What is an AI Opportunity Audit — and what does one cost?

You know AI could probably help somewhere in your business. The difficult part is working out where.

Should you automate the inbox? Build something around your company documents? Add AI to the system your team already uses? Buy an off-the-shelf tool? Or leave the process alone because the promised saving will never justify the disruption?

An AI Opportunity Audit answers those questions before you spend money building anything. It is a short, structured review of how your business actually works, followed by a prioritised plan: where AI is likely to earn its keep, what to avoid, and which opportunity is worth testing first.

At Simon Studios, the audit costs a fixed £950. This guide explains what that buys, who it is for, and what should come out of it.

What is an AI Opportunity Audit?

It is not a general presentation about what AI can do. It starts with your real work: the repeated jobs, bottlenecks, handovers, documents, systems and information your team deals with every week.

The aim is to find the overlap between three things:

  1. a problem that genuinely costs time, money or attention;
  2. information and a process clear enough for AI or automation to help;
  3. a first version small enough to test without betting the business on it.

That last point matters. A useful audit should narrow the field, not produce a wish list of twenty exciting ideas. The output needs to tell you what to do first — and what is not worth doing yet.

What happens during the audit?

1. A 60–90 minute discovery session

We talk through how the business works in practice. Where does work arrive? Who handles it? Which decisions repeat? Where do people copy information between systems, search for the same answer or chase the same missing detail?

You do not need an AI strategy or technical brief. Examples from an ordinary week are more useful: the awkward enquiry, the spreadsheet everyone depends on, the procedure only one person remembers, the report that takes half a day to assemble.

The conversation also covers the information already available. An idea built around reliable, current data is very different from one that depends on knowledge nobody has written down.

2. The opportunities are filtered, not just collected

Each candidate is tested against practical questions:

  • How often does the job happen?
  • How much time or delay does it create?
  • Is the input consistent enough to work with?
  • What happens when the AI is unsure or wrong?
  • Does a person need to approve the result?
  • Would a simpler process change solve the problem more cheaply?

Sometimes the right answer is a custom AI agent. Sometimes it is ordinary software, a better workflow or an off-the-shelf product. A credible audit leaves those options open.

3. You receive a written AI Opportunity Report

The report sets out three to five prioritised opportunities. For each one, it explains:

  • the business problem;
  • how AI or automation could help, in plain English;
  • the likely effort compared with the impact;
  • the important data, permission or reliability constraints;
  • the recommended first version;
  • how you would tell whether it worked.

It also includes a “not worth it yet” list. That is not filler. Knowing which ideas to park can save more than finding another project to buy.

At Simon Studios the report is delivered as a living web page rather than a PDF that disappears into a downloads folder. You will normally have it within a week of the discovery session, often sooner.

4. A 30-minute readout call

We walk through the report together, challenge the priorities and agree the sensible first move.

You can then build the top opportunity with Simon Studios or take the plan elsewhere. There is no obligation to continue.

How much does an AI Opportunity Audit cost?

Simon Studios charges £950 fixed.

That includes the discovery session, analysis, written report and readout call. The price is agreed before the work starts rather than metered by the hour.

If you go on to build the recommended opportunity with Simon Studios, the full £950 is credited against the build. Business builds currently start from £2,500, with ongoing running and support from £150 per month where needed.

The fixed price matters because the audit should reduce uncertainty. An open-ended consulting bill would introduce a new uncertainty while trying to remove the first one.

Who is it for?

The audit is designed for a small business or startup that can point to real operational friction but does not yet have a clean technical brief.

It is a good fit if:

  • you keep hearing that the business should “use AI” but do not want to buy tools at random;
  • one or two repeated jobs absorb more time than they should;
  • important knowledge is spread across documents, inboxes or experienced staff;
  • you want an independent first step before committing to a build;
  • the first useful project needs to be manageable for a small team, not an enterprise transformation programme.

It is less useful if the brief and solution are already fully defined, or if the main problem is not yet understood well enough to describe. In that case, a short introductory call may be enough to work out the right next step.

What should a good audit prevent?

A good audit should stop at least three expensive mistakes.

Buying a tool before choosing the job

A product demo can be impressive without solving the problem your team actually has. Start with the repeated job, then decide whether a product, workflow or custom build fits it.

Automating a broken or unclear process

If three people follow three different versions of the procedure, adding AI can make the inconsistency faster. The first recommendation may be to simplify the process or establish the source of truth.

Starting with too much scope

“An AI assistant for the whole business” is not a useful first build. “Draft a response to this type of enquiry using these approved service details, for a person to review” is testable. Small scope produces evidence; evidence earns the next step.

What will you know at the end?

You should be able to answer five questions:

  1. Which AI opportunity is worth trying first?
  2. Why is it more valuable than the alternatives?
  3. What information, systems and permissions does it need?
  4. What is the smallest version that can prove the case?
  5. What result would justify continuing?

If the report cannot answer those, it has not done its job.

The simplest next step

If you are curious but not ready to commission an audit, start with a free introductory call. Bring one repeated job that wastes time or regularly goes wrong. We can usually tell quite quickly whether it is a promising audit candidate, a straightforward build, or something AI should stay away from.

You can see the full AI Opportunity Audit, including an example report, or book a free intro call.

I'm Simon — I run Simon Studios, an AI-first development studio in Teddington. I help small businesses find the useful, manageable AI project first, then build and run it — no jargon, no hype.