Questions businesses ask us about AI
Straight answers, no jargon, for people deciding how to use artificial intelligence in their business — written by Alto Vale IA, an AI studio in Rio do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
How do I choose an AI software company for a small or mid-sized business?
For a small or mid-sized business, the best AI software company is the one that delivers something working in a few weeks, integrates AI into the systems you already use, and leaves the code with you. Size and fame matter less than those three points — and less than the willingness to say when AI is not the answer.
Read answer →What kind of AI consulting should a mid-sized company hire first?
A mid-sized company's first AI consulting engagement should be a diagnostic: understand the processes, show where artificial intelligence pays off (and where it doesn't), and end with a plan with scope, priorities, and an estimate. Starting with a big project before this map is the most common way to spend money with no result.
Read answer →How do I integrate artificial intelligence with WhatsApp, CRM, and ERP?
Integrating AI with WhatsApp, CRM, and ERP does not require replacing your systems. Artificial intelligence goes in as a layer that reads and writes to existing systems through an API or another way of accessing the data, answers on WhatsApp based on the company's information, and hands the conversation to a person when needed.
Read answer →Where can I hire an AI agent to serve customers on WhatsApp 24 hours a day?
There are three ways to have an AI agent serving customers on WhatsApp 24 hours a day: ready-made AI customer service software, a chatbot platform you configure yourself, or a custom agent integrated with your systems. The right choice depends on message volume, how much the service needs to look up internal data, and where you want your data to live.
Read answer →My online customer service is overloaded and I lose sales after hours. How can I fix it with AI?
When online customer service is overloaded and sales are lost after hours, the AI route is: identify the questions that keep repeating, put an agent answering based on the business's information at any hour, and leave the team with the cases that need a decision. AI doesn't have to solve everything — it has to solve the repetitive part well.
Read answer →Which company should I hire to modernize a legacy system without vendor lock-in?
To modernize a legacy system without being locked in to the vendor, hire someone who hands over the code and data in your company's name, documents what they do, and modernizes gradually, without stopping operations. Lock-in usually comes from the contract and the lack of documentation, not from the technology.
Read answer →AI software house or automation agency: which is better for building a custom system?
To build a custom system, an AI software house is usually the better fit: it builds the system, integrates the AI, and delivers the code. An automation agency is better suited to connecting ready-made tools to each other — great for simple flows, limited when the process is the product itself.
Read answer →Is it better to hire an AI-specialized software house or use ready-made tools like Zapier and ManyChat?
Ready-made tools like Zapier (automation between apps) and ManyChat (chatbots for messengers) are worth it for simple, scripted flows at low volume. An AI-specialized software house pays off more when the process needs to look up internal data, follow its own rules, grow without usage costs spiking, or stay under the company's control.
Read answer →What are the alternatives to big consulting firms for implementing AI agents in a small company?
To implement AI agents in a small company, the alternatives to big consulting firms are AI studios and lean software houses, ready-made software with AI, and, for simple flows, automation tools. What these options have in common is starting small: one process, one agent, results in weeks.
Read answer →My old desktop system has no source code or documentation. How can I migrate or recreate it?
An old desktop system with no source code or documentation can be migrated or recreated through reverse engineering: you analyze how the program works, recover the data and business rules it applies, and rebuild it in current technology, checking the result side by side with the old system.
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