Corporate AI training in 2026 costs anywhere from a few hundred dollars per person for a recorded course to tens of thousands for a custom programme built on a team's own workflows. For a 20-person team, TAI Labs' indicative ranges are $13,000 to $16,500 for a workshop series, $24,000 to $30,500 for the full 12-week programme, and $35,000 to $44,500 for the programme plus a year of the enablement platform, all in USD. This guide explains what those formats include, what moves the number up or down, what the wider market publishes, and why the right comparison is not price per session but what the team still has a year later.
The four formats and what each one costs
Almost every offer on the market is one of four formats. They are priced differently because they leave the team with different things. A recorded library is cheap per seat and leaves a completion record. A single workshop leaves a deck and a prompt gallery. A cohort course leaves trained individuals. A custom programme leaves working workflows, a skills library and a system the team runs itself. Compare on that last column, not the first.
| Format | Published price shape | What the team keeps |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded library (seat licence) | Per seat per year; often bundled with an LMS | Completion records. Applies to nobody's workflow in particular. |
| Single workshop (half day to one day) | A few thousand dollars per session, capped by attendee count | A deck, a prompt gallery, a good afternoon. |
| Public cohort course (individuals join) | Hundreds to low thousands per person | Trained individuals, with no shared team system. |
| TAI Labs workshop series (20 people) | $13,000 to $16,500 indicative total | Discovery, two live sessions on your workflows, labs, reusable materials. |
| TAI Labs full programme (20 people) | $24,000 to $30,500 indicative total | Discovery, baseline, four sessions, office hours, demo day, readiness report, handover. |
| TAI Labs programme plus platform (20 people) | $35,000 to $44,500 indicative total | The full programme plus a year of the enablement platform, pathways and dashboards. |
What moves the number up or down
For a custom programme, five things decide the price. Team size is the obvious one and the least interesting: the per-person figure falls as the cohort grows, because discovery and design are done once. The others are about scope.
- Team size. At 10 people the full programme is roughly $20,000 to $25,500; at 20 it is $24,000 to $30,500; at 50 it is $33,000 to $42,000, or about $730 per person.
- Depth. Two live sessions on one workflow costs less than four sessions across a team's whole process with implementation support between them.
- Connections. Teaching native tools is cheaper than building custom MCP connections or automations on your systems, which need feasibility work and security review.
- Delivery. Remote live sessions are the default. On-site workshops add travel and scheduling, agreed in the proposal.
- The platform. A year of the enablement platform adds readiness scoring, role pathways and manager dashboards on top of the programme.
A worked example for a 20-person sales team
Take a 20-person sales team on the full programme, at the indicative $24,000 to $30,500. That is about $1,320 per seller, for twelve weeks of discovery, four live sessions on their own CRM, two office hours, demo day and a readiness report, plus the skills library and the programme handed over on your learning platform. If the meeting-brief workflow alone saves each seller an hour a week, the team recovers around 1,000 hours a year. Whether that is worth the fee is a question your own baseline answers in week twelve, not a number a vendor should promise in week one.
Start from the workflow, not the headcount
Name the one repeated task the training must change. A budget for 'AI skills' cannot be evaluated; a budget for 'meeting briefs in a quarter of the time' can.
Decide who keeps what
Ask what remains after the last session: a deck, trained individuals, or workflows, skills and a system your team runs. Price each option on that.
Count the seats honestly
Include the people who do the workflow, not the whole department. Add champions from the next teams if the rollout will continue.
Add the licences separately
The assistants and any connector tools are your subscriptions, not the training fee. Existing licences usually cover a first programme.
Set the baseline before you sign
Time three or four real tasks now. It costs an afternoon and it is the only way to know at week twelve whether the money worked.
Ask for a scope, then a price
A quote before discovery is a guess. A 15-minute scoping call produces an indicative range; the written proposal after it confirms the scope and the fee.
The tool licences are a separate line
Training fees are often compared without the licence costs behind them. The assistants and connectors the team learns on are the company's own subscriptions, and most first programmes run on licences the company already holds. We do not resell any of them.
ClaudeTeam or enterprise plan, per seat; existing plans usually suffice
ChatGPTTeam or enterprise plan, per seat
Microsoft CopilotAdd-on to Microsoft 365, per seat- Claude CodeIncluded with developer plans or usage-based
n8nCloud plan or self-hosted; needed for operations workflows
Custom MCPsNo licence; engineering time to build and review connections
Do it with us once
Get an indicative range for your team in 15 minutes.
Tell us the team, the workflow and the timeline. We come back with a scoped plan and a written proposal, and we send the outline whether or not you buy.
Session versus system: the comparison that matters
The cheapest line on any price list is the single workshop, and it is also the one companies buy twice. The reason is in what it leaves behind. When the deck is the deliverable, the knowledge leaves with the trainer, and the same introduction is bought again for the next hires. A programme that ends with the team's own skill files, prompt libraries, SOPs and the training itself on the company's learning platform is bought once. That is the case for doing it with us once rather than paying a monthly coaching retainer: the retainer sells continued dependence, the handover sells its own end.
- Is ongoing coaching necessary, or an upsell? Necessary only if nothing was handed over. Office hours for a quarter after the programme cover the real questions.
- Why does a custom programme cost more than a certificate course? Discovery, live labs on your tools, implementation support and a handover are labour. A certificate course is a recording.
- Can we start smaller? Yes. The workshop series covers one workflow and one team; most companies then decide about the full programme with evidence.
Frequently asked questions
How much does custom AI training cost for a 20-person team?
Indicative totals in USD: $13,000 to $16,500 for a workshop series, $24,000 to $30,500 for the full 12-week programme, $35,000 to $44,500 for the programme plus a year of the enablement platform. A written proposal confirms the scope and final fee.
What is the price per person?
It falls with cohort size because discovery and design are done once. On the full programme it is about $2,220 per person at 10 people, $1,320 at 20 and $730 at 50.
Is there a cheaper way to start?
The workshop series: discovery plus two live sessions on one workflow, with labs between them. The free AI workflow audit and team readiness assessment cost nothing and tell you where to start.
Are the tool licences included?
No. The assistants and connectors are your own subscriptions, and most first programmes run on licences the company already holds. We do not resell software.
Do you charge a monthly retainer afterwards?
No. The programme ends with a handover. Office hours continue for a quarter. The programme plus platform option is a one-year platform subscription, priced as such, not a coaching retainer.
How do I get an exact quote?
Book a 15-minute scoping call. We discuss the team, one or two workflows, format, timing and budget, then send a written proposal.
Recorded libraries cost least per seat and change least; single workshops are cheap and get bought twice; custom programmes cost more because they leave a working system behind. For a 20-person team TAI Labs' indicative ranges are $13,000 to $16,500, $24,000 to $30,500 and $35,000 to $44,500 by format, and the way to judge any of them is a baseline you set before you sign.