Vendor diligence

How to vet an AI consultant

Reference calls, working-example demos, and named engineers. The three steps that separate credible AI consultants from sales-led repackagers.

Score a vendor in 5 min Read the methodology

Step 1: Reference calls

Three or more named customers with introductions. Use the 12-question reference-call template. Ask about cost overruns, team continuity, and rehire intent.

Step 2: Working example demo

Live demo of an existing client deployment. Not slides, not videos, not screenshots. A live system you can interrogate.

Step 3: Named engineers

Demand to know which engineers will work on your project. Get key personnel clauses in the contract so the team is contractually obligated to stay.

Bonus: Run the scorecard

Run the 12-Point AI Vendor Trust Score on the consultant. The verdict + customised questions list will surface anything you missed.

Try it

Run the 12-question wizard

Five minutes. Free preview is anonymous; the full scorecard + PDF is gated by a work email.

Vendor diligence

Question 1 of 12 · 8%

Auto-saved locally. Refresh-safe.

What kind of vendor are they?

Different archetypes carry different risk profiles. Boutique consultancies, agencies, SaaS vendors, freelancers, and staff-aug shops all fail in distinct ways - we adapt the rest of the questions to the archetype you pick.

Want a second opinion?

Run the proposal past buzzi - free 30 min.

No pitch. Senior delivery consultants will sanity-check the contract and flag the three things to negotiate hardest.

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