service. With advisory, you stay in control - we coach, challenge and guide. A managed service means the vendor runs operations on your behalf. Advisory suits teams who want to build internal capability rather than outsource it. Explore our broader AI consultancy services to see how advisory fits alongside implementation and training.
Strategy & prioritisation
Sense-check your roadmap, weigh up opportunities and choose where to focus next for the biggest impact with the least friction.
Tools, prompts & workflows
Review how teams are actually using AI, refine prompts and workflows, and spot chances to standardise good practice.
Risk & governance alignment
Keep policies, guidance and sign-offs aligned with evolving regulation, vendor terms and your internal risk appetite.
Board & stakeholder updates
Help shaping clear, plain-English updates for boards, trustees and non-technical stakeholders so everyone understands the journey.
Light-touch coaching
Regular space for leaders or champions to ask questions, road-test ideas and grow their own confidence with AI.
Impact & course-correction
Simple measures of progress, including hours saved, quality shifts and adoption, so you can adjust quickly when needed.
How Often Do We Meet?
We'll agree the right cadence and format together. Most clients choose one of the AI retainer service patterns below and then adjust as their internal capability builds.
Foundations
For organisations starting to move beyond experiments.
4 advisory sessions a year · 90 minutes each
- Quarterly 90-minute advisory session
- Email support for key decisions between sessions
- Light guidance on roadmap and priorities
Best starting point if you've recently completed an AI readiness audit or training.
Growth
For teams actively rolling out AI across multiple workflows.
12 advisory sessions a year · 60–90 minutes each
- Monthly 60–90 minute advisory sessions
- Support with stakeholder updates and board papers
- Prompt and workflow reviews as new use cases appear
Works well alongside training, implementation projects and champion programmes.
Leadership partner
For organisations with fast-moving AI programmes that want close support.
26 advisory sessions a year · fortnightly
- Fortnightly advisory and decision-support sessions
- Increased access for time-sensitive questions
- Closer involvement in governance and steering groups
If you need someone acting almost like a part-time AI leader, see our Fractional Chief AI Officer service.
Not sure if advisory or Fractional CAIO is right? We'll explore both on the call and suggest a sensible first step.
What Do The Common AI Rules Of Thumb Actually Mean?
The same shorthand rules come up in almost every advisory session. Here are straight answers, including where the shorthand breaks down.
What is AI support?
AI support is the continued help an organisation receives once tools are live: guidance on priorities, prompts, workflows, governance and measurement. Ongoing AI support is advisory rather than helpdesk cover. The measure of success is better decisions, not faster ticket closure.
What is the 30% rule for AI?
There is no official 30% rule. In practice, leaders use the phrase two ways: budgeting for roughly a 30% time saving on suitable admin tasks rather than full automation, or capping AI at about 30% of any process a person still signs off. Treat it as a prompt for judgement, not a standard.
What is the 10-20-70 rule for AI?
The 10-20-70 rule, popularised by Boston Consulting Group, holds that about 10% of the effort in a successful AI programme goes on algorithms, 20% on data and technology, and 70% on people, processes and change. Advisory exists because most of the value sits inside that 70%.
The UK Government's AI Opportunities Action Plan makes a similar point: skills and adoption capacity, not models, are the binding constraint for most organisations.
What does a retainer service mean?
A retainer is a recurring fee that reserves an agreed amount of expert time each month or quarter, instead of paying project by project. You get predictable access and continuity; we keep enough context to answer quickly. An AI retainer service is billed for availability and judgement, not deliverables alone.
How do we keep governance current between sessions?
We check your policies against recognised references - the ICO's guidance on AI and data protection for UK data law, and the NIST AI Risk Management Framework for risk practice - then translate them into changes your team can action. If governance is the bigger worry, our AI governance services go deeper than advisory alone.
When Should You Consider Ongoing AI Advisory?
Ongoing AI support works best when you already have some AI activity under way and want expert guidance to keep things on track. Advisory sits alongside AI training and workshops for teams building foundational skills, and our Fractional Chief AI Officer service for organisations that need deeper embedded leadership.
AI training & workshops
Build practical skills and shared language so advisory sessions land on fertile ground.
Learn moreAI implementation support
Turn advisory decisions into real workflows, tools and automations your team can run.
Learn moreFractional Chief AI Officer
If you're ready for deeper leadership involvement, fractional CAIO provides a more embedded option.
Learn moreCommon questions
What Do People Ask About Ongoing AI Advisory?
These questions help you understand what ongoing advisory feels like in practice and how it compares to other ways of working with Hartz AI.
A simple way to stay on top of AI
Make AI decisions with confidence, not guesswork
Hartz AI provides ongoing AI support through regular advisory check-ins. We keep your strategy, governance and tooling aligned with evolving business goals - without adding another permanent role to your team.