Independence and vendor relationships
The AI Consultancy is independent of the vendors whose tools we recommend. We take no referral fees, commission, reseller margin, affiliate income or deployment payments from Anthropic, OpenAI or any other AI or software vendor. We are paid by our clients for the work, not by vendors for recommendations.
We are a member of Anthropic's Claude Partner Network and Claude is our primary specialism. Neither of those decides what we recommend. We recommend Claude when it is the best fit for the job, and we recommend ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's models, local open-weight models, or no AI at all when one of those fits better.
This page sets out why we joined the network, why we specialise in Claude, when we recommend something else, and what you can hold us to. It answers the question our guide to choosing an AI consultancy tells every buyer to ask: does any vendor pay you when we buy what you recommend?
What is the Claude Partner Network, and why did we join?
The Claude Partner Network is Anthropic's programme for firms that help organisations adopt Claude. Anthropic launched it on 12 March 2026 and states that membership is free of charge. Members get access to Anthropic's partner training and to its first technical certification, Claude Certified Architect, Foundations, an exam for solution architects building production applications with Claude. In June 2026 Anthropic added a Services Track, which measures each firm's certified practitioners, production deployments and public customer stories, and a Partner Hub whose public directory shows each partner's standing.
We joined for that access and for the certification. UK clients choosing a Claude practitioner ask whether the people doing the work are certified, and the certification is earned by individuals through Anthropic's Partner Academy exams rather than awarded to firms. Three of our core team, Dee Khabra, Jay Matharu and Dave Jenkins, hold the Claude Certified Architect credential; their roles are on our About page.
We did not join for referral income. Anthropic's programme rewards firms that send it new business on a separate track from practice standing. We take no referral fees, commission or deployment payments from Anthropic, so it makes no financial difference to us whether a client chooses Claude or another platform.
Why do we specialise in Claude?
Claude is our primary focus because it fits a large share of the UK work we are asked to do: long documents, careful reasoning over policies, contracts and procedures, and enterprise data terms that suit regulated firms. Our guide to whether Claude is GDPR compliant for UK businesses sets out the data protection position.
Specialising is how we build depth. Prompt and context design, evaluation against real tasks, integration with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, and keeping a deployment stable as the models change are learned by doing them repeatedly on one platform. That depth is what clients buy through our Claude implementation, Claude consulting and Claude Enablement services. It is not a commitment to recommend Claude regardless of fit.
When do we recommend something other than Claude?
Most enterprises end up running more than one AI platform, and the published record of our own work reflects that.
- Where the organisation already works in ChatGPT. We implement ChatGPT Business and Enterprise and train teams to use it well, through ChatGPT implementation and ChatGPT training for teams.
- Where the work is research and reporting. Repeated research across web and internal sources is often a better fit for Perplexity.
- Where another model suits the task. MoverAI, the video survey platform we built for Master Removers Group, runs on Google's Gemini multimodal models, and our HazardProof architecture is designed on Google Cloud.
- Where client data cannot go to a cloud model. Our Private AI Concierge runs local open-weight models on a device the client owns, installed by default on the client's own premises, with no cloud model in the loop unless the client chooses a hybrid mode.
- Where AI is not the answer. If discovery shows that a process change or a cheaper existing tool meets the need, we say so rather than propose a build.
How do we choose a model or platform?
We choose against the client's situation, not a preferred vendor. The factors we weigh are:
- How each option performs on the task itself, not on published benchmarks alone (our enterprise LLM selection guide sets out the method).
- The data protection terms: training use, retention, and where the data is processed.
- What the organisation already licenses and runs, such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and what that makes easy or hard.
- Total cost over the first year: seats or usage, integration, and support.
- How easily the client could switch later if the market moves.
For a like-for-like view of the two most common choices, see our Claude vs ChatGPT buyer's guide for UK SMEs.
What can you hold us to?
- No payment from any vendor for a recommendation: no referral fees, commission, reseller margin, affiliate income or deployment payments, from Anthropic, OpenAI or any other AI or software vendor.
- Claude licences in your organisation's name. When we install Claude, the licences are paid by your organisation to Anthropic on a company-owned tenancy, not held by us.
- Hardware at cost. The hardware for a Private AI Concierge deployment is passed through at supplier cost and itemised separately on the proposal, and the device is yours.
- This page stays current. If any of this changes, we will update this page.
Our fees are published on our pricing page, and our answers to the other questions a buyer should ask are in our guide to choosing an AI consultancy in the UK.
Frequently asked questions
Is The AI Consultancy independent of Anthropic?+
What is the Claude Partner Network?+
Why did The AI Consultancy join the Claude Partner Network?+
Will The AI Consultancy always recommend Claude?+
Does The AI Consultancy resell AI licences?+
What is a Claude Certified Architect?+
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