The verdict in three sentences
An internal AI assistant (RAG architecture) that answers your teams' questions on your procedures costs between USD 15,000 and USD 45,000 in Dubai in 2026, depending on document volume and security requirements. It indexes your documents, performs semantic search and answers with cited sources, under access control. Plan for 6 to 10 weeks of setup, with a usage cost of a few cents per question.
What a RAG assistant is for
RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) plugs a language model into YOUR documents: procedures, contracts, manuals, internal notes. Instead of digging through 15 shared folders, an employee asks a natural-language question and gets a precise answer, with a link to the source document. It is the end of "who knows where the latest version of the procedure is?".
| Function | Without assistant | With RAG assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Find a procedure | 10-20 min | 15-30 s |
| Answer reliability | Variable | Sourced and dated |
| New-hire onboarding | 3-4 weeks | 2-3 weeks |
| Repetitive HR/process questions | Human support | 24/7 self-service |
| Confidentiality | Scattered files | Partitioned, logged access |
The key value is the sourced answer: the assistant does not "guess", it cites the exact passage of the document, avoiding errors and reassuring on compliance.
Cost in USD
The budget depends on document volume, user count and security level (local hosting, access partitioning). 2026 orders of magnitude.
| Scope | Documents | Project cost (USD) | Monthly cost (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot | < 500 | 15,000 - 22,000 | 250 - 500 |
| Standard | 500 - 5,000 | 24,000 - 34,000 | 500 - 850 |
| Advanced | 5,000 - 20,000 | 37,000 - 45,000 | 850 - 1,500 |
| Multi-department | 20,000+ | Custom quote | 1,500+ |
The cost per question is around USD 0.02 to 0.10 in tokens depending on answer length. The monthly fee covers hosting, re-indexing of updated documents and support.
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| Usage cost item | 2026 estimate |
|---|---|
| Cost per question (tokens) | USD 0.02 - 0.10 |
| Monthly re-indexing | Included in monthly fee |
| 3,000 questions/month | ~USD 150 - 300 |
| Secure hosting | USD 200 - 700/month |
Mini case study
Awa, HR director at a services company in Dubai (180 staff), spends about 40 hours a month with her team answering the same questions on leave, expenses and procedures. Costed at USD 40/loaded hour, that is USD 1,600/month. She invests USD 26,000 in a RAG assistant over 1,200 documents, plus USD 600/month. The assistant absorbs 65% of repetitive questions in self-service, freeing ~26 hours/month (~USD 1,040) and speeding onboarding. Beyond the measured gain, the assistant guarantees up-to-date, traceable answers, a compliance asset. The HR time saved covers over a quarter of the monthly fee, the rest funded by overall team productivity.
FAQ
Do my confidential documents stay private? Yes. We favour controlled hosting, access partitioned per department and full logging. Where needed, we use no-retention models.
How much does a question cost? In 2026, expect USD 0.02 to 0.10 per question in token cost. Over 3,000 questions/month, that stays under USD 300, excluding hosting.
Do I need to reorganize my documents first? No, but a minimum of tidying improves quality. Indexing handles PDF, Word, Excel and internal pages; we clean duplicates during scoping.
What is the setup timeline? Plan for 6 to 10 weeks across indexing, access configuration and acceptance on your real business questions.
Can the assistant make up answers? The risk is sharply reduced by RAG: the assistant answers from your documents and cites its sources. Absent a reliable source, it says so rather than inventing.
Let's scope your project. Give us your document volume, your user count and your confidentiality requirements, and we'll price an internal AI assistant pilot. 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.
