AI department vs agency
An AI department or an agency: one project, or a system that improves every month
Most agencies deliver one project and move on, and nobody stays accountable for the whole picture. A custom system for the whole company costs USD 40,000 to 250,000 and takes 3 to 12 months to build. Backend&Co stays: one system that improves every month, a 12-month strategy and a team that stays accountable, from AED 12,000 a month plus onboarding.
Side by side
| An agency or a custom build, or Backend&Co | |
|---|---|
| Accountability | Agency: most deliver one project and move on; nobody stays accountable for the whole picture. Backend&Co: one dedicated CTO answers for your results, every month. |
| Cost | Custom system: USD 40,000 to 250,000 for one system for the whole company. Backend&Co: from AED 12,000 a month plus onboarding, priced by company size. |
| Time to first result | Custom system: 3 to 12 months to build. Backend&Co: your Business OS live in month 1, then a new AI capability every month. |
| After delivery | Agency: most deliver one project and move on. Backend&Co: everything monitored, maintained and fixed, your team trained on what we build, and a written report every month. |
| Lock-in | Custom system: you own a build that someone has to maintain. Backend&Co: an initial term of three months, then 30 days’ notice, and a full export of your data within 14 days if you leave. |
The catch with each option
| Option | The catch |
|---|---|
| Hire an AI engineer | One senior AI engineer in Dubai costs AED 40,000 to 60,000 a month in salary alone. It takes months to find one, and one person can’t cover every department. |
| Add another tool | Every new tool adds one more place where your data lives. |
| Hire an agency | Most deliver one project and move on. Nobody stays accountable for the whole picture. |
| Build a custom system | One system for the whole company costs USD 40,000 to 250,000 and 3 to 12 months to build. Usually only large companies can justify that. |
Questions owners ask
- How is this different from hiring an engineer or an agency?
- An engineer is one person without a team or a strategy behind them. An agency delivers a project and moves on. We become your department: one system that improves every month, a 12-month strategy and a team that stays accountable.
- What if we need something custom?
- Tell your CTO. Custom requests go into your plan and get a date in your monthly meeting. Larger ones are split into monthly steps, so something goes live every month.
- What happens if we stop?
- After the initial three months, you can stop with 30 days’ notice. Your data comes with you in a full export, and what we built inside your own tools keeps working, such as WhatsApp flows, your website and funnels. The Business OS runs on our platform and stops when your notice ends.
Read next
- AI department vs AI engineer
A senior AI engineer in Dubai costs AED 40,000 to 60,000 a month in salary alone. An AI department costs from AED 12,000 a month and brings a CTO, an operations expert and a team.
- Pricing
Backend&Co costs from AED 12,000 a month plus onboarding, priced by company size: less than one senior AI engineer. Your exact investment in writing within 48 hours.
- How it works
A 30-minute strategy session, a written proposal within 48 hours, your 12-month AI strategy and Business OS in month 1, then a new AI capability every month.
Let’s talk about your company.
Confidential. No charge, no obligation.