The verdict in three sentences
A useful generative AI POC costs 5,000 to 15,000 EUR and a solid production build 15,000 to 50,000 EUR in 2026, excluding monthly API cost. Profitable cases are concrete: document assistant, quote drafting, email triage, RAG on internal data. The key success factor is not the model but data quality and integration into the workflow.
Use cases and budgets
Aim at a narrow high-volume case rather than a fuzzy general AI. Each case is priced in hours saved and quality gained.
| Use case | POC | Production | Monthly API | Typical ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document assistant (RAG) | 8,000 EUR | 20,000 - 40,000 EUR | 200 - 800 EUR | 6-10 months |
| Quote drafting / review | 5,000 EUR | 15,000 - 25,000 EUR | 100 - 400 EUR | 4-8 months |
| Email triage and routing | 5,000 EUR | 12,000 - 20,000 EUR | 80 - 300 EUR | 4-7 months |
| Meeting minutes summary | 4,000 EUR | 10,000 - 18,000 EUR | 60 - 250 EUR | 5-9 months |
| Complex internal RAG | 15,000 EUR | 35,000 - 50,000 EUR | 400 - 1,200 EUR | 8-14 months |
API cost and data: what gets forgotten
Recurring cost depends on token volume and model choice. Data privacy rules (GDPR) require framing data hosting and retention.
| Item | 2026 order of magnitude | Reduction lever |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly API calls | 60 - 1,200 EUR | Smaller model, cache |
| Hosting / vectors | 30 - 300 EUR/month | Shared vector store |
| Data preparation | 20-40 % of project | Narrow scope |
| Data privacy compliance | 2,000 - 6,000 EUR | EU region, anonymization |
| Maintenance / changes | 15-20 %/year | Single well-defined case |
Mini case study
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Sophie, head of a 40-person engineering SME in Lyon, lost 1.5 h/day per engineer searching 5,000 pages of technical docs. A RAG assistant at 28,000 EUR (+ 350 EUR/month API) answers with cited sources. Gain: 0.8 h/day x 20 engineers, about 90,000 EUR/year of time, for ROI reached in under 5 months.
FAQ
Do we need to train our own model? Almost never in an SME. An off-the-shelf model + RAG on your data suffices and costs 10 to 100 times less than training.
How much is the API per month? From 60 to 1,200 EUR depending on volume. Caching and a right-sized model cut the bill sharply.
Is my data exposed? No, with EU-region hosting, zero provider-side retention and anonymization of sensitive data. Frame this from the POC.
How long for a POC? 4 to 6 weeks for an evaluable POC, then 4 to 10 more weeks to production depending on integration.
How do we avoid hallucinations? RAG with cited sources, guardrails, and a narrow scope. We measure reliability on a test set before going live.
Let's scope your project. Describe one precise case (documents, volume, users) and your data constraints: we will price a POC and its production build. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
