# FAQ

> Common questions from Irish businesses, answered plainly: AI consulting, AI training, the EU AI Act, automation, fixing AI-built software, our prices and grants.

Plain questions, plain answers.

Short answers about our AI and software work, our prices, grants in Ireland and the EU AI Act. Each answer starts with the answer, then links the page that covers it in full.

## Working with us

Who we are, where we work and how to start working with us.

### Do you offer AI consulting in Ireland?

Yes. Wisdom Engineers is a two-founder technical partner for Irish SMEs that know AI and software matter but have no senior technical lead. We are registered in Ireland, and a founder does the work. For AI advice, the [AI Readiness Discovery](https://wisdomengineers.ie/services/ai-readiness/) reviews your systems and data, including the processes AI or automation could improve. It ends with a costed roadmap and an implementation plan.

### Where do you work?

We serve clients in Ireland. We work remote first, and on site by arrangement. Read more [about us](https://wisdomengineers.ie/about/).

### How do I start working with you?

Book a free 30-minute call with a founder. You get an honest answer on whether we can help. [Book a call on Google Calendar](https://calendar.app.google/68i8SZpvW5XfCv2n6).

### What is the AI readiness check?

It is a short questionnaire for Irish SMEs. You answer twelve multiple-choice questions in four themes: data and systems, people and skills, processes worth automating, and governance. Your result gives a score for each theme, three next steps and the package that matches your answers. Four more questions point you to a funding scheme that may fit. [Take the AI readiness check](https://wisdomengineers.ie/ai-readiness-check/).

### Do you keep my answers?

No. Your answers are used only to build your result, which is shown on the page. See our [Privacy Policy](https://wisdomengineers.ie/privacy).

## Prices

Our AI consulting prices, and how VAT applies.

### How much does an AI consultant cost in Ireland?

Our AI consulting rates are published on one page. An AI Quick-Start Assessment costs €495 for a half day and gives you a written one-page plan. An AI Readiness Discovery costs €4,500 (5 consultant days over 4 to 8 weeks) or €6,300 (7 consultant days over 4 to 8 weeks). All prices exclude VAT. See [every price in one table](https://wisdomengineers.ie/pricing/).

### What is your AI consultant hourly rate?

We do not publish an hourly rate. Work outside a package is charged at our day rate of €900, excluding VAT. Each package has a fixed price, a monthly price or a "from" price, all on our [pricing page](https://wisdomengineers.ie/pricing/).

### Do your prices include VAT?

No. Our prices exclude VAT, and our [pricing page](https://wisdomengineers.ie/pricing/) says how VAT applies to each line. The standard rate in Ireland is 23%. Vocational training given by a company can be exempt from VAT if it meets all five of Revenue's conditions. So our workshops and Education Track are marked as possibly exempt. Our accountant has not yet confirmed the exempt treatment for our training.

## AI training and the AI Act

Training for your team and your board, and what the AI Act asks.

### Do you run AI literacy training in Ireland?

Yes. The AI Literacy Workshop is hands-on training for your team, for up to 12 people. It covers what the tools are good and bad at, safe use with company data, hallucination, and prompt practice on your own documents. You also get an AI use policy draft. Half day, 3 hours: €950. Full day, 6 hours: €1,650. Prices exclude VAT. Training may be VAT-exempt, and our accountant has not yet confirmed that. See [AI Training and AI Literacy](https://wisdomengineers.ie/services/ai-training/).

### Is there AI training for business owners?

Yes. The Leadership AI Briefing is for owners and boards. It covers where AI pays in your sector, what it costs, what the law asks, and how to decide. It lasts 2 hours and costs €450, excluding VAT. See [AI Training and AI Literacy](https://wisdomengineers.ie/services/ai-training/).

### What are the AI Act training requirements?

Article 4 of the EU AI Act has applied since 2 February 2025. National market surveillance authorities supervise and enforce it from 2 August 2026. Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 replaced its wording. The new wording asks providers and deployers of AI systems to "take measures to support the development of AI literacy of their staff and other persons dealing with the operation and use of AI systems on their behalf ...". The new wording adds: "This obligation does not require providers or deployers to guarantee any specific level of AI literacy of any individual." The European Commission says "no strict requirements or mandatory trainings are imposed". It also confirms that a company whose staff use ChatGPT for work is in scope. We do not sell training as a legal requirement. See [AI Training and AI Literacy](https://wisdomengineers.ie/services/ai-training/).

## AI automation

Taking a routine workflow off your team's hands.

### Do you do AI automation for small businesses?

Yes. We take a defined workflow, such as document intake, quote preparation, reconciliation or support triage, and automate it end to end. It comes with monitoring, a runbook and staff training. The price is from €2,500, excluding VAT. We do not publish a fixed length for this work. See [AI Automation and Agents](https://wisdomengineers.ie/services/ai-automation/).

## Fixing AI-built software

Rescue work for AI-generated and vibe-coded apps.

### My AI app is not working. Can you fix it?

If the app is AI-generated or vibe-coded, Fix AI-Built Software is our rescue service for it: tests first, then fixes, then a safe deploy path. The fixes follow the plan from a Code Health Check. The Code Health Check costs €1,450 fixed and takes 3 days. It reviews security, data handling, test coverage and the deploy path. It ranks the top ten fixes by risk, in a written report and a walkthrough. The fix work is from €4,500. Both prices exclude VAT. See [Fix AI-Built Software](https://wisdomengineers.ie/services/fix-ai-built-software/).

### Can you fix an app built with vibe coding?

Yes. Fix AI-Built Software is for vibe-coded and AI-generated software. It starts with a Code Health Check, which suits a vibe-coded app that breaks, a stalled proof of concept or inherited code with no owner. See [Fix AI-Built Software](https://wisdomengineers.ie/services/fix-ai-built-software/).

## Software development

Building a new product, from the first commit to the first paying user.

### Do you do custom software development in Ireland?

Yes. Product and MVP Development takes a new product from the first commit to the first paying user, with a demo every week. It is for funded founders and for established businesses with no senior technical lead. The price is from €12,000, excluding VAT. We do not publish a fixed length for this work. See [Product and MVP Development](https://wisdomengineers.ie/services/product-development/).

## Grants

Irish grants for digital projects and AI training.

These answers explain the schemes. They are not advice. The agencies decide who is eligible; we do not.

### Which grant fits my business?

It depends on things like your staff numbers, your sector and whether you are already a client of an enterprise agency. Our [funding page](https://wisdomengineers.ie/funding/) sums up each scheme, with the agency that runs it.

### Will the readiness check tell me if I qualify for a grant?

No. Your answers about staff numbers, sector, agency client status and ownership point you to a scheme guide that may fit, or to our [funding page](https://wisdomengineers.ie/funding/). The agencies decide who is eligible; we do not.

### Is there an AI grant from Enterprise Ireland?

Enterprise Ireland's Digital Discovery and Digital Process Innovation grants can help pay for outside expertise on digital projects.

Digital Discovery pays "Up to 80% grant funding to a maximum amount of €5,000". It is for an external digital expert for between 3 and 7 days. That includes "Guidance on the implementation of new or enhanced digital, data, automation or AI solutions." Eligible costs are capped at €900 per day, inclusive of travel and subsistence. It is for Enterprise Ireland clients: Irish-owned firms in manufacturing or internationally traded services with 10 or more full-time staff, and high potential start-ups.

Digital Process Innovation pays, for SMEs and large companies, "50% of the eligible costs, up to a maximum grant of €150,000". The scheme's Terms of Reference add: "The Committee may offer grant at a lower rate than the maxima above." Eligible costs include reasonable external consultancy costs. Subcontracted or consultancy work can be no more than 60% of the total costs; above that, the project is ineligible. "The project must involve some level of innovation or risk of failure and must not be focused on routine operational changes or responding to changes in regulation." You cannot apply for less than €20,000 of eligible grant support, and you must apply before any work on the project starts. The company must be a client of Enterprise Ireland or Údarás na Gaeltachta with an assigned adviser. It must be in business for 2 years or more. It must employ 10 or more full-time staff; this may be reduced to 5 or more in certain cases. Further conditions apply.

Enterprise Ireland decides eligibility. Source: Enterprise Ireland, checked on 9 October 2026. See [Digital Discovery](https://wisdomengineers.ie/funding/digital-discovery/) and [Digital Process Innovation](https://wisdomengineers.ie/funding/digital-process-innovation/).

### What is the Digital Transition Fund from Enterprise Ireland?

Digital Discovery and Digital Process Innovation are Enterprise Ireland grants under the Digital Transition Fund. Both scheme pages say: "Supports under the Digital Transition Fund are no longer funded under the Resilience and Recovery Fund. This grant offer remains open to applications from eligible Enterprise Ireland clients." Neither page gives a closing date. Enterprise Ireland decides eligibility. Source: Enterprise Ireland, checked on 9 October 2026. See [Digital Discovery](https://wisdomengineers.ie/funding/digital-discovery/) and [Digital Process Innovation](https://wisdomengineers.ie/funding/digital-process-innovation/).

### What is the Grow Digital Voucher from my LEO?

The Grow Digital Voucher is "a grant from the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) that helps organisations adopt digital tools, including AI, to improve how the business operates and grows". It pays "50% of eligible costs with minimum grant aid of €500 up to a maximum grant of €5,000 per application". A business can be approved for at most two Grow Digital Voucher projects, as identified in its Digital for Business project. Their maximum cumulative grant value is €5,000. One of the voucher's conditions is a Digital for Business project completed within the previous two years. Digital for Business is a "free digital/AI readiness audit", in the words of enterprise.gov.ie. Both are open to small enterprises with between 1 and 50 paid employees, and each has further conditions. The voucher's page says: "Custom or bespoke software is not eligible for grant support." Your Local Enterprise Office decides eligibility. The voucher's page says Enterprise Ireland's Policy department assesses queries about whether an activity is eligible. Sources: the Local Enterprise Office and enterprise.gov.ie, checked on 9 October 2026. See [Digital for Business and the Grow Digital Voucher](https://wisdomengineers.ie/funding/grow-digital/).

### Is there a grant for AI training?

Skillnet Ireland's Upskill SME Training Grant helps a business "recover the salary costs of employees for the days they spend participating in AI training". It pays €204.30 per training day per employee, subject to eligibility criteria. The yearly grant is capped by company size: €5,000 for a micro firm, €15,000 for a small firm and €25,000 for a medium firm. Training fees are not eligible, and the training must come from an approved provider. Eligible applications are approved on a first-approved, first-funded basis until the funding is fully committed. Its funding window runs from 1 September 2026 to 31 December 2026. Claims may be submitted up to 15 January 2027 for eligible training completed on or before 31 December 2026. Wisdom Engineers is not an approved provider, and we are not listed with a Skillnet Business Network, so there is no funded route through us. Skillnet Ireland decides eligibility; its guidelines say the eligibility stage "determines if the SME is eligible for the scheme". Source: Skillnet Ireland, checked on 9 October 2026. See [the Upskill SME Training Grant](https://wisdomengineers.ie/funding/ai-training-grants/).

## Still have a question?

Two ways to take the next step. Pick whichever suits you.

### Talk to a founder.

Tell us what you want to know. You leave with an honest answer on whether we can help.

[Book a free 30-minute call (opens Google Calendar)](https://calendar.app.google/68i8SZpvW5XfCv2n6)

### Not ready to talk?

Answer questions about how your business works today and let your answers point the way.

[Take the AI readiness check](https://wisdomengineers.ie/ai-readiness-check/)

Your result on screen