Practical AI for business

Choose the Best AI Tools for Your Business

Build a shortlist around your task, budget and constraints instead of a universal ranking.

Write your requirements first

Before looking at plans, finish this sentence: “We need to produce this output, from these inputs, this often, with this person responsible for checking it.” A specific requirement makes it easier to reject attractive features you do not need.

Use three passes

  1. Must-haves: remove options that fail essential requirements such as a required integration, permission control or export format.
  2. Realistic cost: estimate seats, usage, setup and review time for your workload.
  3. Representative task: compare the remaining options with the same sample and acceptance criteria.

Questions for a vendor

  • Which plan includes the feature we need?
  • How are usage limits measured and what happens when they are exceeded?
  • What data is retained, who can access it and what controls do we have?
  • How can we export data, cancel and remove connected access?

Keep the answers with the date and source. Revisit the decision when your workload or the vendor’s terms change. Start with the examples in our AI tools directory and use the comparison worksheet to document your trial.