The verdict in three sentences
An internal AI copilot wired to the company knowledge base costs 30,000 to 90,000 EUR in 2026, the range driven by security (permissions, isolation) and the number of connected sources. Expect 10 to 18 weeks and 500-1,300 EUR/month of maintenance. Well adopted, it saves 3 to 6 hours per employee per week on information search.
Anatomy of the budget
An internal copilot's cost centres on secure RAG and fine-grained access control. Here is the 2026 breakdown.
| Item | Range (EUR) | Timeline | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoping + data governance | 4,000 - 9,000 | 2-3 wks | Sources, sensitivity, permissions |
| Secure RAG + indexing | 10,000 - 30,000 | 4-6 wks | Connectors, isolation, ACLs |
| Interface + integration (SSO) | 6,000 - 18,000 | 2-4 wks | Chat, Teams/Slack, SSO |
| Guardrails + audit | 5,000 - 15,000 | 2-3 wks | Citations, logs, confidentiality |
| Change management | 5,000 - 18,000 | 2-4 wks | Training, adoption, KPIs |
A narrow scope (2-3 sources, one team) starts around 32,000 EUR; a multi-department deployment with SSO and fine-grained isolation exceeds 80,000 EUR.
Usage cost, adoption and confidentiality
The model is billed by usage: 0.002 to 0.03 EUR/1,000 tokens in 2026. The real challenge is not API cost but adoption.
| Team size | API cost/month (est.) | Recommended maintenance | Monthly hours saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 employees | 150 - 900 EUR | 500 EUR | ~650 hrs saved |
| 150 employees | 450 - 2,700 EUR | 900 EUR | ~2,000 hrs saved |
| 400 employees | 1,200 - 7,200 EUR | 1,300 EUR | ~5,200 hrs saved |
The copilot must strictly respect permissions: everyone sees only what they are entitled to. On confidentiality, we enforce ACL-based isolation, no reuse of data for training, logging and, if needed, dedicated European hosting.
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Mini case study
Aoife, CIO of an industrial mid-market company in Dublin (220 employees), finds her teams spend ~4 hrs/week searching for procedures, specs and documents. Average loaded cost: 38 EUR/hour.
She invests 58,000 EUR + 1,000 EUR/month of maintenance + ~1,200 EUR/month of API. Even with cautious adoption (60% of employees, 3 hrs saved/week on average), the gain is 132 x 3 x 38 x 4.3 = ~64,700 EUR/month in time value. Even capturing only a fraction converted into real productivity, the project pays back in 3 to 5 months.
FAQ
Does the copilot respect access rights? Yes, this is central: secure RAG applies existing ACLs, everyone only queries their authorised documents. Without this isolation, the project is a leak risk.
What productivity gain to expect? 3 to 6 hours per employee per week on information search, subject to good change management and an up-to-date knowledge base.
Is our data used to train the model? No. We contractually rule out reuse, with logging, encryption and possible dedicated European hosting for sensitive data.
What is the main failure factor? Adoption, not technology. Without training and integration into daily tools (Teams/Slack, SSO), the copilot stays underused despite a good model.
What does usage cost at scale? For 400 employees, 1,200 to 7,200 EUR/month of API depending on the model, plus 1,300 EUR/month of maintenance. We optimise via caching and hybrid models.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your knowledge sources, headcount and security constraints: we quote an internal copilot between 30,000 and 90,000 EUR with projected productivity gain. 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.
