Cadre AI is one of the best-run AI consulting firms in the market. They have a proven framework, strong case studies, and an OpenAI Service Partner badge. They also will not take your call if your business does under $30M in revenue. Ironback was built specifically for the 25 to 50 person specialty trade company doing $2M to $15M — the market that Cadre and every firm like them have deliberately left behind.
Specialty trade businesses doing $2M–$15M where the owner answers the phone, manages the crews, and cannot justify a six-figure annual consulting engagement. You need one reliable person who knows your industry, not a team of enterprise strategists.
PE-backed companies doing $30M+ revenue that need multi-department AI transformation with a structured framework, a dedicated team, and the credibility signals that a PE buyer or board requires.
Real Cost Comparison
Year-one total cost of ownership — including setup, ongoing fees, and hidden management costs.
$7,500 assessment + $3,500–5,500/month build + $2,500–3,500/month ongoing. Designed for trade businesses doing $2M–$15M revenue with 25–50 employees.
Cadre AI runs approximately $8,000–$17,000/month retainers (estimated from $3M–$6M Year 1 revenue across roughly 30 clients). Free AI Maturity Index assessment as lead gen for enterprise prospects. Targeting $12M–$15M ARR in Year 2.
Cadre AI: $96,000–$204,000/year based on estimated retainer ranges. Requires revenue scale ($30M+) to justify. Ironback: $49,500–$85,500/year — built for the economics of a $5M trade company, not a $50M PE portfolio company.
Common Questions
It matters if you need custom large language models or enterprise-grade AI infrastructure. Most trade businesses do not. You need calls answered, estimates sent, follow-ups automated, and compliance docs filed. Those are operational problems, not infrastructure problems. An OpenAI badge does not make dispatch scheduling work better for a 30-person fire sprinkler company.
Cadre publishes strong numbers because they work with $30M+ companies where the math is big by default. Ironback publishes trade-specific numbers: recovering 2 missed jobs per month for a mobile hydraulics shop is $27,500 in annual revenue. For a biohazard company, getting insurance claim approval from 60% to 91% changes the entire P&L. The numbers are smaller in absolute terms and more relevant to your actual business.
Maybe. If you hit $30M and need to restructure AI across multiple departments with hundreds of employees, an enterprise firm like Cadre makes sense. But most trade businesses that grow from $5M to $15M do not suddenly need enterprise consulting. They need the same operational specialist doing more. Ironback scales with you — more automations, more categories, more sophistication — without requiring you to switch to a consultant who has never met a boiler contractor.
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