- Typical Australian prices are $500 to $4,000 + GST for a 1:1 AI strategy session, from $5,000 + GST for AI training for a team and from $3,000 + GST for a custom AI agent.
- Price depends on attendees, hours, format, customisation, technical complexity and the experience of the person delivering it.
- Work out value by multiplying the hours a task takes each month by the hourly cost of the people doing it, then compare that with the price.
What will you pay for an AI consultant in Australia?
Most Australian AI consultants price by format rather than by the hour: a 1:1 AI strategy session costs $500 to $4,000 + GST, and AI training for a team starts from $5,000 + GST.
The table below shows typical market prices in Australia right now. These are market prices, not Reclaim Creative's prices, based on what we see quoted across the industry.
| Format | Typical market price in Australia |
|---|---|
| In-person AI workshops over two days | $1,500 to $3,000 per person |
| AI training for a team | From $5,000 + GST, depending on attendees, hours and format |
| Custom AI agent | From $3,000 + GST |
| 1:1 AI strategy session | $500 to $4,000 + GST depending on length, around $2,000 on average |
Two things trip people up. First, in-person AI workshops over two days are ticketed events, so they are priced per person. AI training for a team is a service quoted for your business, so it carries GST and changes with attendees, hours and format. Comparing the two line by line rarely works.
Second, the cheapest format on paper is not always the cheapest outcome. A 1:1 AI strategy session at $500 + GST that leaves you with a list of tools and no working process can cost more in the long run than a session that fixes one real workflow.
If you are weighing up hiring an AI specialist instead, that comparison needs super, recruitment and onboarding added on top of salary, so we cover it in a separate article on AI consultancy versus hiring in-house.
What drives the cost of an AI consultant?
Six things set the price: attendees, hours, format, customisation, technical complexity and the experience of the person delivering it.
Attendees, hours and format. A 60-minute advisory session and a two-day in-person training for 20 people are different jobs. More people means more preparation, more hands-on support and more follow-up. In-person delivery costs more than online, and in our experience it gets better adoption because people build with the trainer in the room.
Customisation. Generic training uses generic examples. Training built around your real client briefs, reports and approvals takes discovery time before anyone walks into the room. That is where most of the value sits, and most of the price.
Technical complexity. A custom AI agent that drafts proposals from one template is simpler than one that pulls from your CRM, project tool and past reports. More integrations mean more build and testing time.
Experience. This is the factor most buyers underrate. Experience costs more across the AI market: AI Jobs Australia, Your Guide to AI Specialist Salary in Australia (2026) shows base salaries for AI specialists rising with years of experience. With a consultancy, you pay for judgement as well as hours. Reclaim's prices reflect Dani's 6+ years of in-house and agency marketing experience, from brand management to running a portfolio of shopping centres while running her own boutique marketing agency. She understands the craft she is helping you automate, so she knows what to automate and what must stay human. Reclaim is for creatives and founders who do not want AI slop and do not want to be oversold AI agents.
Ongoing costs. Ask every consultant what you pay after the build. Reclaim's Custom AI Agents carry one upfront project fee and no recurring fees from us. You own the agent, hold your own API keys and pay the AI providers directly, typically $100 to $200 a month. Some AI agencies charge around $800 a month to "power" an agent. We would rather act in your best interest.
Can you do AI yourself instead of hiring a consultant?
Yes, you can, but you pay with time, and time is money in any business.
ChatGPT and Claude subscriptions are cheap, and Zapier and Make can connect the tools you already use. Plenty of agencies start this way. For one person automating their own admin, DIY often works well.
Where it stalls is the fundamentals. Most people skip them. They do not give AI the right context about the brand, the client or the task, and they do not prompt it correctly. The output comes back inconsistent and full of AI slop, someone rewrites it, and the team decides AI does not work for them. Harvard Business Review calls this AI-generated "workslop" and reports that it is destroying productivity (2025). Experiments stay fragmented: one strategist has a great prompt in a personal account, the account managers have nothing, and nobody knows what is working.
That is a team problem, and professional training fixes it. At Reclaim, we teach the fundamentals first, then build workflows around your real processes using our method: identify, upskill, integrate. Everything your team builds or learns is yours, with no lock-in. See the formats on our services page.
Is an AI consultant worth the cost?
It is worth it when the resource time you get back is greater than the price, and you can check that with a simple formula.
The formula: take the hours a month spent on a task, multiply by the hourly cost of the people doing it, then multiply by 12 for the year.
A worked example: John's agency has 3 people spending 60 hours a month on end-of-month reports, at $70 an hour. That is $4,200 a month, or $50,400 a year in resource time, on one task. If training and a reporting workflow halved that time, John would get back an estimated $25,200 a year in resource time, well above typical market prices for AI training for a team, which start from $5,000 + GST.
Then look at what competitors gain. Agencies that automate reporting, briefs and proposals take on more clients with the same people and deliver faster. That capacity is the real gap, not the tools. The goal is making your people better at their jobs, never replacing them.
Here's what it looks like for some Reclaim Creative clients
After a full-day AI workshop, a marketing agency's leadership team identified an estimated $600,000 a year in resource time, and $950,400 a year projected across the agency. In one workshop, a 42 hour a month task was automated in 20 minutes. After a team workshop, another agency got 200 hours a month back immediately, an estimated $50,000 a month in resource time. A proposal automation built in a founder session addressed an estimated $100,000 a year in resource time. In each case, Reclaim Creative helped create AI workflows that solved those problems.
Cost matters on the other side too. One founder was paying $900 a month to another AI agency for what was essentially a ChatGPT wrapper. In a 3-hour founder session, Daniela Valencia of Reclaim Creative built a Claude workflow that solved the same problem for about $30 a month.
What does Reclaim Creative charge for AI consulting?
Reclaim Creative's prices sit at the experienced end of the market, and every one is listed on our services page.
- AI Team Workshops: hands-on, in-person training (1 to 2 days) built around your team's real processes, starts from $7,000 + GST.
- 1:1 AI strategy session: 90 minutes with Daniela Valencia covering audit, plan and strategy, $2,800 + GST.
- 1:1 AI Advisory: a 60-minute session on tools, current AI opportunities and a practical next step, $550 + GST.
- Custom AI Agents: a valuable process mapped and built into an AI agent around your business context, from $3,000 + GST.
- Fractional AI Specialist: ongoing AI support across the business without another full-time hire, from $6,000 + GST per month, with a two-month minimum.
For most agencies, we recommend starting with training. Custom builds work better once the team knows where AI fits. Every engagement starts with a complimentary Intro Call, so you can talk through what you need before you spend anything.
What can you do this week before hiring an AI consultant?
Run a short self-audit, so you know where the time goes before you spend anything.
- List the five tasks your team repeats every week or month, such as reports, briefs, proposals and social captions.
- Estimate the hours each one takes and run the formula above on the biggest.
- Check who already uses ChatGPT or Claude, and for what. Scattered use shows you where training is needed.
- Work through our free AI-ready agency checklist to see where your agency stands.
That audit tells you whether you need a quick next step, a plan or training for the team. If you want help, see our services and get in touch.
How Reclaim Creative helps
For most agencies and marketing teams, we recommend starting with AI Team Workshops: hands-on, in-person training (1 to 2 days) built around your real processes, starting from $7,000 + GST. Your team leaves with AI workflows they use, not a list of tools. Once the team knows where AI fits, Custom AI Agents start from $3,000 + GST as a one-off project fee, and you own what we build. Book a complimentary Intro Call through our services page to talk it through.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an AI consultant cost in Australia?
A 1:1 AI strategy session costs $500 to $4,000 + GST. AI training for a team starts from $5,000 + GST, a custom AI agent from $3,000 + GST.
How much does a 1:1 AI strategy session cost in Australia?
A 1:1 AI strategy session in Australia typically costs $500 to $4,000 + GST depending on length, around $2,000 on average. Reclaim Creative's 90-minute 1:1 AI strategy session with Daniela Valencia is $2,800 + GST and covers audit, plan and strategy.
How much do in-person AI workshops cost in Australia?
In-person AI workshops over two days typically cost $1,500 to $3,000 per person in Australia. They are ticketed events, so the price is per attendee rather than a quote tailored to your business.
How much does AI training for a team cost in Australia?
AI training for a team typically starts from $5,000 + GST in Australia, depending on attendees, hours and format. Reclaim Creative's AI Team Workshops start from $7,000 + GST and are built around the team's real processes.
How much does a custom AI agent cost in Australia?
A custom AI agent typically starts from $3,000 + GST in Australia. You will also pay the AI providers for usage, typically $100 to $200 a month when you hold your own API keys.
Do AI consultants charge ongoing monthly fees?
It depends on the consultant. Some AI agencies charge around $800 a month to power an agent, while Reclaim Creative's Custom AI Agents carry one upfront project fee with no recurring fees from Reclaim. Ongoing support is a separate choice, such as a Fractional AI Specialist from $6,000 + GST per month.
Can I learn AI myself with ChatGPT or Claude instead of paying a consultant?
Yes, and for one person automating their own admin it often works. Teams tend to stall because people skip the fundamentals of giving AI the right context and prompting it correctly, which produces inconsistent output and AI slop. Professional training fixes that across the team.
How do I know if an AI consultant is worth the cost?
Multiply the hours a task takes each month by the hourly cost of the people doing it, then multiply by 12. For example, 60 hours a month on reports at $70 an hour is $50,400 a year in resource time, so fixing that one task can outweigh the price of training.
Daniela Valencia is the founder of Reclaim Creative, a female-founded AI consultancy built by a marketer with 6+ years of in-house and agency experience. She now helps agencies and founders build AI workflows their teams understand and own. LinkedIn · Instagram