“I look for partners who bring operational empathy — not just delivering models but committing to the cultural and organizational changes that AI requires,” Amazon’s Agrawal says. “The best AI consultants don’t just hand over code; they help upskill teams, build trust in AI outputs, and leave the organization stronger, not dependent. That ability to ‘teach us to fish’ is, in my experience, the true differentiator.”
Agrawal has seen how valuable it is when partners help Amazon teams build new skills. “For example, one consultant delivered models and also ran workshops with our engineers and product leads,” he says. “This helped our teams trust the AI results and continue the work on their own, so we didn’t end up with a confusing handoff.”
Deep knowledge of security and data privacy risks
AI initiatives come with a set of cybersecurity and data privacy risks. An implementation partner needs to know about these and be prepared to address them. In addition, organizations must ensure their partners are following best practices to secure critical data.
