Why it matters
Why Independent
The AI advisory market has a structural problem. Most of it is not independent. Here is why that matters — and what independence actually changes.
The structural problem
Most of the organisations offering AI advisory in Ireland have commercial relationships with the vendors whose products they recommend. The large consultancies have partnership agreements with Microsoft, Google and others worth hundreds of millions of euros annually. Many smaller advisory firms earn referral income from the tools they suggest.
This does not make the advice worthless. But it makes the question "is this tool right for us?" structurally harder to answer honestly. The advisor's commercial interest and your organisational interest are not the same thing — and in AI procurement decisions, that gap is where significant money gets wasted.
What independence changes for leadership teams
For a leadership team making decisions about AI investment, the practical difference is the starting point. A vendor-aligned advisor starts with a tool and builds a case for implementing it. An independent advisor starts with the problem and asks whether any tool actually solves it.
That shift matters most when the honest answer is "not yet" or "not this one." An advisor who earns from the recommendation cannot easily give that answer. An independent advisor can — and does.
What independence means in practice
- No commercial relationships with AI software vendors
- No referral fees, partnership tiers or revenue share arrangements
- Recommendations are driven by your objectives, not ours
- We will advise against a tool — including one you have already bought
- The diagnostic comes before the recommendation, always
What independence is not
- —Independence is not anti-technology — we recommend tools when they genuinely solve the problem
- —Independence is not cheaper — it is differently motivated
- —Independence does not mean smaller — it means accountable to you, not to a vendor's sales targets
Grounded in experience, not just principle
Independence is only valuable if it is paired with the experience to make the right call. Acuity AI Advisory was founded by Ger Perdisatt — former COO for Microsoft Enterprise across Western Europe, Non-Executive Director at Dublin Airport Authority and Tailte Éireann, and founder of two AI companies.
That background means the advisory is grounded in what enterprise technology implementation actually looks like — the commitments vendors make and the ones they keep, the implementation risks that appear after the contract is signed, and what it costs to unwind a technology decision that turned out to be wrong. It also means understanding what leadership teams and boards can realistically absorb and act on — and structuring the advice accordingly.
Common questions
What does vendor-neutral AI advice actually mean?
It means the advisor has no commercial relationship with any AI software vendor — no referral agreements, no partnership tiers, no revenue share from tools they recommend. Acuity AI Advisory has no partnerships with Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, or any other AI vendor. When we assess a tool or platform, the only question we are trying to answer is whether it is right for your organisation. We have no financial interest in the answer.
Do Big 4 firms provide independent AI advice?
The large advisory firms provide valuable services, but their independence is structurally constrained. Microsoft alone has partnership agreements with Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PwC that run to hundreds of millions of euros in annual revenue. Those relationships create commercial incentives that are difficult to separate from the advice. This does not mean the advice is wrong — but it means the question 'is Microsoft Copilot right for us?' will be answered differently by someone with a Microsoft partnership than by someone without one.
How does this affect recommendations for SMEs?
SMEs are particularly exposed to vendor-influenced advice because the market is flooded with tools, most of which are marketed aggressively. For a leadership team without a large internal IT function, it is genuinely hard to distinguish between good advice and a sales process dressed as a consulting engagement. Independent advisory changes the starting point: rather than starting with a tool and asking how to implement it, we start with the workflow problem and ask whether any tool actually solves it — and if so, which one.
What does independent advice look like in practice?
It starts with a diagnostic, not a recommendation. We map what your organisation actually does, where time and attention are going, what problems are genuinely present, and what capacity exists to implement change. Only then do we assess whether technology addresses any of those problems — and if so, we evaluate the options without a preferred outcome. That sometimes means recommending a tool. It sometimes means recommending a process change with no technology involved. It occasionally means recommending that an organisation stop using a tool it has already paid for.
Related reading
What separates AI advisory from AI awarenessTalk to an independent advisor
No vendor relationships. No preferred outcomes. Just a straight answer about what AI can and cannot do for your organisation.