Transforming Setbacks into Strength: Lessons in AI Consulting and Trust

Introduction

I embarked on a journey to engage with my ex-colleague, who is currently a VP in a small industrial construction company, by providing AI advisory and learning sessions. Initially, it seemed like a promising exploration—teaching and guiding them through foundational concepts like LLMs, prompts, and RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation).

Early Teaching Phase

In the beginning, I had to explain the basics: what an LLM can do, what a prompt is, and how RAG techniques enhance information retrieval. After about a month, this ex-colleague returned, claiming there was negligible value and no tangible deliverables. This should have been a red flag, indicating that the cost and effort involved in teaching, training, and experimenting were not fully appreciated.

The Red Flags

In hindsight, I realize I should have caught the warning signs earlier. I kept insisting that experimentation was the key to understanding the capabilities and limitations of GenAI tools. Instead, this person seemed to push for more work in a shorter timeframe—a strategy to extract maximum value with minimal investment.

Shifting Roles and Promises

Later, I received an offer to join their team with a fixed pay and 5K shares, helping to architect solutions, pitch them to the market, and shape the product roadmap. The proposal seemed promising, aligning with my goal of taking on a more advisory and architectural role. Little did I know it was a tactic to consult, gain maximum value, and then part ways.

Building a Product and Architecture

As trust deepened—bolstered by a long-standing relationship spanning over a decade—we agreed on shares and informal terms. I invested significant effort: in training the team from scratch in LLM prompting, RAG, search customization, improving accuracy, data preprocessing, and system architecture. I demonstrated how to organize data effectively and leverage different approaches for better product outcomes. I also built a pitch deck, developed an API strategy, and created a technical feature roadmap.

The Unexpected Termination

Even as the product began to take shape, I was blindsided. Suddenly, he informed me they no longer required my services because they had found someone else to present the solution to the market. My requests for formal acknowledgments, like patents, were brushed aside. From the start, they had planned to offer low pay and shares, then terminate later. There was a clause stating that shares were invalid if I was no longer working for them—a clever strategy of betrayal. This was a person I had known for 14 years. It’s a stark reminder of what even people you know well can do.

Lessons Learned

This experience taught me that trust should be tempered with caution. Even long-standing relationships can falter when values, mindsets, and ethics come into play. Nonetheless, the knowledge I gained—developing product pitches, architectures, and end-to-end solutions—are useful for my current customers :), whether they need unstructured ETL solutions, industrial RAG systems, or tailored recommendation engines. Everything that broke you, builds you even stronger in the next epoch.

Always approach advisory roles with careful consideration and safeguards in place, no matter the length or depth of prior relationships. While losing out can hurt, the experience and skills you acquire will benefit you and your future clients.

My Advice

• → Don't be too open to "any opportunity."
• → Share your perspectives and answer questions with a clear, direct response.
• → Ask strategic, thoughtful questions to understand the big picture.
• → Show your value proposition and let your work speak for itself.

Keep Going!!!