Key Takeaways
If you’ve been thinking about offering AI consulting services for businesses without technical teams, 2026 is your moment.
AI adoption is accelerating across European SMEs, but most of them still lack internal expertise, a clear strategy, and implementation capacity. EU reports show that only 13.5% of European enterprises used AI in 2024, with adoption strongly skewed toward larger firms. (Digital Strategy EU) At the same time, the global AI consulting services market is projected to grow from $22.27 billion in 2025 to over $257 billion by 2033. (Market Data Forecast)
Combine that with a surge in flexible hiring: 78% of companies plan to hire freelancers in the next three months, outpacing demand for full-time knowledge workers. (HR Executive)
That’s the setup:
SMEs need help.
Big firms are slow and expensive.
What Is AI Consulting and Why Is 2026 Different?
AI consulting is no longer just “advising on AI.” In 2026, it means helping businesses identify real problems, design AI-powered workflows, and implement working solutions using off-the-shelf tools, automations, and custom prompts.
Traditionally, consulting was built on knowledge as a moat: frameworks locked inside big firms, analyst decks, and expensive reports. Today, that moat is gone. Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Claude have digested decades of management thinking, case studies, and best practices, and they are available to anyone with an internet connection.
This has shifted the value of AI consulting from:
“I know more than you”
to“I can implement faster, safer, and more effectively than you can internally.”
2026 is a consulting gold rush because three trends converge:
Demand: AI spending in Europe is growing at close to 30% CAGR and is expected to surpass $70 billion in annual spending by 2026.(MAXIMIZE MARKET RESEARCH)
Access: SMEs can finally afford powerful AI and automation tools without building data-science teams.
Talent model shift: companies are deliberately choosing specialized freelancers and boutique agencies instead of long-term hires for AI and automation work. (HR Executive)
If you can combine AI literacy, business understanding, and implementation skills, you are no longer competing for a job — you are competing for high-margin outcomes.
How Have Legacy Consulting Firms Lost Their Competitive Edge?
For decades, the traditional consulting model (think McKinsey, BCG, Big Four) relied on:
Tacit knowledge and proprietary frameworks
Armies of analysts doing interviews, research, and slide-building
Long projects optimized to extend billable hours, not to deliver surgical value
That model is under pressure on two fronts:
AI has automated much of the “analyst work.” Even top firms are acknowledging that generative AI is changing their pyramid model; they’re freezing graduate salaries and hiring fewer juniors because AI can now generate research, slides, and analyses that used to require whole teams.
Their own AI misuse has damaged credibility. Deloitte has already had to partially refund governments after delivering AI-assisted reports riddled with fabricated citations and “hallucinated” references, sparking public debate about quality and accountability in big consulting.
Clients are asking harder questions:
“Why am I paying six figures for a deck I could partly generate with AI in a weekend?”
“Why does implementation always cost extra and take another year?”
This is where lean AI consulting solopreneurs and micro-agencies have a structural advantage.
What Are the 3 Core Pillars of Successful AI Consulting?
Pillar 1: Understand the New AI Consulting Landscape
The old playbook was:
Interviews → analysis → strategy deck → optional implementation.
The new playbook is:
Rapid discovery → AI-assisted problem mapping → prototype workflows → live implementation & iteration.
Knowledge is no longer scarce. LLMs compress decades of case studies, frameworks, and bench-learning into chat windows. Your job is not to hoard knowledge, but to:
Ask better questions
Design better workflows
Use AI tools safely and responsibly
In 2026, implementation is value. Advisory without action will be increasingly commoditized.
Pillar 2: Leverage the Solopreneur’s Unfair Advantage
As an independent consultant or small AI consultancy, you have advantages big firms can’t copy easily:
Speed and agility: you can move from discovery call to working prototype in days, not months.
Lower overhead: no analyst pyramid, no partner layers, no 40-slide justification for every step.
Deep specialization: you can become the AI consultant for one niche (e.g., Dutch logistics SMEs, B2B SaaS onboarding, dental clinics, Shopify stores).
European SME initiatives like “Apply AI: SMEs at the forefront of Europe’s AI sovereignty” explicitly position smaller companies as key to Europe’s AI future, not just passive adopters. (Digital Innovation Zone) Those SMEs will prefer specialized partners who know their reality over generic transformation decks.
Pillar 3: Find and Leverage Opportunity
Successful AI consultants build reusable assets:
Industry-specific discovery questionnaires
Template automation workflows (Make, n8n, Zapier)
Standardized prompt libraries and SOPs
Workshop and training decks you can adapt per client
The magic is not in knowing every tool. It’s in having “been there, done that” for a very similar business:
“We’ve implemented this workflow for four other B2B services firms like yours.”
“We already have a Make scenario template for this CRM + billing stack.”
This is how you compete against large firms: smaller scope, faster cycles, deeper relevance.
Which AI Consulting Services Should a Small AI Consultancy Agency Offer?
As a solo consultant or small agency, you don’t need 20 services. You need a sharp, profitable stack that aligns with AI consulting trends and SME pain points.
Here are five high-value service lines:
AI Strategy & Roadmap Development
Translate business goals into a 12–18 month AI roadmap.
Identify where AI makes sense after fixing basic data and process issues.
This is where “artificial intelligence advisory” meets digital transformation roadmap. (First AI Movers)
Hands-on sessions for teams on ChatGPT, Claude, and AI safety.
Niche workshops: “AI for HR”, “AI for Controllers”, “AI for Customer Support”.
This builds internal capability and creates ongoing retainer opportunities.
Prompt Engineering Consulting
Designing high-leverage prompts and prompt systems for research, SOP generation, support, and content.
Training teams in prompt patterns so they can self-serve.
This is one of the highest margin services because the output can be reused across the business.
Workflow & Automation Implementation (Make, n8n, Zapier)
Build automations around CRM, invoicing, support, and reporting.
Use tools like Make to connect SaaS tools into end-to-end workflows that small businesses simply can’t build themselves.(Make)
AI Tool Advisory & Integration
Help clients choose between vendors (chatbots, analytics, RAG systems, support tools).
Design architecture that fits their size, compliance, and budget.
All these services available at First AI Movers map directly to what SMEs actually buy: clear strategy, visible time savings, skills for their people, and automations that reduce operational pain.
Where Do You Find Your First High-Value AI Consulting Clients?
Your client acquisition intent is clear: “I need strategies for finding and signing my first AI consulting clients in a specific industry.” Here’s a targeted approach.
1. Pick an Industry Where AI Pain Is Visible
In Europe (and especially in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany), good candidates include:
Business services (agencies, accounting, consulting boutiques)
E-commerce and retail
Healthcare, dental, and clinics
Manufacturing and logistics SMEs
These sectors are under pressure to do more with less and are already experimenting with AI and automation.
2. Build a Narrow “Offer Stack” for That Industry
Example: “AI Automation for Dutch B2B Service Firms”
Offer 1: 90-minute AI Audit + Opportunity Map
Offer 2: 30-day “From Manual to Automated” project (1–2 core workflows)
Offer 3: Quarterly AI Retainer (monitoring, iteration, training)
Your marketing becomes very simple:
“We help Dutch [industry] SMEs reduce [specific pain] with AI workflows and training — without hiring a technical team.”
3. Use Content and Direct Outreach Together
Publish 1–2 highly specific case-style posts per week on LinkedIn for that niche (even hypothetical but realistic).
Share mini break-downs: “How an [industry] SME could automate [X] in 2 weeks using Make + ChatGPT.”
Use personalized outreach:
Short Loom video
1–2 concrete ideas tailored to their tech stack
A clear, low-risk first step (audit or workshop)
This is where your “been there, done that” templates shorten the distance from cold prospect to paying client.
Which Tools Should You Master as an AI Consultant in 2026?
Your tool mastery intent: “I want to master the essential AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Make, n8n) required for effective consulting.”
You don’t need 100 tools. But you do need to be world-class with a small, interoperable stack:
ChatGPT (and other OpenAI tools)
Deep research, structured analysis, prompt systems, code scaffolding.
Great for client-facing demos and internal “thinking partner” work.
Claude
Excellent for long-form reasoning, document digestion, and generating assets like decks, SOPs, and multi-file projects.
Very strong for building internal knowledge tools for clients.
Make (or n8n) for no-code workflows
Orchestrate CRM, email, invoicing, support, and data pipelines.
Connect AI endpoints to business systems so AI outputs actually drive actions.
n8n for more technical / self-hosted automations
When clients need more control, privacy, or on-premise options.
Great for embedding AI agents into existing infrastructure.
Plus a few specialty tools per niche
E-commerce: Shopify apps, Klaviyo, review platforms
Healthcare: compliant CRM / EHR systems (with strict data boundaries)
B2B services: Pipedrive, HubSpot, Notion, Airtable
The goal is not to show off tools. It’s to reliably turn business requirements → working workflows in a way the client can understand and maintain.
Why SMEs and SMBs in the Netherlands Will Turn to Freelancers and Small Consultancy Agencies
Dutch SMEs will be under heavy pressure in 2026:
AI is becoming necessary to stay competitive, not optional.
Budgets are tight, and boards want proof that AI investments actually work.
Hiring full-time AI teams is expensive, slow, and risky.
At the same time, multiple reports show:
Firms across Europe are shifting to flexible, project-based talent for digital and AI work.
Dutch companies increasingly rely on specialized freelancers (ZZP’ers) who bring niche expertise and can plug in quickly.
Companies will be tight on cost and under pressure to deliver. Recruitment will still be critical — but not just to hire employees. It will be about finding agencies and freelancers who understand operations fast and deliver outcomes even faster.
For Dutch SMEs, the rational strategy will be:
Keep core teams lean.
Use AI consultants and micro-agencies for strategy, implementation, and upskilling.
Scale up or down as needed, without long-term headcount commitments.
If you position yourself correctly, you are not a “nice to have.” You become part of how they survive and grow.
Action Plan: How to Enter the AI Consulting Gold Rush in 2026
Choose one industry and one country/region to start with.
Map 5–10 high-value workflows you can improve with AI + automation.
Build reusable templates: prompts, Make/n8n scenarios, workshop outlines.
Design a three-tier offer ladder (audit → implementation project → retainer).
Publish niche content weekly, showing exactly how you solve these problems.
Run structured outreach to decision-makers with specific, tailored ideas.
Iterate your templates with every client until your delivery becomes repeatable and fast.
2026 will not reward the person who knows the most about AI models in theory. It will reward the consultant who can:
Understand a business in days
Design a sensible AI roadmap
Implement working workflows with tools like Make and n8n
Train teams so they can sustain the change
That’s the opportunity. And it is wide open.
Dr. Hernani Costa
Founder & CEO of First AI Movers
Open Tabs
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