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AI implementation for SMEs

From choice to daily use. What is inside, what it costs and when you are better off waiting.

This page is written independently and also recommends things I do not sell myself. If you have a concrete question, ask it: you usually get an answer the same working day. Prefer to look for yourself first? Do the free process check.

The short answer

An AI implementation is the route from choosing a process to daily use: measuring what the work costs today, designing the workflow, building it, testing on real cases, training the team and handing over. At Tamboer AI that takes three weeks per process and costs from 4,500 euro excluding VAT. Starting is free with a process diagnosis.

What an AI implementation contains

An implementation is more than switching on a tool. It takes a process out of the week and puts back something that runs daily and that someone owns. Four steps, each with its own yes or no, so you can stop after any step without being locked in.

The four steps at Tamboer AI. All amounts exclude VAT.
StepWhat happensWhat it costs
Process diagnosisEstablishing which process qualifies, what it costs today and which tools fitFree
AI Workflow AuditProcess map, baseline, opportunity map, tool choice, design of up to three workflows and a go or no-go per process1,495 euro, credited on build
Implementation and trainingBuilding, testing on real cases, training the team and handing overFrom 4,500 euro per process, three weeks
SupportQueue, retries, alerts, a monthly error review and a test after every change125 euro per hour, with a ceiling agreed up front

How long an AI implementation takes

Three weeks per process, counted from the day the scope is fixed. Those three weeks are roughly one week of design and build, one week of testing on real cases from your own archive, and one week running alongside the team that will use it. Only one thing stretches that schedule: supplying examples and access. That almost always takes longer than building.

Where an implementation gets stuck

  • The process has no boundary. Starting with the whole administration delivers nothing. One process at a time.
  • There is no baseline. Without a number up front you cannot show afterwards that anything improved.
  • Nobody owns it. A workflow without an owner stalls at the first exception.
  • The examples are missing. A model learns your work from your own cases, never from a description of them.
  • The approval step is missing. Sooner or later something leaves the building that nobody read.

When you should not start

If the work differs every time and has no recognisable route, an implementation returns nothing. The same applies when volume is too low: at a handful of cases per month you never earn the build back, however good the workflow gets. And if your software package can already do it, switch that on first. Exact, AFAS, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace all ship built-in AI features you do not have to pay anyone to build. What sits inside your package is listed on the software page.

There is one more reason to wait: someone inside your company who can do this and enjoys it. That person builds it cheaper than I do and knows the work better. At most you buy an audit to learn where to start.

Where to begin

Not with a tool and not with a quote. With one process that comes back every week and that somebody in your company is tired of. Measure what it costs today in time and errors, then calculate what it is worth at half the speed. If no convincing amount comes out, the answer is no, and that is a perfectly good outcome. The calculator does that sum and the free process check tells you in seven questions whether the process qualifies. After that, the full route sits on how it works and the price build-up on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

What does an AI implementation cost for a small or medium business?

At Tamboer AI from 4,500 euro excluding VAT per process, covering build, testing, training and handover, or twelve monthly instalments of 375 euro. The process diagnosis beforehand is free and the 1,495 euro audit is credited if you continue within 30 days.

How long does an AI implementation take?

Three weeks per process from the moment the scope is fixed. Supplying examples and access decides whether those three weeks stay three weeks.

Do I have to run an audit first?

No. With one clearly bounded process you can go straight to implementation. The audit exists when several candidates compete and you want to know which pays off most, and in which order.

What happens after the implementation?

Your team works with it and you own it. Support is optional and costs 125 euro per hour with a ceiling agreed up front: queue, retries, alerts, a monthly error review and a test after every change.

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