Honest comparison
Alian AI vs Big 4 / Tier-1 consultancy
Different products. Strategy decks vs working code. Pick the one that actually ships.
A Big 4 AI engagement is a strategy product — slides, frameworks, governance, change management. A build agency is a code product. Some companies need both. Many that hired Big 4 wish they'd hired a build agency instead.
| Dimension | Alian AI | Big 4 / Tier-1 AI consultancy |
|---|---|---|
| Primary output | Working code, prompts, deployed agents | Slide deck, governance framework, roadmap |
| Time to first working AI | 4–8 weeks | Often after the engagement ends · separate vendor |
| Cost for v1 production AI | $60–$150K | $500K–$2M (strategy only, build separate) |
| Team you actually work with | Same engineers who write the code | Partner + manager + analysts (rotates) |
| Governance / risk framework | We provide pragmatic templates | Heavyweight, board-ready, comprehensive |
| Change management | We help — but not our core | Yes, this is what they do |
Pick big 4 consultancy when
- Board needs a comprehensive AI governance framework
- Org needs heavy change management across 10K+ employees
- Procurement requires a Big 4 stamp for political reasons
- You have $1M+ to spend on strategy before any code
Pick Alian AI when
- You want production AI shipping in 90 days
- You'd rather pay for a working build than a 90-page deck
- You're SMB to mid-market — Big 4 economics don't apply
- Your strategy phase needs to end with deployable artifacts, not just documents
Our honest take
Some of our best engagements come after a Big 4 strategy phase — they did the org-wide framework, we shipped the first production agent. That's a legitimate sequence. The mistake is hiring Big 4 to build the agent itself.
Talk it through with a human.
20 min. We'll tell you which of these is actually the right answer for your situation — even if it's not us.
