Questions and answers

The questions business owners ask me most

Short answers in four topics. Prices, terms and the guarantee are shown in full under Cost. If your question is missing, just ask it; single questions are answered free of charge.

Getting started with AI

I know nothing about AI. Is this for me?

That is exactly who it is for. You do not need to know anything about AI. I look at your work, set everything up and teach you and your team to work with it, in plain language. This is made for business owners who have tried ChatGPT once at most.

Is my company too small for AI?

No. Even a sole trader or a small team has work that comes back every week. That is exactly the work where AI saves time. I start with a process you can draw a line around, and connect several workflows if you choose the AI Operating System. With more than about thirty people, I make a tailored proposal.

How do I know whether a process suits AI?

A suitable process returns often, has a digital source, can be described in steps and has someone who owns it. If it happens twice a year or everything is on paper, the answer is no. You can test it yourself with the process check on this site, or we look at it together in your free AI plan.

How long before we see results?

You get your free AI plan within a week of our call. One process with AI is up and running in ten working days. The AI Operating System for your whole business is in place in about three weeks, with a measurement before and after. Starting bigger does not make it faster, only riskier.

Does my team need prior knowledge?

No. I train your team during the implementation by working alongside them on real cases. The workflow prepares and an employee approves, which also works for people who have never used AI before.

Do I need to buy new software?

Usually not. I start with what you already use, such as Gmail, Outlook, Exact, AFAS, ChatGPT or Copilot. Subscriptions to AI tools run on your own account, so you can cancel them without me.

Why not just use ChatGPT or Copilot myself?

A fine start, and I often use what you already have. The difference: with ChatGPT you type a question yourself every time. I set it up so the work is prepared automatically every day, with your data and in your way. You only check it.

Read on: test your own process in five minutes or see how I take you from first question to daily use.

Cost and payment

Prices, terms and guarantee in brief

Free AI plan
€0. A plan for your whole business, three tailored examples, a demonstration, a personal video and a review call. No obligation.
One process with AI
€1,500 excluding VAT. In place in ten working days.
AI Operating System
€4,500 excluding VAT. In place in about three weeks.
Payment
Half at the start and half at delivery. No subscription.
Credit
Start with one process and continue within 30 days, and I credit the €1,500 in full.
Guarantee
If it does not work as agreed, I fix it or you get your money back. The choice is yours. With the AI Operating System there is a stop moment after week one.
Not included
Subscriptions to AI tools. You pay the supplier directly, on your own account; you see the cost up front.

In full: the three options and prices and the terms.

What is the minimum to get started?

Zero euro. The AI plan is free: a plan for your whole business, three tailored examples, a demonstration, a personal video and a review call. The first paid step is one process with AI for €1,500 excluding VAT. I credit it in full if you move on to the €4,500 AI Operating System within 30 days. Separate help and maintenance costs €125 per hour excluding VAT, with a goal and an hours cap agreed up front.

Why is the first step free?

Because you only know what AI does for your business when you see it working on your own work. Sometimes my advice is not to build. You hear that too, and the plan is yours either way.

Are licence costs of AI services included in the price?

No. You pay licence and usage costs of third-party models and services to the supplier directly, on your own account. You see up front roughly what you will spend, so you know what you are starting.

How do I pay?

For every assignment you pay half at the start and half at delivery. Delivery means the delivery check we agree up front has been met. There is no subscription.

What if it does not work?

If it does not work as agreed, I fix it or you get your money back. The choice is yours. With the AI Operating System there is also a stop moment after week one.

Read on: the full price breakdown, the three options and prices and the terms.

Safety, data and rules

Will our data go to an AI model in the United States?

That depends on the tool we choose, and we make that choice deliberately. Per process we record which sources the workflow may use, which data a step actually needs and where it is processed. If you want everything to stay inside Europe, that becomes a requirement in the tool selection, not an afterthought.

What does the AI Act mean for my company?

The AI literacy obligation has applied since February 2025 to everyone using AI at work, with transparency obligations following later. I make sure every workflow has an owner, an approval step, a stop rule and a log, because that is what you need to show how you use AI. The legal assessment of your situation belongs to your own adviser; that is not my trade.

Will AI take work away from my people?

The workflow prepares, your employee decides. In practice the searching and the retyping disappear, and the work people were hired for remains: judging, advising and talking to customers. Whoever does the work joins the diagnosis, because without that person the design is wrong.

What happens if I want to stop?

Then you stop. Your accounts, your data, the documentation and what I made specifically for you are yours once the assignment is paid. You can continue yourself or have someone else maintain it. My own templates and building blocks, which I also use for others, remain mine; you may keep using them in your own business. The AI Operating System has a stop moment after week one.

What if AI makes a mistake?

AI prepares and decides nothing. You or an employee checks everything before it goes out. If AI is unsure, it puts the question to you. Beforehand I test it with your own examples.

Is my customer data safe?

Yes. I bring the controls from my work at the bank to your business. Beforehand we record which data AI may use and where it is processed. If you want to keep everything within Europe, that becomes a requirement when choosing the tools.

Read on: how I handle access, sources and controls and what this website measures.

Way of working with Joost

Do you work outside Utrecht?

Yes. I am based in Utrecht and visit clients in the region, but the diagnosis, the audit and most of an implementation work fine remotely. For training, a day on site usually works best.

Can you work alongside us one day a week?

Yes, as contracting next to the fixed steps. It suits companies that want to build themselves and need someone to review choices, make calls and get the team moving. The price depends on the project and is stated in the proposal up front.

What if we already have an IT partner or systems integrator?

Fine, then I work next to them. I do not replace your business software; I build the AI workflows around it and make sure your existing partner knows which integration or access is needed. The audit states exactly who does what.

What makes you different from other AI agencies?

I come from work at one of the largest banks in the Netherlands, where no automated step exists without a recorded input, authority, approval, exception route and evidence. I put those five rules into every SME workflow. I call that the Bankproof method. That is why my workflow stops at a deviation instead of guessing, and why nothing lingers in a pilot: at the agreed review points you decide on evidence, and a no-go also comes in writing. And I do not build what your package already does.

I do not want a call. Can it be done via WhatsApp?

Yes, for a question certainly. For your free AI plan we do talk briefly, because I want to understand your business. By phone or video, whenever it suits you. I usually reply within a few minutes, including weekends.

Read on: who Joost is, AI consultancy and contracting and what it delivered elsewhere.

Question not answered here?

Send it in a message. You get an answer from me, with no sales call attached. I usually reply within a few minutes, including weekends. If you want something usable straight away, request your free AI plan: a plan for your whole business, three tailored examples and a demonstration on your own work.

See what you get for free