If you sell expertise, there’s a question you’ve probably been avoiding: what happens when a client can get most of what you offer for £20 a month?

We have long believed that you get what you pay for.

In professional services, price has traditionally signalled quality. When one provider charges £900 and another £350, we tend to assume the higher-priced expert offers greater knowledge or capability.

This assumption is now being challenged. A £20 monthly AI subscription can draft business plans, analyse competitors, write marketing strategies, build financial models, or review contracts. Tasks that previously required consultants, copywriters, analysts, or designers can often be completed by clients using AI tools in a single evening.

I have experienced this shift firsthand. Several years ago, when our planning application was refused, I paid a professional to explain the decision notice, outline requirements, clarify the process, identify necessary evidence, and advise on next steps.

This week, I revisited that planning application using an AI tool. I asked questions, uploaded documents, reviewed responses, and identified the next steps—without calls or fees.

When information is readily available, what unique value do professionals provide?

The gap you can’t see

My wife provided insight into this issue. While researching for her PhD, she asked ChatGPT to evaluate a topic in her field. The response was well-structured and convincing, sufficient for a non-expert. However, on closer review, she found key terms and concepts missing, making the evaluation inadequate for her paper. In some respects, the response lacked substance.

As we talked it through, it became clear that only her knowledge and expertise allowed her to notice this.

This prompted me to reconsider my own experience with AI. Although I felt well informed, I could not identify what might have been missing or what additional factors I should have considered.

This is where I believe expertise is evolving. It is not simply about knowing the basic answer, but about understanding what else should be considered, recognising underlying assumptions, and distinguishing between what appears correct and what is actually correct.

These are precisely the aspects a non-expert cannot assess. This represents both the value and the challenge for professionals.

The market is splitting

If AI can produce drafts in seconds, speed is no longer a differentiator. When information costs £20 a month, selling access to it is no longer a competitive advantage. Similarly, if AI can generate service packages quickly, offering more options will not distinguish your services.

This dynamic is driving a race to the bottom on fees. Tasks that once required a planning consultant can now be completed for the cost of a subscription. I anticipate that a low-cost tier will absorb much of the former mid-market work: fast, adequate, self-service, and AI-assisted. For many clients and situations, this will suffice.

However, there is another perspective. Consider a business owner evaluating a significant change to their business model. AI can outline options, model scenarios, and draft strategy documents, but this is insufficient. The critical thinking that determines success remains essential:

What problem are we solving?
For whom?
What outcome can we repeatedly create?
What evidence do we have?
Who helps the leader decide when none of the options is good enough?

This is where I believe expertise will evolve. The expert is no longer just a provider of answers, but also a challenger, decision partner, and steward of judgment. Equally important, the expert remains accountable for the outcome, a responsibility that cannot be fulfilled by a subscription.

Why reducing your fee is not the solution

If AI can approximate your £900 service, reducing your fee to £700 does not address the core issue. You are still competing with a £20 alternative.

A more relevant question is: what does my service provide that clients cannot achieve independently? Claude or ChatGPT can design a consulting package in minutes, but neither can determine whether it will succeed in the market. A strategy on paper is not equivalent to implementing it within an organisation, driving behavioural change, making difficult decisions, or taking responsibility for outcomes.

The question I can’t yet answer

When budgets are constrained, and a £20 alternative is readily available, will business owners continue to value the reassurance and trust that come from working with a professional?

Will they recognize the difference between a basic answer and a well-considered one? As my wife’s example illustrates, identifying this distinction requires the very expertise clients may choose not to purchase.

I don’t have a definitive answer.

Why this might be good news

However, I am confident the central question has shifted. It is no longer “How do I compete with AI?” but rather “What remains valuable when producing knowledge is nearly free?”

My perspective has evolved. Clients who use AI to explore their options often receive responses that appear comprehensive. They will arrive at meetings more informed and prepared, with clearer expectations and objectives for the professional.

That raises the bar for us. For the first time, I’m starting to think this may be a good thing.

We need to be better prepared, know our stuff, and be much clearer about who we work with, the problems we solve, and the difference our service makes.

The meetings that follow should be more productive for both sides, with less time explaining the basics and more time on what matters. This is where our expertise can stand out, and I expect less resistance to our fees. Clients will have already done the groundwork.

What they will be prepared to pay for is the experience of working with us: how we think, what we say, how we make them feel, and what changes because we were involved.

AI doesn’t remove the need for expertise. It accentuates it, and can make our engagement with clients easier. Some clients will pre-qualify themselves before they ever get in touch, and that selection on both sides should make the engagement more rewarding for everyone.

You get what you pay for. Increasingly, what clients pay for is the experience.

P.S. Here is a simple first step: reply and share which part of your service you would never delegate to AI. I’ll read every response and share my honest perspective.

Until we meet.
Morton.