If you run a small business, you’ve probably been told your team needs “AI training”. The next question is always the same: what should it cost?
The short answer: anywhere from free to around £3,500 a day, depending on whether you want general awareness or training built around your own business. Here’s what the market charges in 2026, what you’re actually paying for, and how to tell if it’s worth it.
What AI training costs in the UK in 2026
Free: the government’s AI Skills Boost programme offers free short courses for every UK adult, from about 20 minutes to a day, focused on everyday work tasks (Enterprise Nation, January 2026).
£10 to £50 per person a month: online courses on the big learning platforms (Elansio).
£400 to £900: a half-day workshop from a freelance trainer (LogicRoad).
£980 to £1,950: a half-day workshop from a specialist AI trainer (LogicRoad).
£1,800 to £3,500: a full-day workshop from a specialist (LogicRoad).
£750 to £1,500 a day: specialist AI consultancies, against £2,000 to £5,000 a day for the big consultancies (Elansio).
These are published ranges from providers’ own pricing guides, so treat them as a guide and always ask for a written quote.
What you’re actually paying for
Free and online courses are a sensible place to start. They teach what AI is and how to write a decent request. What they can’t do is look at your business.
The difference with paid, in-person training is that it should be built around your own work: your invoices, your reports, your customer emails. People leave having done a real job with AI, not just watched a demo. Good training also sets clear rules on what data goes in and how answers get checked, and someone checks in afterwards to make sure it’s sticking.
Per person or per session?
Watch how the price is quoted. Some providers charge per person, which gets expensive fast as your team grows. Others charge per session, so the price is the same for 8 people or 20. For a small business, a per-session price is usually better value.
How to tell if it’s worth it: a typical example
Say 10 people each save just 1 hour a week after a workshop. That’s 10 hours a week, worth around £200 a week at £20 an hour, or about £10,400 a year. A £2,000 workshop would pay for itself in about 10 weeks. This is a typical example, so swap in your own numbers.
Questions to ask any AI training provider
1. Will you use our own tasks and documents, or generic examples?
2. Is the price per person or per session, and is VAT included?
3. Who actually delivers it, and have they run a business?
4. Do you cover safe use: what data goes in, and how outputs are checked?
5. What happens afterwards? Is there a follow-up?
6. Which AI tools do you cover, and will you help us choose?
What our workshops cost
Our prices are on our pricing page, and every workshop is priced per session, not per person: a 1:1 with the MD from £1,000 + VAT, a Senior Leadership Team session from £2,000 + VAT, and a Department Deep Dive from £2,500 + VAT. Each one uses your own work and includes a 30-day check-in. If you’d rather we simply set AI up for one job, our fixed-price setups start at £595 + VAT.
Start free
Not sure you need paid training yet? Try a free government course, then take our 3-minute AI Readiness Check to see where AI could save your business the most time.
We’re not IT people. We’re business leaders who’ve put AI to work across sales, finance, operations and marketing, and we’ll talk to you in plain business terms. See how our workshops work.
Growing pains like this are normal in a business that has grown quickly, and they’re fixable. Take the free Growing Pains Check to see where your business stands in three minutes, or book a free call about a Growing Pains Diagnostic: half a day with you and your business, then a written 90-day plan with the three changes that matter most.
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