The verdict in three sentences
For a group with 800 employees and 12,000 procedures, a RAG AI assistant (retrieval-augmented generation) costs USD 16,000 to 38,000 excl. VAT (roughly MAD 150,000 to 350,000), plus USD 320 to 1,100 a month in API usage. It pays off once 300 staff save 20 minutes a day, which is realistic when searching currently takes an hour. The project takes 3 months, provided access rights and compliant hosting (UAE PDPL, or Morocco's Law 09-08 for regional entities) are handled from day one.
What a RAG assistant actually does
The assistant does not invent answers from memory. It first retrieves the relevant passages in your documents (quality procedures, HR notes, contract templates, technical sheets), then writes a short answer citing its sources with a link to the original document. If no document covers the question, it says so.
| Component | Role | Common 2026 choices | Share of budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connectors | Read SharePoint, Google Drive, DMS, intranet | Native APIs, nightly sync | 20% |
| Chunking and indexing | Turn 12,000 documents into passages | Vector database (pgvector, Qdrant) | 15% |
| Access control | Filter by user permissions | Active Directory or Entra ID groups | 20% |
| Language model | Write the sourced answer | Claude, GPT or open source model | 10% |
| Interface | Web chat, Teams or internal WhatsApp | Custom web app | 15% |
| Evaluation and monitoring | Measure quality, log questions | Set of 200 reference questions | 20% |
The most underestimated part is access control: a technician must never get, even through rephrasing, an answer drawn from a finance leadership memo. Filtering is therefore applied before retrieval, at the level of each indexed passage.
Budget and compliance
| Item | Essential version | Group version |
|---|---|---|
| Initial development | USD 16,000 excl. VAT | USD 38,000 excl. VAT |
| Document volume | Up to 5,000 documents | 12,000 documents and more |
| Connected sources | 1 to 2 | 4 to 6 |
| Language model API | USD 320 a month | USD 1,100 a month |
| Hosting | USD 160 a month | USD 430 a month |
| Lead time | 8 weeks | 3 months |
| Data protection filing | Included | Included with impact assessment |
The UAE Personal Data Protection Law, like Morocco's Law 09-08, frames cross-border transfers of personal data. Two options work: in-country hosting with an open source model, or a cloud model with pseudonymisation of personal data before sending. The second is cheaper, the first reassures legal teams at listed groups.
Gains by department
| Department | Staff concerned | Current search per day | Estimated gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production and maintenance | 120 | 50 min | 25 min |
| Quality and HSE | 25 | 70 min | 35 min |
| Human resources | 20 | 60 min | 25 min |
| Sales and sales admin | 60 | 45 min | 20 min |
| Customer support | 45 | 80 min | 35 min |
| Finance and procurement | 30 | 40 min | 15 min |
These are 2026 estimates observed on comparable deployments. They depend mostly on the quality of the starting documentation: an outdated document produces an outdated answer.
Mini case study
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Layla, CIO of an 800-employee food group headquartered in Dubai, targets 300 active users. Saving 20 minutes a day means 100 hours a day, or 2,100 hours a month. At a loaded hourly cost of USD 35, the theoretical value reaches USD 73,500 a month. Layla conservatively counts 30% as truly reallocated time: USD 22,050 a month. The project billed USD 30,000 excl. VAT, plus USD 750 monthly for API and hosting, pays back in under 2 months.
FAQ
Can the assistant be wrong?
Yes, but far less than a general chatbot, because it answers only from your documents and cites its sources. On a set of 200 reference questions, we target over 90% correct answers before going live.
Are Arabic and French documents supported?
Recent models handle Arabic, French and English. Multilingual retrieval adds about 10% to the indexing budget.
How do we control the API bill?
We cap answer length, cache frequent questions and set a monthly budget. For 300 users, usage generally stays between USD 320 and 1,100 a month.
Should we clean up the documentation first?
Removing duplicates and obsolete versions is strongly advised. It takes 2 to 3 weeks of business-side work and is often the best investment of the project.
Can we start small?
Yes, a pilot on a single department (quality or support) costs USD 6,500 to 9,700 excl. VAT and takes 5 weeks. It measures gains before rolling out group-wide.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your document volume, the sources to connect and your data protection constraints: we will price the RAG assistant, the monthly API budget and a 3-month plan. 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.