A free AI consultant that scopes your software problem.
ZAC Consultant is a scoping tool, not a chatbot demo. Tell it what is slowing the business down and it returns the thing a discovery call is supposed to produce: a recommended solution, the features that matter first, a phased timeline and a cost band you can take to a budget conversation.
Six things land on screen in about three minutes
Not a summary of what you typed. The output is the same set of artefacts a paid discovery call is supposed to produce.
A named solution, not a menu
One recommendation out of eight service lines, with the reasoning for that one over the alternatives. If the honest answer is that software is not your problem, it says so.
A visual prototype
A generated mock of what the solution looks like — site pages, app screens or an automation flow — so the scope is something you can see and argue with rather than a paragraph of nouns.
Features in priority order
What ships in phase one, what waits, and which pieces are genuinely optional. This is the part that stops a build doubling in size between the quote and the kickoff.
A phased timeline
Calendar weeks per phase with the gates between them, based on how long this work actually takes rather than how quickly you would like it to be finished.
An honest cost band
A range with the assumptions written next to it, so you can challenge the assumptions instead of arguing with a single number that came from nowhere.
The whole thing as a PDF
Emailed as a forwardable document once you leave a name and address — at the end, after you have already seen the result on screen, and only to send it.
From a messy paragraph to a costed roadmap
- 01You describe the goalPlain language. "Orders come in on chat and we lose half of them" is a perfect brief.
- 02It asks a few simple questionsWho it's for, how you cope now, what must ship first, and when. Four or five, not a form.
- 03It recommends a solutionWhich of our eight service lines fits, and why that one over the alternatives.
- 04It shows a prototype, timeline and project typeA visual mock of the solution — site pages, app screens or an automation flow — plus phased delivery and an honest cost band.
- 05You leave name and emailOnly at the end, and only to send the full document — never to unlock a sales call.
- 06The complete roadmap lands in your inboxPDF by email, and a booking link if you want to go further.
Good reasons to open it
- You know the symptom but not the fix — orders getting lost, staff re-keying data, a process that only one person understands.
- You need a budget number before you can ask for budget, and nobody will give you one without a sales process first.
- You are comparing build-versus-buy and want a neutral read on what building would actually involve.
- You have a quote from another agency and want a second opinion on the scope behind it.
- You are writing an RFP and need the requirements section to be specific enough to compare responses.
- You want to know whether AI is genuinely the right tool for a problem, or whether a boring integration would fix it for a tenth of the cost.
Eight service lines, and it will tell you which one
ZAC recommends from what we actually deliver. Each of these has a page of its own if you would rather read than talk.
Consultant or Estimator?
Two tools, two questions. If you already know what you want built and only need the number, the software cost calculator is the shorter path.
| ZAC Consultant | ZAC Estimator | |
|---|---|---|
| The question it answers | What should we build, and why that? | What will this cost, and where does the money go? |
| What you bring | A business problem, in plain language | A rough idea of what you want built |
| What you get back | A solution recommendation, prototype, feature plan and timeline | A cost range, a line-by-line breakdown and adjustable assumptions |
| Includes a price | Yes — a cost band at the end | Yes — that is the whole output |
| Includes a visual prototype | Yes | No |
| Time it takes | About three minutes | About two minutes |
| Email required | Only to email the PDF | Never |
What this tool is not
It is an estimate, not a contract
The cost band is an informed range from a model of how we price work. A fixed price comes after a discovery sprint, where someone senior has seen your systems.
It only knows what you tell it
It cannot see your codebase, your data volumes or your compliance obligations. Vague input produces a vague roadmap — the more specific the problem, the more useful the output.
It recommends our service lines
ZAC scopes work the way we deliver it. It is a good second opinion, not an independent one, and we would rather say that than pretend otherwise.
Is the AI consultant actually free?
How long does it take?
Do I have to give an email address to see my result?
What happens to the information I type in?
How accurate is the cost band?
Can it scope work on a system that already exists?
Is this different from just asking ChatGPT?
Will this put me into a sales sequence?
What if I would rather talk to a person?
It costs nothing and takes three minutes. Start with the problem.
Three minutes with ZAC Consultant gets you a recommended solution, a feature list, a timeline and a cost band. Then decide whether you want to talk to us.
- 01Describe the problem
- 02Get your roadmap
- 03Book a consultation