An estimate that arrives instantly should be treated as a warning, not a service level. A competent team responds with a list of questions: ai automation agency about users and volumes. A provider that quotes without asking anything is simply working from a template, and a guess resurfaces as a change order — and you will pay for it.
Look out for a gap between the people you meet and those who eventually appear in the repository. Ask for the names and CVs of the actual team in the contract, custom llm development with wording covering replacement. A team that will only describe abstract roles and will not commit to specific engineers is keeping its own flexibility at your cost.
Ask for commit-level visibility from day one. A team that hands over nothing between demos is inviting you to accept a black box. Daily commits tell you who is really on the project far better than a slide deck. The same applies to the CI pipeline: if it does not exist, assurances about quality are just talk.
Vague contract language around IP is rarely a formality. The document needs to state explicitly that all deliverables transfer to your business upon settlement of the relevant invoice. Check also the jurisdiction and the payment schedule: a large upfront payment with nothing due in return for weeks eliminates your only leverage.
Last, pay attention to the working rhythm. Ask what overlap there will be with your working day, which named person is expected to answer day-to-day questions and how quickly. A few hours of overlap is normally sufficient; zero overlap stretches a five-minute question into a lost day. Careless writing in the sales phase will not improve later.