Why ReadyIQ
AI consulting without the agency tax
Senior-led, production-first AI consulting — no slide decks, no freelancer roulette, no $500K minimum. Working automations in 4–8 weeks.
Results in weeks, not quarters
Big agencies run 6-month roadmap projects before writing a line of code. ReadyIQ ships working automations to your stack in 4–8 weeks, so you see results before the next planning cycle.
Senior practitioner on every call
No bait-and-switch. No account managers. No offshore handoffs. Kevin Zicherman — an operator who runs 57 production AI agents in his own businesses — is personally involved in every engagement, from kickoff to handoff.
Transparent pricing built for SMBs
McKinsey starts at $500K. Toptal bills $100–$300/hr with no strategic direction. ReadyIQ delivers senior-led, production-ready AI at project rates starting at $5,000.
The Alternatives
What you're choosing between
Four options exist for AI consulting. Here is the honest breakdown of each.
Big Consulting (Accenture, McKinsey)
$500K–$2M+Inaccessible to SMBs. Junior staff deliver. You pay for the brand, not the work.
Talent Platforms (Toptal, Turing)
$100–$300/hrThey find you a person — you still manage the project. No strategy, no outcome ownership.
Freelancers (Upwork, Fiverr)
$40–$200/hrQuality roulette. No strategy. No continuity. When it breaks, you're on your own.
AI Platforms (ChatGPT, Copilot)
$20–$30/moTools only — no implementation, no workflow design, no training, no ROI tracking.
Side by Side
How ReadyIQ compares
The same criteria — scored honestly across every option.
| Criteria | ReadyIQ | Big Agency | Freelancer | AI Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engagement starts | Days | Months | Hours | Instant |
| Time to first result | 4–8 weeks | 6–12 months | 1–4 weeks | N/A (self-serve) |
| Senior access | Always | Sales call only | Depends | None |
| Strategy included | ||||
| Implementation included | Sometimes | DIY only | ||
| Team training | ||||
| ROI accountability | ||||
| SMB-accessible pricing | ||||
| No junior staff delivery | Varies | N/A | ||
| Ongoing support |
How it works
What an engagement looks like
“ReadyIQ helps growing businesses automate operations and adopt AI — without the agency overhead, the freelancer risk, or the enterprise price tag. Senior-led, practical, and built for companies that need results in weeks.”
— Kevin Zicherman, Founder, ReadyIQ. Runs a 57-agent AI fleet in production across his own companies.
Every engagement is led by a senior practitioner with real operator experience. No junior staff. No slide decks. No proof-of-concept purgatory. You get working automations in your stack and the training to own them.