Insights
Research and guides for marketing leaders who want to own their data and their AI.
Grouped by topic: the main guide or report first, then the questions it answers. Every figure comes from our competitor register, with the firm and date beside it.
AI consulting cost
Research report
AI consultant cost in 2026: what consultancies charge
AI consultant cost in 2026 from published prices: about $1,000 for a first dashboard to $1M+ to train a custom LLM.
October 14, 2026
Answer
How much does AI implementation cost for an ecommerce brand?
AI implementation cost from published prices: pilots from $10,000 to $40,000, the costs a development quote leaves out, and a 90-day DTC pilot budget.
October 21, 2026
Answer
How much does AI agent development cost in 2026?
AI agent development cost from published prices: $8,000 to $180,000+ to build, $500 to $13,000 a month to run, with three ecommerce agents costed.
October 20, 2026
Answer
How much does an AI automation agency charge per workflow or per month?
AI automation agency pricing from published rates: builds from about $8,000, single workflows $18,000 to $35,000, support from about $340 a month.
October 19, 2026
Answer
How much does marketing data engineering cost for an ecommerce brand?
Marketing data engineering cost for an ecommerce brand: published prices from about $1,000 for a dashboard to $30,000+ for a warehouse, plus monthly tool costs.
October 19, 2026
Answer
How much does an AI consultant cost for a $20M ecommerce brand?
A $20M ecommerce brand at Gartner's 2026 averages spends about $239,000 a year on AI.
October 14, 2026
Private AI
Guide
What is private AI for business, and when does a marketing team need it?
Private AI for business means running AI models on infrastructure your company controls.
October 14, 2026
Guide
Gemini API pricing in 2026: what doubles on 1 December and 1 January
Gemini 4 Argon doubles to $4 / $20 per million tokens on 1 December; Gemini 3.8 Flash doubles on 1 January.
October 26, 2026
Guide
ChatGPT Business vs Enterprise for an ecommerce brand: price, privacy and data residency
ChatGPT Business costs $20 to $125 a seat; Enterprise is quoted.
October 26, 2026
Research report
Are AI model API prices going up? DeepSeek, Qwen, OpenAI and Gemini in 2026
DeepSeek raised API prices about 3x in August 2026 while others cut theirs.
October 25, 2026
Answer
Private AI consulting for ecommerce: what the engagement looks like
Private AI consulting for ecommerce: the four stages of an engagement, how long each takes, why most pilots stall and what to prepare before the first call.
October 18, 2026
Answer
Private AI implementation partner for a DTC brand: what to ask
Private AI partner for a DTC brand: five questions on where customer data is copied, who can see it, logging, training and deletion requests.
October 18, 2026
Answer
How to choose a private LLM implementation partner
How to choose a private LLM partner: eight questions on where the model runs, what you own, controls, testing and running cost, and what good answers look like.
October 16, 2026
Guide
Private LLM vs the OpenAI API for customer data
Private LLM vs the OpenAI API for customer data: what OpenAI's terms say on training, retention and fine-tuning, what each costs, and when to choose which.
October 16, 2026
Guide
Amazon Bedrock vs a self-hosted LLM for private AI
Amazon Bedrock vs a self-hosted LLM for customer data: what AWS's terms say about retention, what each costs at published prices, and when GPUs win.
October 16, 2026
Answer
Is ChatGPT Enterprise private enough for customer data?
ChatGPT Enterprise does not train on your data, but OpenAI still stores and can access it.
October 16, 2026
Answer
What are the risks of using public AI tools with customer data?
Public AI risks for customer data come from the vendors' own terms: training on personal accounts, retention, flagged chats and residency.
October 16, 2026
Answer
Private AI vs public AI: what is the difference for an ecommerce brand?
Public AI runs prompts on a vendor's servers.
October 15, 2026
Answer
What does a private LLM cost to run, beyond the model?
Running a private LLM costs far more than the model license: GPU hours, token fees, storage, monitoring, and governance each add to the total bill.
October 15, 2026
Answer
On-premise or private-cloud LLM: how do we deploy one so customer data never leaves our account?
Deploy an LLM inside your own VPC or hardware so customer data never leaves your account, with GPU prices starting at $2.89/hr from RunPod in October 2026.
October 15, 2026
Guide
Self-hosted LLM vs ChatGPT Enterprise for a marketing team: when self-hosting is worth it
A self-hosted LLM keeps your customer data on your own infrastructure; ChatGPT Enterprise keeps it with OpenAI under contractual controls.
October 15, 2026
Choosing an AI consultancy
Guide
How to choose an AI consulting firm for an ecommerce brand
How to choose an AI consulting firm for an ecommerce brand: the types of firm, what to check, questions to ask, warning signs and a first paid phase.
October 22, 2026
Guide
Boutique AI consultancy or a large consultancy: what a mid-market ecommerce brand actually gets
Boutique AI consultancy or a large consultancy for a mid-market ecommerce brand: published rate cards, what each delivers and when each one fits.
October 23, 2026
Answer
What is an AI implementation consultant, and how is it different from an AI strategy consultant?
An AI implementation consultant builds and deploys AI systems; a strategy consultant plans them.
October 23, 2026
AI in ecommerce marketing
Guide
Which marketing workflows should an ecommerce brand automate with AI first?
AI marketing automation for an ecommerce brand: how to pick the first workflow, which workflows to automate first, what a build takes and what to leave.
October 23, 2026
Guide
Agentic checkout for a Shopify brand: selling in ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Copilot
Shopify's agentic storefronts are on by default.
October 26, 2026
Guide
Zapier vs Make vs n8n for an ecommerce brand: what each costs in 2026
Zapier bills per step, Make per action and n8n per run.
October 26, 2026
Research report
What CMO surveys say about AI marketing automation in 2026
What 2026 CMO surveys from Gartner, BCG and Deloitte say about AI in marketing: budgets, readiness, automation and returns, and what it means for ecommerce.
October 23, 2026
Marketing data engineering
Guide
Data engineering: a guide for ecommerce brands
Data engineering for ecommerce brands: what Shopify, Meta, Google Ads and Klaviyo data needs, the four-layer stack, what it costs and where to start.
October 19, 2026
Guide
Fivetran vs Airbyte vs custom pipelines for a Shopify brand's marketing data
Fivetran vs Airbyte for a Shopify brand: how each charges, published prices, where BigQuery's free transfers fit, and when a custom pipeline is worth it.
October 22, 2026
Answer
How do I build a marketing data warehouse from Shopify, Klaviyo, Meta Ads and Google Ads?
How to build a marketing data warehouse: connect Shopify, Klaviyo, Meta Ads and Google Ads, what each route costs, and how to make the numbers join.
October 22, 2026
Answer
Answer
Where the numbers come from: the Brand Media Works competitor register.
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