AI Implementation for a Small Business in the EU, the 2026 Checklist

• Which single task eats the most hours a week and follows a rule? Name one. If you cannot, the first project is writing the rule down, not buying software.
• What does that task cost today? Minutes per item times items per month times the hourly cost of the person. That number is the ceiling for what the system may cost to run.
• What happens when the system is not sure? If the honest answer is a person checks, you are ready. If nobody can check, the task is not ready for automation yet.

The second question is exactly what the cost calculator does, with published model prices and the break-even volume.

A two-week project needs the following from you, and nothing else. Collecting it takes about an hour.

Two laws apply. GDPR covers personal data, which your customer messages are. The EU AI Act, Regulation 2024/1689, sorts AI systems by risk. A chatbot that answers questions, a tool that sorts tickets or reads invoices sits in the lowest tiers, where the main duty is transparency, meaning the customer must be able to tell they are talking to a machine.

For a typical small business that translates into four practical items. Data stored in your own accounts in EU regions. A processor agreement with the model vendor and a no-training clause. A visible notice in the chat. The ability to export or delete a customer's conversation yourself. We write all four into the scope, so the compliance work is part of the build, not a separate project.

For a company of 5 to 50 people the first project is one task, fixed price, two weeks. From $1,500 for a chatbot that answers from your documents, from $2,000 for support, document or CRM automation. Model usage on top is paid to the vendor and runs tens of dollars a month at small-business volumes. Three months of fixes are included in our price.

A quote that starts above $10,000 for a first project in a small company is either a program of several tasks or a sign the vendor builds the integration before the task is proven. Ask which of the two it is.

• Where will the system live and who owns the code? The right answer is your accounts and you.
• What is the fixed price and what exactly is inside it?
• How is the result checked before handover? Ask for the test set.
• What happens when it breaks in month two?
• Will they say no if AI is the wrong tool? Ask for an example when they did.

The long version of this list is in how to choose an AI implementation partner.