AI Consulting for SMEs | Assessment, AI Act Compliance, RAG & Automation

Q: What is AI consulting and what does it include?

It's a structured journey covering five areas: strategic process assessment, AI Act compliance and governance, technical implementation (RAG, fine-tuning, AI agents), workflow automation and team training. It's not about installing software — it's about understanding where AI generates value for your business, implementing it correctly and ensuring people actually use it.

Q: What kind of companies is it suited for?

Italian SMEs across any industry, up to 50 employees. You don't need to be a tech company — we work with credit brokerage, real estate, manufacturing, services, retail and professionals. The only requirement is willingness to approach the journey seriously.

Q: What is RAG and how does it apply to business?

RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) is a technique that allows an AI model to query your corporate documentation — manuals, procedures, resolved cases, PDFs — to generate accurate, contextualized answers. In practice, we build a bot that "knows" your company. For example, we implemented a RAG system for a credit brokerage firm with 20 best practice cases per service, on on-premise infrastructure with Ollama and Qdrant vector database.

Q: What's the difference between RAG and fine-tuning?

RAG searches your documents in real-time and uses them to answer. Fine-tuning modifies the AI model's behavior itself, training it on your best practices. We often use them in sequence: first RAG to validate the use case, then fine-tuning to optimize performance. In a real project, we went from RAG to fine-tuning and reduced response times by 40%.

Q: Is my data safe? Where is it processed?

Data security is a priority. We work with cloud, hybrid and fully on-premise architectures. With Ollama, AI models run directly on your infrastructure — no data leaves your company. Our team regularly manages datacenters and server rooms in Italy, so we can design the architecture best suited to your privacy and compliance needs.

Q: How does AI Act compliance work for SMEs?

The AI Act requires every company using AI systems to classify risk levels, document usage and ensure sufficient AI literacy among staff (Article 4, in force since February 2, 2025). We produce the AI inventory, impact assessment (FRIA), compliance documentation and train the mandatory internal AI officer. Everything is customized to your specific reality.

Q: How long before we see results?

First tangible results arrive within 90 days. In a real project, a Real Estate company saved 20 hours/week in their technical department after implementing a RAG bot for support tickets. Overall journey duration depends on complexity, but every phase has concrete, measurable deliverables.

Q: Do we need an internal IT team?

No. We integrate with your existing structure, whatever it looks like. You need an internal point of contact — someone who knows the business processes and can make decisions. They don't need to be technical — they need to know how the company works.

Q: What's the difference between AI consulting and AI training?

AI consulting covers the entire journey: from assessment to technical implementation. AI training is a specific learning program for your team, with programs by level (executive, manager, operations) and business function. Often the two integrate: consulting identifies what's needed, training makes the team autonomous. Discover our AI training programs.

Q: Is AI consulting fundable?

Yes. The training component of our programs is fundable up to 90% with Lombardy Region grants (Continuous Training Call and Skills & Innovation Call). Compliance and governance programs may also qualify for innovation funding. Discover available grants.

The 5 Areas of Our AI Consulting

Strategic Assessment

We map your business processes, identify where AI generates real value, and build a roadmap with priorities, KPIs and concrete deadlines. For companies with many interconnected processes and systems, we use the CompanyTech BattlePlan — our structured assessment based on TOGAF® ADM — as a preliminary phase before introducing AI.

Discover the CompanyTech BattlePlan

AI Act Compliance & Governance

We classify your AI systems by the AI Act risk categories, produce the AI inventory, impact assessment (FRIA) and all required documentation. We train the internal AI officer — mandatory by law — and deliver the compliance package that brings your company into full compliance. Article 4 of the AI Act requires all companies using AI systems to ensure sufficient AI literacy among staff.

Read: AI Act obligations for Italian businesses Does the AI Act training obligation apply to you? Discover our training programs

Technical Implementation: RAG & Fine-Tuning

We build custom AI solutions: RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) systems that query your corporate knowledge base, and fine-tuned models that learn your domain-specific best practices. We work with cloud, hybrid and on-premise architectures — including Ollama for self-hosted models and vector databases like Qdrant. Our team regularly manages datacenter infrastructure in Italy.

Discover our AI Agents and solutions

AI Automation & Workflows

We design AI agents and automated workflows that integrate with your systems: CRM, ERP, email, documents. We primarily use n8n — open source, installed on your infrastructure — but work with any automation platform. From lead qualification to report generation, we build bots that save hours every week.

Explore all our AI services and bots

Training & AI Adoption

The technical department was spending over 20 hours per week on manual support ticket management, with no structured system.

Soluzione

We first mapped business processes with the CompanyTech BattlePlan. The extracted process PDFs became the knowledge base for a RAG bot that automatically creates, classifies and routes tickets.

20 hours/week saved for the technical department, tickets automatically classified with over 90% accuracy.

Our Method

Assessment

We analyze your processes, existing systems and automation opportunities. For more complex cases, we use the CompanyTech BattlePlan.

Strategy & Roadmap

We define priorities, measurable KPIs and deadlines. Every action has a concrete objective and an expected result within 90 days.

Implementation

We build the solution: RAG, fine-tuning, automations, compliance. We choose the technology based on your specific case.

Training & Adoption

We train the team, guide the change and measure results. Coaching is part of the journey, not an add-on.

Who It's For

CEOs, CTOs and CDOs of Italian SMEs who want to integrate AI with method

Companies looking for measurable results within 90 days, not endless proof of concepts

Businesses that need to comply with the AI Act and don't know where to start

Those who need concrete technical solutions: RAG, fine-tuning, bots, automations

Those who want an independent technology partner with no vendor lock-in

Companies that need to train employees on AI for regulatory compliance or competitiveness

CEOs, CTOs and CDOs of Italian SMEs who want to integrate AI with method

Companies looking for measurable results within 90 days, not endless proof of concepts

Businesses that need to comply with the AI Act and don't know where to start

Those who need concrete technical solutions: RAG, fine-tuning, bots, automations

Those who want an independent technology partner with no vendor lock-in

Companies that need to train employees on AI for regulatory compliance or competitiveness

Why Choose Castaldo Solutions

TOGAF® 9 Certified

Enterprise architecture methodology applied to AI: we don't improvise, we follow a proven framework.

Vendor-Agnostic

We're not tied to any vendor. We choose the best technology for your case: Salesforce, n8n, HubSpot, Dynamics, open source, Ollama.

Cloud, Hybrid & On-Premise

We manage datacenter infrastructure in Italy. Your data stays where you want it: cloud, on-premise or hybrid architecture.

Measurable ROI in 90 Days

Every project has KPIs defined from the start. If we can't measure the result, we don't start.

Il Sole 24 Ore Partner

2026 Business Partner of Italy's leading business newspaper. A guarantee of seriousness.

Multi-Certified Salesforce

5 Salesforce architectural certifications: Integration, Data, Application, Sharing & Visibility, Service Cloud.

From Our Blog

Insights, practical guides and analysis on artificial intelligence for Italian SMEs.

Infographic on the EU AI Act and compliance obligations for Italian businesses

AI Act: obligations for Italian businesses

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Balance between AI innovation speed and governance and compliance needs

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AI Act: obligations for Italian businesses

The EU AI Act is already in force and fines reach up to 35 million euros. Find out what obligations your company must meet and how to access funding.

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The importance of assessments before AI investments

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AI accelerates, governance doesn't

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FAQ

What is AI consulting and what does it include?

What kind of companies is it suited for?

What is RAG and how does it apply to business?

What's the difference between RAG and fine-tuning?

Is my data safe? Where is it processed?

How does AI Act compliance work for SMEs?

How long before we see results?

Do we need an internal IT team?

What's the difference between AI consulting and AI training?

Is AI consulting fundable?

What's the difference between you and a system integrator?

Do you only work with Salesforce?

AI Consulting for Italian SMEs

The Problem: AI Without Strategy