What does an AI agent pilot cost?

Tie the price to a defined scope

NyxAI publishes a typical Agent Pilot range of €20,000–€40,000 net over four to six weeks. The scope covers one workflow, prototyping, evaluation and handover, with local, private or hybrid deployment options. This is indicative guidance for this offer. Binding scope follows a fit call; the pilot does not guarantee production readiness.

To compare proposals meaningfully, describe the same inputs, work product, connected systems and approval steps. Also specify which questions must be answered at the end. A pilot assessing response quality requires different work from one that also prepares a transaction in an operational system. Make both the deliverables and the assumptions visible before judging the price.

Sources: NyxAI · Agent Pilot

Access and interfaces shape the effort

A bounded, approved document collection offers a different starting point from several business systems with separate roles, inconsistent master data and unclear interfaces. Estimate work along the actual dependencies: preparing data, establishing access, connecting tools and handling failures. The number of visible features tells you little about that effort.

Your team’s time also belongs in the plan. Someone must select examples, answer domain questions and judge results. If those people are unavailable, delays accumulate even while implementation advances. A designated backup, working test accounts and scheduled evaluation sessions make scope easier to estimate. Confirm these prerequisites together before the pilot begins.

Give evaluation its own budget

Anthropic’s guide to agent evaluation distinguishes the recorded steps from the actual outcome in the environment. The budgeting implication is to reserve work for checking what the agent accomplishes. A convincing completion message, for example, does not establish that a case was created correctly.

Agree an acceptance table covering specific cases, expected results and permitted deviations. Include ordinary work, missing data and familiar exceptions. Keep some cases aside for the final assessment. Measure handling time and rework as well, so that faster preparation can be weighed against any additional review effort. A justified decision to stop is also a useful pilot outcome. It can prevent further investment in an unsuitable process.

Sources: Anthropic · Demystifying evals for AI agents

Calculate ongoing operations separately

After the pilot, the cost question changes. Model or infrastructure consumption sits alongside support, permission management, monitoring and repeated evaluation. Local infrastructure also requires attention to utilisation, maintenance and spare capacity. Describe these items against expected case volumes. Cost per accepted work product is usually more informative for the workflow than the price of a single model request.

The handover should record what was tested, which limitations remain and who owns the next decisions. Security review, additional integrations or higher availability may require a separate production phase. Choose between continuing, narrowing the scope and stopping. A credible pilot gives you traceable findings and explicit assumptions for that choice.