Comparisons · 4 min
MLOps consulting services: what you are actually buying
What MLOps consulting services deliver, how the five provider categories fail, what senior MLOps engineers cost per day in Europe, and when not to buy any of it.
Blog
What engineering capacity actually costs, and how to buy it
Short pieces on day rates, salary benchmarks and sourcing models, written for the person who has to sign the contract. We publish twice a week and include the parts that don't favour us.
Rates & salaries · · 4 min read
What an IT consultant hourly rate actually pays for
Where an IT consultant hourly rate goes: bench time, bid cost, management layers and risk cover, with directional € rates by supplier category in Europe.
Comparisons · 3 min
AI software development companies: how to tell them apart before you sign
Five categories of AI software development company, what a senior engineer costs per day in each, how they fail, and four checks to run before signing.
Comparisons · 4 min
Nearshore staff augmentation: what you buy and what it costs
Nearshore staff augmentation explained: contract terms, day rate ranges, time zone overlap maths, EU compliance and when the model is the wrong buy.
Comparisons · 4 min
Time and materials vs fixed price for AI and data work
Fixed price loads 20% to 40% onto AI and data work to cover estimation risk. When that premium is worth paying, and when capped time and materials wins instead.
Comparisons · 4 min
AI Agent Companies: Five Categories, and Which One You Need
The five kinds of AI agent companies, what each actually sells, where each one breaks, and why most agent projects stall on data engineering rather than agents.
Comparisons · 4 min
Managed services vs staff augmentation: who carries the estimation risk
Managed services transfer delivery risk at a 20-40% price premium. Staff augmentation keeps control and speed. Which fits AI and data work, and when each fails.
Comparisons · 3 min
Four ways to buy AI engineering capacity, compared
The four sourcing models for AI engineering compared on cost, speed, accountability and exit risk, including the cases where staff augmentation is the wrong answer.
Rates & salaries · 4 min
What a senior AI engineer costs per day in Europe
Day rate bands for senior AI, ML and data engineers across the UK, Germany, Poland and Romania, what drives the spread, and how to read a quote you have been given.
Rates & salaries · 3 min
Salary versus day rate: the comparison most buyers get wrong
Why dividing an engineer's salary by working days understates the true cost by 30 to 50 percent, and the full calculation to run before comparing hiring against contracting.
Hiring · 3 min
How to evaluate an AI engineering vendor in one call
The questions that separate vendors who ship production AI systems from vendors who demo them, plus the answers that should end a conversation early.
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