Buying guide · Global
12 Questions to Ask Before Hiring an AI Development Company
Quick answer
What should you ask before hiring an AI development company?
Ask four sets of questions: fit (have they connected AI to an ERP like yours, and who builds it), data and security (where data is processed, whether it trains models, what AI may change without approval), delivery (a working demo on your data within weeks) and commercial terms (fixed price, and you own the code).
AI agencies all promise agents, automation and transformation. Client logos and award badges tell you who they have worked for, but not whether they can make AI work inside a business like yours. These questions separate the teams who ship from the teams who demo.
Fit and experience
- Have you connected AI to our ERP or a similar one? Ask which system, which interface (API, database, file) and what the AI was allowed to change.
- Who will actually build it? You want to speak with the engineers, not only a sales team.
- Do you work with businesses our size? An enterprise process can bury a $1M business in workshops and documents.
Data and security
- Where will our data be processed and stored? Your cloud account, theirs, which region, and whether it can run on your own servers.
- Is our data used to train models? Get the answer for each AI provider in the solution.
- What can the AI change without a person approving? The safe answer for money, stock and customer data is "nothing".
- How is every AI action logged? You need an audit trail for finance, auditors and regulators.
Delivery
- When will we see it working on our own data? A good answer is within two weeks, not after months of planning.
- How will you measure success? Hours saved, error rate and processing time should be agreed before the build.
- How often will we get updates? Look for a weekly demo and short daily or async updates.
Commercial terms
- Is the price fixed? Fixed scope and price with milestones protects you from open-ended bills.
- Who owns the code, prompts and accounts at the end? It should be you, with full handover and documentation.
Red flags
- No demo on your own data before a large commitment.
- Vague answers on data location and AI provider terms.
- Agents that write to your ERP with no approval step.
- Stats on the website that don't add up, or counters showing zero.
These are the standards we hold ourselves to. See how we handle security and data, try the AI readiness scorecard, or book a discovery call.
Sunil Salvi · Founder, Suvishaz Tech
Sunil leads Suvishaz Tech, a forward-deployed AI engineering company that builds AI agents on top of the ERP systems its clients already run, with human approval on every write. More about Sunil →