AI Strategy Development for UK SMEs
A written, signed-off AI strategy for your SME. Use case ranking, sequencing, ROI projection, governance, vendor recommendations. The output of the Wingenious Readiness Audit.
In short
An AI strategy is not a slide deck. It is a written document scoring your readiness, ranking your use cases, sequencing the work, modelling the ROI and naming the governance you will need. Wingenious produces this as the Readiness Audit deliverable. £2,450 fixed. Five days. 20 pages. Signed by Gary.
If you want a deeper, single-use-case feasibility model alongside the strategy, the Feasibility Study (£3,950, 2 to 3 weeks) is the natural follow-on.
Why most SME AI strategies fail
Three patterns repeat across the SMEs that come to Wingenious holding a previous consultancy’s strategy:
- Generic by design. A strategy that could apply to any SME applies to no SME. The use cases are named but not scoped, the vendors are listed but not chosen, the ROI is gestured at but not modelled. Nothing in the document survives contact with your actual stack.
- Aspirational, not buildable. Strategy decks that read like a TED talk. No timeline. No price. No named first build. Gary calls these “wallpaper strategies”: they decorate the boardroom and nothing else.
- Already out of date. Strategies written before the Claude 3.5 / GPT-4-class capability jump quietly assume AI cannot do what it can now do. The cost models are wrong by 10x. The build estimates are wrong by 3 months. The use cases that mattered in 2023 are not the ones that matter in 2026.
The Wingenious strategy is the opposite shape. Specific to your business. Buildable in named steps. Priced in 2026 cost terms. Read it and you know what to do next week.
What lands in the document
The audit takes five days and delivers a 20-page PDF that you can read in an hour and act on the same week. The structure is fixed so every audit is comparable across SMEs:
- Readiness Index. Your business scored 1 to 100 across five dimensions: Strategy, Data, People, Process, Tools. Each dimension is scored 1 to 20 against documented standards, not vibes. The report explains every point so you can argue with it.
- Five ranked use cases. Each one scored by effort to build, impact on the P&L, and risk to your operations. Sorted so the top-ranked use case is your obvious first build.
- 90-day roadmap. What to do in the first 30 days, the second 30 days, the third 30 days. Specific named workflows, not generic phases.
- Governance framework. Controls, approvals, sign-off authority, audit trail. UK GDPR-aligned, ICO-aligned, with sector overlays where you need them.
- Vendor recommendations. Which models (Anthropic Claude vs OpenAI vs open-source), which workflow approach (Make.com orchestration vs bespoke code via Claude Code), which integration approach (API vs ETL vs middleware) for your specific stack. Reasoned, not generic.
- Investment plan. Cost per use case with a 12-month ROI projection. Funded-route check (Made Smarter, Welsh Government, Help to Grow, R&D Tax Relief) where applicable.
No filler. No padding. No deck.
How the five days run
Productised process, fixed time commitment from your side:
- Day 1 (Monday). Kick-off call with you and any co-founders. 90 minutes. We agree scope, stakeholders to interview, documents to review.
- Days 2 to 3 (Tuesday to Wednesday). Up to five 30-minute interviews with the people who actually run the business: founder, operations, finance, sales, one front-line user. Total team time: around 2 hours.
- Day 4 (Thursday). Scoring and drafting. No time required from you.
- Day 5 (Friday). Readout call with Gary. 90 minutes. Document handed over.
Total of your team’s time: about 4 hours across the week. Total cost: £2,450 fixed. 50% (£1,225) credited against any subsequent Wingenious engagement booked within 60 days.
What happens after the strategy
Three credible paths, you pick:
- Run it yourself. The document is built to be actionable without further Wingenious involvement. Hand it to your in-house team or an existing technology partner.
- Test before committing to the full build. Pick the top-ranked use case and run it through the £1,000 / 7-day Prototype Guarantee. You keep the working prototype whether or not you proceed.
- Move straight to production. Take the top-ranked use case into an Implementation Sprint or Custom Build, priced against the value and scope of what is being built. Some automations land in a few hours of senior time; larger workflows or applications run four to six weeks. Pricing is value-led, not calendar-led.
Wingenious does not lock you into any next step. The audit fee covers the audit, full stop.
Related capabilities
AI readiness assessment · AI use case identification · AI governance models · AI ROI calculation · AI business case
Sectors where strategy work matters most: law firms, accountants, manufacturing.
Questions SME leaders ask.
What is wrong with the AI strategy our existing consultancy gave us?
Usually one of three things. Too generic (could apply to any SME, not yours specifically). Too aspirational (no implementation path, no named tools, no timeline). Too dated (written before the 2024 to 2026 jump in model capability). The Wingenious strategy is grounded in what is genuinely deliverable in 2026, on your stack, with named timelines and published prices for each step.
How is this different from the Readiness Audit?
It is the deliverable. The five-day Readiness Audit produces the written AI strategy document. £2,450 fixed. If you have asked for a strategy, you have asked for the audit. Different label, same engagement.
What is actually in the 20-page document?
Readiness Index across five dimensions (Strategy, Data, People, Process, Tools) scored 1 to 100. Five candidate use cases ranked by effort, impact and risk for your specific business. A 90-day roadmap stating what to do first, second, third. A governance framework covering controls, approvals and audit trail. Vendor recommendations specific to your stack. An investment plan with cost and ROI projection per use case. No padding.
Who needs to be in the room for the interviews?
Five thirty-minute interviews across days 2 and 3. Usually the founder or MD, the operations lead, the head of finance or admin, the head of sales or marketing, and one front-line user of the busiest tool. Two hours of your team total. Done remotely or on-site depending on where you are.
What happens after the strategy is delivered?
Three credible paths. Hand it to your in-house team and run it yourself (the document is built to be actionable without further Wingenious involvement). Test one use case on the £1,000 / 7-day Prototype Guarantee. Take the highest-ROI use case into an Implementation Sprint or Custom Build, priced against the value of the build and the scope it needs (some automations land in hours, larger ones run four to six weeks). 50% of the £2,450 audit fee (£1,225) is credited against any Wingenious engagement booked within 60 days.
Does the strategy account for UK regulation and data residency?
Yes. Every audit deliverable includes a data-flow diagram showing where every byte of customer or company data goes during each proposed build, plus a controls list covering UK GDPR, ICO obligations, and any sector-specific overlay (SRA for law, FCA for finance, CITB / CDM for construction, ICAEW / ACCA for accountancy). On-prem or UK-region cloud options are flagged where compliance demands it.
Other ways this comes up.
AI Governance Models for UK SMEs
Practical AI governance for UK SMEs: controls, audit trails, compliance with UK GDPR, ICO guidance, Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
AI Readiness Assessment for UK SMEs
A scored assessment of how AI-ready your SME really is. Five dimensions, 1–100 index, honest scoring. The first step of the Wingenious Readiness Audit.
AI Use Case Identification for UK SMEs
Find the right AI use cases for your SME. Five candidates ranked by effort, impact and risk. Output of the Wingenious Readiness Audit, or a standalone half-day workshop from £1,500.
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