How to choose an AI agency: 10 questions to ask before you sign

Choosing an AI agency is a bit like choosing a builder for your house. They all show you beautiful renders, they all promise short timelines, and the real differences only appear after you have signed and paid the deposit. Except that with an AI system, the “house” talks to your customers on your company’s behalf.

Below are 10 questions to ask any agency before you sign a contract. For each one, we also tell you what a good answer looks like and what should give you pause. You can use the list as a script for your first conversation.

1. What specific problem are we solving and how will we measure it?

A good agency starts with your business, not with its technology. It should ask how many calls you get, how many messages, how long a process takes, where you lose customers. By the end, you should be able to agree on a measurable goal together: for example, “we pick up the calls we miss at peak times” or “orders go straight into the system, with no more copying by hand”.

Red flag: the agency sells you a standard package before it understands what you do. Or it talks only about “digital transformation”, without a single number.

2. What have you already built, for whom and with what result?

Ask for real project examples, even if client names are anonymised. Ask what the system did, what changed in the business after it went live and whether it is still running. A project that has been running for a year tells you far more than a spectacular demo.

As a reference point, at Neurotech we can tell you, for example, about a chain of patisseries in Sibiu that recovers around 20 calls a day with an AI voice agent and a custom ERP, or about a beauty salon that grew its takings by roughly 40% through upselling, after a custom app and a new website.

Red flag: only demos, and no system that has been running for months at a real client.

3. What technology does the system run on, and why?

You don’t need to become an expert, but you should get a clear answer: which AI model they use, which platforms the automations rely on, where the data is hosted. A good answer names the components and explains why they were chosen.

For us, the answer is simple: our agents run on Claude, the model developed by Anthropic, via the API. Automations are built in n8n, which connects the agents to the database (Supabase, on servers in the EU), to ElevenLabs for voice and to Twilio for telephony. The systems are built with Claude Code.

Red flag: “we have our own proprietary technology” with no explanation of what sits underneath.

4. Where is my customers’ data stored and who has access to it?

An AI agent processes names, phone numbers, orders and sometimes more sensitive data. Ask which country the servers are in, who at the agency has access, how long conversations are kept and how you can delete them. Get this information in writing, not just verbally.

A serious provider has a dedicated page or document. Ours is on the data security page.

5. What happens when the AI doesn’t know the answer?

This may be the most important question of all. No system answers everything perfectly. What makes the difference is what it does when it doesn’t know: it transfers the call to a person, takes down the request and promises a call back, or sends a message to the team. Ask to see exactly what this “plan B” looks like.

Red flag: “our AI knows everything”. There is no such thing, and a system that makes up answers can cost you customers.

6. Exactly how much does implementation cost and what does it include?

Ask for a written quote, broken down by deliverable: what you get, in what order and when you pay. A healthy model is payment in instalments tied to deliverables, not a large deposit up front. Check whether team training, adjustments during the pilot period and documentation are included.

To give you an idea of scale, our public starting prices, excluding VAT, are: WhatsApp chatbot from €800, process automation from €1,200, AI voice agent from €1,500, website from €1,500, custom ERP/CRM from €2,500. The final price depends on complexity.

7. What are the monthly costs and what do they depend on?

On top of implementation, every AI system has recurring costs: model usage, telephony, hosting, maintenance. These depend on volume, meaning how many call minutes or messages the system handles. A fair agency explains what they are made up of and gives you an estimate based on your real volume, not a figure plucked out of thin air.

Red flag: a large fixed subscription with no link to how much you actually use the system, or hidden costs you only discover on the first invoice.

8. Who owns the system, the data and the accounts?

Make the contract clear on who owns the data (it should be your business), whose name the telephony and infrastructure accounts are in, and what you receive if you decide to end the relationship. Ideally, you can export conversations, contacts and orders at any time.

Red flag: the agency refuses to tell you what happens to the data at the end of the contract, or ties everything to accounts you have no access to at all.

9. What does the pilot period look like and who is responsible for adjustments?

The first few weeks after launch are decisive. The system meets real questions, unexpected wording and situations nobody thought of. Ask:

• How long the pilot lasts and what is measured during it.
• Who reads the conversations and how often.
• How quickly corrections are made.
• What reports you receive and in what format.

A good answer includes a concrete schedule and a named contact person, not “just write to us if anything comes up”.

10. What support do I get after launch?

Prices change, new products appear, opening hours move. The system has to be updated. Ask how you request changes, how quickly they are made, what is covered by maintenance and what is charged separately. Also ask what happens if the system goes down over a weekend: who gets alerted and who steps in.

Quick table: good answer vs. red flag

Common mistakes when choosing an AI agency

• Choosing on lowest price. A cheap system that makes mistakes in front of customers costs you more than the price difference.
• Not involving the person who will work with the system. Whoever answers the phone today knows best what questions the business gets.
• Signing without a pilot. A limited pilot quickly shows you whether the agency delivers what it promises.
• Not reading the data section of the contract. It is the section that matters most in the long run.

How to use the list in practice

Send the questions to the agency before your first meeting, or keep them in front of you during the conversation. Write down the answers and compare two or three agencies on the same criteria. You will quickly see which one understands your business and which one is just selling a product.

If you want to put these 10 questions to us, we are happy to answer them. The call takes 30 minutes, it is free and we will answer every point, including the awkward ones. You can book the call here or first read who we are.