Honest comparison for enterprise decision-makers in Spain evaluating AI with Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG, PwC, EY or Capgemini. Real advantages, when to pick each and what to expect for the same budget.
Each row is a real measurable criterion. We mark with ★ where each option wins. When the Big Four wins, we say so.
| Criterion | Datalvar AI | the Big Four |
|---|---|---|
| Time to production (first pilot) | ★2-3 months | 9-18 months |
| First pilot cost | ★€15-80k | €150-500k |
| Cost per production use case | ★€20-60k | €80-300k |
| Dedicated team | ★2-4 seniors · high dedication | Mixed teams senior+junior · fragmented dedication |
| Project scope | Acotated to concrete process with measurable ROI | Full transformation with multiple workstreams |
| Required sponsor | A director with decision capacity | Committee + C-level sponsor + steering |
| Geographic focus | Spain, Portugal, ES-speaking LATAM | Global with local presence |
| Physical presence at client | On demand or remote | Usually on-site teams |
| Working methodology | Weekly demo, code from week 1 | Phases (discovery, design, build, test, rollout) |
| Documentation delivered | Executable technical + operational | Extensive (PowerPoint + technical + policy) |
| Enterprise references (>€1B rev.) | Few, building | ★Many, decades of history |
| Horizontal coverage (beyond AI) | Only AI and automation | ★Strategy, tech, risk, audit, legal, tax |
| Civil liability insurance | Yes, for enterprise projects | ★Yes, with broader coverage |
| Structured training for internal teams | 4-12 sessions per project | Formal training programs with certification |
We publish this list so you decide with criteria. If we don\'t fit, we save you and us time.
The insurer asked for quote from a Big Four (18 months, €320k) and from us. Acotated pilot in one line, 3 months, €45k. ROI at week 8 with own metrics. Scaled to 4 lines in the following 6 months with our team + progressive handover to internal CoE.
Big Four proposed integrated corporate contract lifecycle management platform (€200k, 12 months, requiring change of current document manager). Us: AI agent over existing iManage. 6 weeks, €22k. Junior freed 380 h/month.
Enterprise consultancy proposed replacing CDP + integrating standard commerce platform. Us: custom model over current catalogue + API integration with Shopify Plus. 10 weeks, €60k vs €380k budgeted.
Three concrete reasons: different operational structure, specialised focus and scope honesty. Big Four operate business models with corporate overhead (global offices, partners, commercial layer, internal training) billed to the client. Our structure is direct: seniors executing, no intermediate layers.
Additionally, a project that in Big Four includes parallel workstreams for "strategy, governance, organisational change, architecture, risk, communication", we acotate to the executable core: what gets automated, how, at what cost and what ROI. Other workstreams may be useful but aren't necessary to put AI in production.
Finally, our team is 100% senior. In Big Four pilots are sold with partners and executed with juniors + managers. Our hour cost is higher than a junior's, but hourly productivity is 3-5x higher.
Depends on the project. For initiatives with high regulatory risk (central banking, public health, defence) or full transformation projects with multiple workstreams, yes, Big Four brings horizontal coverage and backing we don't have.
For acotated AI/automation initiatives with measurable ROI, the real risk is the opposite: hiring Big Four for a €50-200k project usually results in pilots taking 9-18 months, changing scope 3 times and ending without reaching production. The speed of a specialised boutique reduces the "project that never ships" risk.
We sign NDA and processing agreement under GDPR. For enterprise projects we offer formal SLAs and civil liability insurance. We provide references under NDA when sales requires it.
Yes. When for political reasons, global reference or corporate procurement you're interested in contracting with Big Four, we can act as specialised technical partner in execution. In this model Big Four handles the commercial relationship and project governance, and we bring the AI team that executes.
The advantage: you keep Big Four's reference and coverage, with speed and specialised expertise of a boutique. Trade-off: total cost remains higher than working with us directly — there's Big Four margin on top.
This model works especially well in banking, insurers and public sector where vendor governance is critical.
We deliver executable technical documentation (architecture, commented code, operational procedures, runbooks) + structured training for your team (4-12 sessions depending on complexity). We don't do 300-page PowerPoint decks — we do documentation a reasonable DevOps or data engineer can read and operate.
If you need "Big Four style" format (formal policy, RACI matrix, extensive gap analysis), we can produce it but it usually adds 10-15% to budget without adding operational value. We only do it when internal compliance explicitly requires it.
The proof of the pudding: at project end your team should be able to operate the solution without us. If that doesn't happen, the handover wasn't worth it. This is our KPI, not the deliverable page count.
Free 30-min diagnosis. No hard sell — if the Big Four fits your project better, we\'ll tell you.