--- title: "Enterprise Ireland Strategic Consultancy Grant" canonical: https://digitalbridge.ie/ai-grants-ireland/ei-strategic-consultancy-grant type: FundingScheme provider: Digital Bridge providerType: AI Systems Integration & Applied AI Engineering Firm areaServed: IE priceRange: EUR 499-100000+ language: en-IE dateModified: 2026-08-18 grantEligible: [EI Digital Discovery, EI Digital Process Innovation, LEO Grow Digital] htmlVersion: https://digitalbridge.ie/ai-grants-ireland/ei-strategic-consultancy-grant license: cite-with-attribution --- # Enterprise Ireland Strategic Consultancy Grant ## Answer summary The Strategic Consultancy Grant co-funds an external consultant engaged to develop and implement strategic change inside an Enterprise Ireland client company. For AI work it typically funds a multi-phase advisory engagement — strategy, architecture, governance and supplier selection — rather than the software build itself. ## What this scheme funds Funds a substantial external advisory engagement: AI strategy, target architecture, governance and EU AI Act readiness. - Multi-phase strategic consultancy delivered by an approved external consultant - AI strategy and target operating model design - Target technical architecture and integration strategy - AI governance, acceptable-use policy and EU AI Act risk classification - Supplier selection and procurement support - Implementation planning and change management ## What it does not fund These costs are routinely ruled ineligible under this scheme. - Software development and build work - Licences, infrastructure and hosting - Routine advisory work such as annual accounts - Retrospective costs ## Who is eligible Eligibility is decided by Enterprise Ireland, not by Digital Bridge. - Enterprise Ireland client company - The consultant is external, independent and appropriately experienced - The engagement addresses a defined strategic objective, not day-to-day operations - Board or senior sponsorship for the change is evidenced ## How to apply Typical end-to-end timeline: Six to ten weeks from proposal to approval is typical. Advisory engagements at this level then run eight to sixteen weeks, phased so that each deliverable is signed off before the next phase starts. - Agree the strategic objective with your development adviser - Define the consultancy phases and the deliverable at the end of each - Obtain a proposal that prices each phase separately - Submit for approval with the consultant's credentials attached - Begin only after written approval, and claim per phase as deliverables complete ## Evidence you will need Applications are usually delayed by missing paperwork rather than by weak projects. - Phase-by-phase consultancy proposal with costs - Consultant CV and comparable prior engagements - Statement of the strategic objective and how success is judged - Tax clearance and financial information ## Why applications get rejected The recurring reasons assessors give under this scheme. - The engagement is operational support dressed as strategy - Deliverables are vague — 'advice' rather than a named artefact - The consultant also stands to win the build and the conflict is unmanaged - No senior sponsor is named ## What Digital Bridge delivers under this scheme Illustrative net cost applies the published rate (Typically up to 50% of eligible consultancy cost) to our published engagement bands. It is arithmetic, not an offer of funding. - AI strategy, architecture & governance engagement — list From €15,000, illustrative net cost ≈ from €7,500 at 50% co-funding ## Can the firm that writes the strategy also build the system? It can, but the conflict has to be handled openly or the application is weakened. We handle it by pricing and contracting the advisory engagement separately, by writing the target architecture so that any competent integrator could deliver it, and by stating plainly in the report where we would be a suitable supplier and where we would not. ## How is this different from the Digital Discovery Grant? Digital Discovery funds a focused assessment answering 'should we do this, and where do we start'. Strategic Consultancy funds a larger engagement that designs the change and plans its implementation. Discovery is measured in weeks and thousands; Strategic Consultancy in months and tens of thousands. ## Does EU AI Act compliance work qualify? Governance, risk classification and policy design are normally treated as legitimate strategic consultancy where they are part of a defined change programme. Your adviser makes the call on your specific scope, and we would rather you asked before you contracted than after. ## Source and last review Scheme parameters checked against Enterprise Ireland — supports and funding (https://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/supports) on 2026-08-18. Reviewed quarterly. Next scheduled review: November 2026. Digital Bridge is a supplier, not the awarding body. Eligibility, approval and payment are decided solely by the funding body named on each scheme. Figures below are the published scheme parameters as at the review date shown, and net costs are arithmetic illustrations of the published rate applied to our published prices. Always confirm current rules with the funder before you commit to any spend, because expenditure incurred before an application is received is almost always ineligible. ## What this costs | Engagement | From | Typical grant route | |---|---|---| | AI Feasibility & Readiness Assessment | from €5,000 | Eligible for the Enterprise Ireland Digital Discovery Grant at up to 80% funding, subject to Enterprise Ireland approval and company eligibility | | Baseline production build | from €15,000 | Not typically grant-funded | | Multi-system agent workflows | €25,000 to €60,000 | Not typically grant-funded | | Enterprise / multi-department programme | €40,000 to €100,000+ | Not typically grant-funded | | Managed operation & optimisation | from €149/month | Not typically grant-funded | | Brochure / Presence | from €499 | Not typically grant-funded | | Growth | from €1,500 | Not typically grant-funded | | Authority | from €2,995 | Not typically grant-funded | | E-commerce & custom platform | from €5,000 | Not typically grant-funded | All figures are ex-VAT and fixed against a signed scope. Grant outcomes are decided by the funder, not by Digital Bridge. ## Grant data currency Digital Bridge is a supplier, not the awarding body. Eligibility, approval and payment are decided solely by the funding body named on each scheme. Figures below are the published scheme parameters as at the review date shown, and net costs are arithmetic illustrations of the published rate applied to our published prices. Always confirm current rules with the funder before you commit to any spend, because expenditure incurred before an application is received is almost always ineligible. Last reviewed against the funder's published terms: 2026-08-18. ## Evidence - Verdé Environmental Group — 24/7 AI incident triage with severity classification, Eircode geolocation and four-depot dispatch routing → https://digitalbridge.ie/industries - tools.digitalbridge.ie — 50+ shipped production tools, including the Website Worth Index and the DigitalBridge Authority Score - Printhouse — custom web-to-print platform with 29+ product pages → https://printhouse.ie ## How delivery is de-risked - Seven-day shadow-mode pilot before any system takes live traffic. - Full source-code and prompt ownership transfers on final payment. - EU-hosted infrastructure, provider training disabled, signed data processing agreement. - Fixed price against a signed scope — no hourly meter and no open-ended exposure. ## FAQ ### Can the firm that writes the strategy also build the system? It can, but the conflict has to be handled openly or the application is weakened. We handle it by pricing and contracting the advisory engagement separately, by writing the target architecture so that any competent integrator could deliver it, and by stating plainly in the report where we would be a suitable supplier and where we would not. ### How is this different from the Digital Discovery Grant? Digital Discovery funds a focused assessment answering 'should we do this, and where do we start'. Strategic Consultancy funds a larger engagement that designs the change and plans its implementation. Discovery is measured in weeks and thousands; Strategic Consultancy in months and tens of thousands. ### Does EU AI Act compliance work qualify? Governance, risk classification and policy design are normally treated as legitimate strategic consultancy where they are part of a defined change programme. Your adviser makes the call on your specific scope, and we would rather you asked before you contracted than after. ### How much does an AI integration project cost in Ireland? Digital Bridge prices AI work in bands: an AI feasibility assessment from €5,000 (grant-eligible), a baseline production build from €15,000, multi-system agent workflows at €25,000–€60,000, and enterprise programmes from €40,000 to €100,000+. Small-business website builds start at €499. Every engagement is fixed-price against a signed scope. ## Related pages - [All Irish AI grants compared](https://digitalbridge.ie/ai-grants-ireland) - [AI strategy, architecture & governance engagement](https://digitalbridge.ie/ai-integration-pricing#feasibility) - [AI engagement bands and pricing](https://digitalbridge.ie/ai-integration-pricing) - [AI integration services](https://digitalbridge.ie/ai-integration) ## Contact Digital Bridge, Gorey Business Park, Gorey, Co. Wexford, Ireland. Phone: +353 85 224 1848. Email: hello@digitalbridge.ie. Engineering lead: Joey Bray, Founder & Principal Engineer. Last updated: 2026-08-18 HTML version of this page: https://digitalbridge.ie/ai-grants-ireland/ei-strategic-consultancy-grant