AI consultancy in York, for businesses that want results, not experiments
Pro AI is an AI development and automation consultancy based in York. We build custom systems for growing businesses — automations that remove manual work, AI agents that take on whole processes, and the strategy to know which is worth doing first. We're York-based, we'll come to you anywhere in the UK, and we work remotely just as well. Every engagement starts with a fixed-price audit, so you know exactly what AI can and can't do for you before you spend anything more.
What we do
Most of the businesses we work with have between 10 and 200 staff, already use a handful of digital tools, and lose hours every week to the manual work that sits between those tools. That's where we start.
Business process automation
Connecting the systems you already pay for (CRM, accounts, email, spreadsheets, job management) so data moves between them without someone re-typing it. Typically the fastest return on any AI project.
AI agents
Software that reads, decides and acts across your tools on its own: triaging enquiries, chasing documents, drafting reports, updating records. Built for your business, governed by rules you set.
Document processing
Turning PDFs, scans, contracts and forms into structured data, and generating the documents you need from them.
Fractional AI leadership
Strategy, vendor choice and governance from someone who builds these systems, for businesses that need a senior technical voice without a full-time hire.
Working with businesses in York
York's economy is a mix we know well: construction and property firms, professional services, manufacturers along the A64 and A19 corridors, tourism and hospitality, and the businesses that grow up around two universities. Many of them share the same problem — good people spending their week on admin that a well-built system could do in minutes.
Close to home, we've recently worked with a York-based construction firm whose invoicing, cash-flow and project-cost tracking lived in separate systems and spreadsheets. We built an invoice management system that plugs into the tools they already use, so every invoice, payment and cost lands against the right project automatically. The directors now see cash flow and project margins as they happen rather than at month end — decisions that used to rest on gut feel are made on live numbers.
Working with a local consultancy looks different from hiring a London agency:
We come to you.
Discovery workshops happen at your premises, with the people who actually do the work — in York, or anywhere in the UK.
You deal with the people who build it.
Pro AI is a small, senior team. The person you meet at the audit is the person who designs your system.
We work with your existing tools.
We don't replace the systems you've already invested in; we connect them and put intelligence on top.
Remote works too.
Plenty of our clients never need us on site; everything from the audit onwards can run over video if that suits you better.
Recent results
Three examples of what a custom system delivers. Each started with the same audit we offer York businesses.
Compliance reporting, 93% faster
A regulated business was spending three to four days per reporting cycle searching more than a thousand pages of guidance. We built a retrieval system with a validation layer that catches errors before they reach a report. Reports now take under two hours, with zero compliance errors since go-live and around £45,000 a year in staff time saved.
Documents in minutes, not days
A professional-services firm's fee earners were losing up to 60% of their week to document admin. A bespoke generation platform now turns one incoming PDF into the full set of outputs in under twenty minutes: 15 hours a week back per fee earner, roughly £120,000 a year in billable capacity.
10,000 documents, five-second retrieval
A growing business with years of unstructured files got an automated pipeline that classifies and indexes every document as it arrives. Three days of monthly admin gone; any fact retrievable in under five seconds.
How an engagement works
Automation Audit
£495, fixed
A two-hour workshop with your team, at your premises or online, followed by a written map of where AI and automation would pay back in your business, with ROI estimates for each. You keep the map whether or not you go further.
Automation Sprint
from £2,500, one month
One focused system, built, tested and live within the month, with time-saved data reported weekly.
Automation Partnership
from £3,500 a month
Two or three systems built and supported over a minimum of three months, with monthly reporting on hours and cost saved. This is where most clients end up once the first system proves itself.
Frequently asked questions
Do you only work with businesses in York?
No. York is home, but we'll travel to meet clients anywhere in the UK, and we work remotely with businesses across the country. Location has never been a reason not to work with someone.
How big does a business need to be?
Our sweet spot is 10 to 200 staff. Below that there's rarely enough repetitive work to justify a custom build; above it, you probably have an in-house team we'd work alongside rather than replace.
What does an AI consultant cost?
The audit is £495 fixed. A one-month build sprint is from £2,500. Ongoing partnerships start at £3,500 a month. We publish these because we'd rather you knew before you called.
Will you replace the software we already use?
Almost never. The value is in connecting what you have and adding intelligence on top. If a tool genuinely needs replacing, we'll say so in the audit.
What about data protection?
Systems are built to your data-handling rules from the start: UK/EU hosting where required, no training of public models on your data, and audit trails on anything an AI agent does. Governance is part of the design, not an afterthought.
Start with an audit
Two hours with your team, a written opportunity map, a fixed £495. If AI won't pay back in your business, we'll tell you.