Quick answer: the best AI consulting companies in Australia fall into four groups: enterprise consultancies (Mantel Group, V2 AI, Kodora, AI Consulting Group, the Big Four) for large and regulated organisations, mid-market specialists (RUBIX, Team 400) for businesses of 50 to 500 staff, boutiques with published pricing for smaller projects, and MSP-delivered managed AI for businesses that need AI run, secured and governed rather than just built. The right choice depends less on who is cleverest and more on your size, whether you need advice or a working system, and who answers the phone after go-live.
If you typed “AI consulting companies Australia” into Google, you found a page full of lists written by the firms on them. This guide is no different in one respect: Epic IT sells AI services too, and we appear in the last category. It is different in two others. Every description below comes from what that provider published on its own website or in the trade press, verified on 1 September 2026, and every entry states the firm’s pricing model, because that is the single thing this market hides best. Where a firm does not publish something, we say “not published” rather than guess. If we have described your firm inaccurately, contact us and we will correct it.
Any list written before May this year is already out of date. In roughly six weeks over autumn, OpenAI launched its Deployment Company with more than US$4 billion in backing and agreed to acquire Tomoro, the UK-founded consultancy that had opened Sydney and Melbourne offices only months earlier. Anthropic launched a reported $1.5 billion AI services joint venture with private equity backers. Accenture closed its acquisition of UK firm Faculty for a reported £740 million. The model makers are buying the implementation layer.
For Australian buyers this means two things. The pool of genuinely independent AI consultancies is shrinking, and the ones that remain are increasingly aligned to a single model vendor. Ask every firm on this list who they answer to before you sign anything.
| Firm | Base | Best for | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mantel Group | 10 hubs, AU/NZ | Enterprise data and AI programs | Scoped, not published |
| V2 AI | Syd, Melb, Bris, Perth | Enterprise AI in regulated sectors | Outcome-based, not published |
| Kodora | National | Sovereign and government AI | Scoped, not published |
| AI Consulting Group | Sydney | Enterprise and resources | Scoped, not published |
| Big Four (KPMG, Deloitte, PwC, EY) | National | Board-level AI governance and transformation | Program-based, not published |
| Tomoro (OpenAI) | Syd, Melb | Enterprise deployment on OpenAI | Embedded engineers, not published |
| RUBIX | Melb, Syd | Data foundations before AI | Fixed-scope programs, price not published |
| Team 400 | Bris, Syd, Melb | Mid-market builds, 50 to 500 staff | Published: from $25,000 |
| SMB boutiques (Edison AI, Yes AI, others) | Various | First working automation | Audit-first; some publish from $3,000 |
| MSP-delivered (First Focus, Epic IT) | National / Perth | AI inside an existing IT agreement | Per seat monthly plus platform fee |
| monō ai | Sydney | Platform, one to watch | Platform, not published |
Mantel Group describes itself as a next-gen consultancy blending AI, data, digital, cyber security and cloud expertise, with more than 850 staff across ten hubs in Australia and New Zealand. It is the largest Australian-owned option on this list, with a published industry focus on banking and finance, healthcare, insurance, public sector and retail. Pricing is not published.
Fit: enterprises that want an Australian-owned alternative to the Big Four with genuine engineering depth.
V2 AI is the fastest mover in this tier. Founded in 2023 and backed by $30 million in venture funding, it reported close to 100 per cent revenue growth in 2025, was named an OpenAI Services Partner in December 2025, joined Anthropic’s Claude Partner Network as an implementation partner, and opened a Perth office in August 2026 with four senior hires targeting energy, resources and government. It sells AI strategy and governance, enablement, applied AI and data security on what it calls an outcome-based approach, delivered by squads. Pricing is not published.
Fit: large organisations in regulated sectors that want a vendor-connected partner moving faster than the incumbents.
Kodora positions itself as Australia’s largest sovereign AI consortium, uniting more than 500 AI professionals under one brand, with proprietary frameworks deployed across banking, insurance, health, mining, transport, national security and government. It builds on Azure AI Foundry, Google Vertex, AWS SageMaker, Salesforce Agentforce, Databricks and ServiceNow. Pricing is not published.
Fit: government and enterprises where sovereign control of AI delivery is a hard requirement.
AI Consulting Group in Sydney serves enterprise and government and is one of the few firms at this tier that publishes named clients, including BHP, Downer and Fremantle Ports. Pricing is not published.
Fit: resources and infrastructure organisations that want references they can call.
The Big Four all run substantial AI practices. KPMG leads with its Trusted AI framework and states it was the first firm globally to receive ISO 42001 certification for AI management systems. Deloitte, PwC and EY connect AI work to broader transformation programs. None publishes pricing, which tells you the intended audience.
Fit: ASX-listed boards that need governance assurance as much as delivery. If you have 50 staff and a Microsoft 365 tenant, you will be paying for machinery you do not need.
Tomoro deserves its own note. Founded out of Accenture in 2023 in alliance with OpenAI, it landed in Sydney and Melbourne in December 2025 with plans for 40 local staff, then in May 2026 OpenAI agreed to acquire it outright as the founding acquisition of the OpenAI Deployment Company. Its model embeds forward-deployed engineers inside client organisations. Engaging Tomoro now effectively means engaging OpenAI.
Fit: enterprises committed to the OpenAI stack that want the model maker’s own engineers on site.
RUBIX, established in 2010 with offices in Melbourne and Sydney, is the elder of the independents. It describes itself as vendor-independent and governance-led, and argues most AI projects stall on data foundations, which is why its front door is a fixed-scope 8-to-12-week Data Foundation program. The program structure is published; the price is not.
Fit: established businesses whose AI attempts keep failing on messy data, and who want the diagnosis before the build.
Team 400, headquartered in Brisbane with teams in Sydney and Melbourne, is the only firm in the country with a full published rate card: $200 to $500+ per hour, strategy engagements $20,000 to $50,000, fixed-price Fast Packages from $25,000 with 14-day delivery, custom projects $50,000 to $250,000 and enterprise work beyond $500,000. It positions itself as engineers first, serving businesses of 50 to 500 staff, and its packages include a Claude workspace rollout with governance and training. Whatever you think of the prices, you can qualify on budget before the first call, and nobody else lets you do that.
Fit: mid-market businesses that want a working system on a known budget, not a strategy PDF.
Below the mid-market sits the busiest and most varied tier: small firms selling a first working automation. Edison AI in Sydney and Yes AI in Melbourne both lead with an AI readiness audit and build agents and workflow automation for smaller businesses, with engagements scoped individually. A handful publish prices outright: fixed-scope discovery sprints in the $5,000 to $15,000 range, first builds from $15,000, and strategy roadmaps from around $8,500 are all publicly advertised in this tier, with Perth boutiques starting fixed projects from as little as $3,000. We map the WA end of this market in detail in our guide to AI consultants in Perth.
Fit: small businesses that want something working this quarter and are comfortable managing the result themselves afterwards.
The newest category, and the one that answers the question every other tier leaves open: who runs this thing after the consultant leaves? AI systems need patching, monitoring, access control, governance and support, which is the same operational work managed service providers already do for the rest of your technology.
First Focus, a national MSP serving organisations of 20 to 200 staff, adds AI capability inside its existing support contracts. Epic IT (that is us) takes the same structural position with a different emphasis: we deliver managed AI services inside a managed agreement that already covers security and compliance, aligned to SMB1001 and Essential Eight, with AI governance built in rather than bolted on. We price it as a per-seat monthly amount plus a platform fee. The seat rate depends on your environment, so rather than publish a number that would mislead half the people reading it, speak to us and we will quote it against your actual setup. Our position is simple: for a business of 10 to 200 staff, the cheapest useful AI project is usually the one delivered inside a contract you already hold, by the provider who already knows your data, your identity setup and your risk profile. Our full AI services range covers assessment through to ongoing operation.
Fit: SMBs that want AI implemented with security and governance from day one, and a single provider accountable for the result.
monō ai is not a consultancy and does not belong in the tiers above, but you will hear its name in every AI conversation this year. Founded by Lendi Group co-founder David Hyman after leading the AI transformation of a business managing a $105 billion loan book, it sells a multi-agent orchestration platform with more than 100 enterprise connectors, designed inference-only so client data stays in-house. It is self-funded, launched in March 2026, and Atturra signed on as a founding delivery partner in April. If the platform model works, it competes with everyone above by making some of their work unnecessary.
Start with the question the sales decks skip: do you need advice, a build, or an operation? Advice and governance frameworks are the enterprise tier’s strength, and if governance is your actual question, our separate guide to AI governance providers in Australia maps that market. A defined build with a known budget points to Team 400 or the boutique tier. An operation, meaning AI that must keep working, stay secure and pass an audit next year, points to the managed tier, and we have written a full comparison of AI-led MSPs versus AI consultancies if that is the fork you are standing at.
Then ask three questions of whoever you shortlist. Who owns the system when you leave? What does month 13 cost? And which model vendor pays you, partners with you or owns you? After 2026, the third question is not paranoia, it is due diligence.
Shortlist by tier, not by ranking. Pick the tier that matches your size and need first, then compare two or three firms inside it. Comparing Mantel Group against a $3,000 boutique tells you nothing.
Ask for the after-plan in writing. Whoever builds your AI, get the support, security and governance arrangements for month 13 onwards in the proposal, priced. Most disappointment in this market lives there.
Get a second opinion on the money. Before signing a six-figure engagement, talk to us for a free AI readiness review. We will tell you honestly whether your project needs an enterprise consultancy or whether it is a managed AI job at a fraction of the price.
The best AI consulting companies in Australia depend on your size and need: Mantel Group, V2 AI, Kodora and the Big Four serve enterprise and government, RUBIX and Team 400 serve the mid-market, boutiques like Edison AI and Yes AI serve small business builds, and MSPs like Epic IT and First Focus deliver managed AI inside existing IT agreements.
Most firms do not publish pricing. The clearest public benchmark is Team 400: $200 to $500+ per hour, fixed packages from $25,000, and custom projects of $50,000 to $250,000. Boutique fixed-scope work starts around $3,000 to $15,000, and MSP-delivered managed AI is typically priced per seat per month plus a platform fee inside an existing managed services agreement.
An AI consultancy advises on or builds a system, then hands it over. A managed AI provider implements the system and then operates it: patching, monitoring, access control, governance and support, usually inside an existing managed IT agreement. The consultancy model suits defined projects; the managed model suits businesses without internal teams to run what gets built.
Yes. In May 2026 OpenAI agreed to acquire Tomoro, a UK-founded consultancy with Sydney and Melbourne offices, as the founding acquisition of its Deployment Company, backed by more than US$4 billion. Anthropic and Accenture made comparable moves in the same period, so vendor alignment is now a real factor when choosing an AI consulting company in Australia.
Small businesses are best served by the boutique tier (Edison AI, Yes AI and local firms with published fixed prices from around $3,000) or by MSP-delivered managed AI, where providers like Epic IT add AI implementation and governance to an existing IT support agreement. Enterprise consultancies are generally not structured for businesses under 200 staff.
