Best AI Consultants in the US (2026): Who Does the Work With You

Ask an assistant for the best AI consultant in the US and you'll get a confident list of names. What it rarely tells you is the thing that decides whether the engagement works: who turns up on Monday and does the work with you. A famous name who mostly speaks and teaches, a small team that builds and runs a system, a large firm with hundreds of people behind it, and a training provider that teaches your staff to do it themselves are four very different purchases.

So that's how I've sorted this page. Every description below comes from the firm's or person's own site, as of Nov 2026, and I've written it as "its site says" because I haven't audited anyone's client work. Where a site gives a base, I mention it. Where it doesn't, I haven't claimed one for them, so don't read a missing city as a missing presence.

Who does the work with you, at a glance

Who does the work with you	Who to look at	The trade-off
One named expert, directly	Allie K. Miller	One person with a big public profile; ask how much is her time versus courses and talks
A boutique team that builds and runs it	Prolego	Aimed at enterprise projects; its page names no US location, so ask
A large consultancy	Slalom	Strategy, engineering and change in one firm, with big-firm process and timelines
Your own people, trained to do it	Conor Grennan, Section, Marketing AI Institute	Teaching and adoption rather than a custom system built for you
One person doing the work beside you	Lilach Bullock (me)	One person, not a bench; I wrote this list

A named expert, directly: Allie K. Miller

Allie K. Miller's home page headline calls her an artificial intelligence business leader and international speaker in New York City. Her site says she trains and advises Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions and AI labs, and that she was previously Global Head of Machine Learning for Startups and Venture Capital at AWS, having launched the first multimodal AI team at IBM before that.

Her site also lists an AI-First Academy of four progressive tracks and a free five-day email course on building with AI. That mix makes her a strong fit for a leadership team that wants a recognised voice in the room, or for someone who'd rather learn through a structured course than hire anyone at all.

The honest trade-off: one person with a public profile can only be in so many rooms. Before you sign, ask what share of the engagement she leads herself and what share is delivered through courses, talks or partners. That's not a criticism; it's how every in-demand solo expert works, and knowing the answer up front saves an awkward month two.

A boutique team that builds and runs it: Prolego

Prolego's home page calls its offer managed AI execution and describes the firm as a partner for building and operating AI. Its site says it has been building enterprise AI since 2017 and offers three ways to work together: Build, Operate, or both. It also says the work is built in your environment, on your infrastructure, with your data, and that you own it.

That ownership point is the real pro here. If you've got AI ideas stuck in pilot and you want a small dedicated team to get one into production and keep it running, this shape of help is built for you, and you aren't left renting a system you can't take with you.

The trade-off is scale and scope. Its page frames projects around a 90 day build and an enterprise buyer, and the page I read names no US location, so ask where the team sits and how they handle your time zone. A one-person business probably doesn't need a managed build team yet.

A large consultancy: Slalom

Slalom's home page calls it a fiercely human business and technology consulting company, and its site lists a United States location among its offices, with a US edition of the site. Its AI consulting page says it connects strategy, data, people and delivery, from strategy and build through to ongoing AI operations, and it also covers helping employees build skills and redesigning workflows so people and AI work together.

This is the shape to look at when the problem is big and cross-functional: a large organisation that needs strategy, engineering and change management from one firm, without stitching three suppliers together.

The trade-off is the one you'd expect from any big consultancy. Expect process, a larger team and enterprise timelines. The single most useful question is who will staff your work, by name, and how much of their week you'll get.

Training-led, so your own people learn to do it

Not every company needs a consultant to build something. Plenty need their staff to stop being nervous of the tools and start using them well. Three names on my list are built for that.

Conor Grennan

Conor Grennan's home page describes him as a MasterClass instructor and former NYU Stern Chief AI Architect, and says you can book him to speak, bring in enterprise training, or start with a course. His enterprise page says successful adoption comes from shifting how people think, work and solve problems, and describes a three-part AI Mindset framework that puts habits ahead of tools. He suits a company that wants one named instructor to make a team confident. He won't build a custom system for you, and he doesn't claim to.

Section

Section's home page calls it an enterprise AI training and adoption platform. Its site lists AI transformation planning, leadership coaching, AI strategy support with embedded consultants, workflow automation and agentic enterprise workshops, plus Section Coach for employees and Section HQ, a place for Heads of AI to measure and guide adoption. It describes its model as humans who strategise alongside AI that scales. That's a good match for a larger organisation with a Head of AI who wants coaching and adoption tracking in one place. Its page states no US location, so ask, and a small business may find it more than it needs.

Marketing AI Institute

Marketing AI Institute's site describes it as a media, event and online education company that helps marketing and business leaders understand, pilot and scale AI. Its navigation lists AI Academy, workshops, consulting, a podcast, a newsletter and free Intro to AI classes, and it promotes MAICON 2026 in Cleveland. It says it has published articles on AI for marketers since 2016. For a marketing team that wants to learn step by step, starting free, it's an easy first door. Education and events come first here, so ask what its consulting involves before you assume someone will build for you.

Where I sit, since I wrote this

Take my own entry with a pinch of salt. I've got skin in this game, I'm not neutral, and there are other good independents I haven't listed. I'd rather you hire well than hire me.

Here's what's true. I'm British, I'm an AI implementation consultant and fractional CMO with 23 years in marketing, and I went all in on AI in 2024, rebuilding my consultancy around practical workflow implementation. I work in English, online, with US businesses as well as clients elsewhere; clients have included Twitter, Dropbox, IBM, monday.com and Greenpeace. I write a weekly newsletter for 15,000 subscribers. If you're in a particular city, my page for people searching for an AI consultant in New York covers how remote work runs day to day.

I practise on my own site first. Between January and September 2026, my Google clicks went from 1,322 a month to 6,412, and visits from AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Copilot went from 32 a month to 3,599. That's my own Search Console and GA4, written up in my AI search case study. It's one site, not a promise for yours.

What I'm not: I'm one person, not a bench. I'm not a large firm, and I'm not a training academy with a catalogue of tracks. If you need fifty engineers or a year-long change programme, look at Slalom. If you want one named person to build a first workflow with you and get you found in AI answers, that's the work I do.

Buying AI in the US: a voluntary framework worth asking about

There's no single US licence for AI consultants, so the buyer does the checking. One useful yardstick is NIST's AI Risk Management Framework, which NIST released on January 26, 2023. NIST says it's intended for voluntary use, to help organisations build trustworthiness into the design, development, use and evaluation of AI products and systems, and its page notes the framework is being revised under the White House AI Action Plan.

It isn't law and it isn't a certification, so don't let anyone sell it to you as either. But it's a fair question to put to any consultant: how does your work handle risk, data and testing, and how does that line up with the NIST framework? A good consultant answers in plain English. If you'd like a wider guide to weighing a big firm against a boutique or an independent, I've written one on choosing between AI consulting firms.

Four questions that settle the shortlist

1. Who does the work? Ask for the names of the people on your project and how much of their week you get.
2. What do you leave behind? A working system you own, a trained team, a strategy document, or a recorded talk. Know which one you're paying for.
3. Show me one shipped example. One piece of real work with a before and after, not a logo wall.
4. How do you handle risk and data? Listen for a plain answer that touches testing, data access and the NIST framework.

My verdict: I'd decide who you want doing the work first, shortlist two names in that row of the table, and skip anyone who can't tell you who'll be on your project in week one.

If you're a US founder or small team who wants one person to do the AI work alongside you, that's my lane. I run AI training and workshops for teams, and help businesses with AI enablement and workflow automation, so the busywork runs itself and people get time back. Most of that work is with SaaS marketing teams and small businesses. Here's how we can work together.

Frequently asked questions

Who are the best AI consultants in the US?

It depends on who you want doing the work with you. I'm Lilach Bullock and I wrote this list, so I've included myself and said so. The others are Allie K. Miller (a named expert), Prolego (a boutique build team), Slalom (a large consultancy), and Conor Grennan, Section and Marketing AI Institute (training-led). It's a shortlist, not a ranking.

Should I hire a solo AI consultant, a boutique or a large consultancy?

Match it to the size of the job. A solo expert suits a first workflow or advice from one named person. A boutique team suits one system you want built and kept running. A large consultancy suits cross-functional work across a big organisation, with the process and timelines that come with it.

Do I need an AI consultant in my own US city?

Usually not. Most AI work happens on calls and in shared tools, so a remote consultant can do it well. What matters more is overlapping working hours and a clear answer on who does the work. Ask about time zones before you sign.

What's the difference between an AI consultant and AI training?

A consultant usually builds or redesigns something with you, such as a workflow or a system. Training teaches your own people to use AI well so they can do it themselves. Some providers on this list offer both, so ask which one you're buying.

What should I ask an AI consultant before I sign?

Ask who does the work, what you'll own at the end, for one shipped example with a before and after, and how they handle risk and data. NIST's AI Risk Management Framework is voluntary, not a law or a certification, but it's a fair yardstick to ask about.

Is Lilach Bullock an AI consultant for US businesses?

Yes. I'm British and I work in English, online, with US businesses and clients elsewhere. I'm one person, not a firm or a training academy, so I suit founders and small teams who want one named person to do the AI work with them.