Full Disclosure: I Run an AI Agency
I'm Diyanshu, founder of SpeedMVPs. We build AI-powered MVPs. I'm going to tell you exactly how to evaluate agencies like ours — including the questions that make agencies uncomfortable. Why? Because founders who choose well become great clients. And the AI agency industry has too many mediocre shops that overpromise and underdeliver.
15 Questions to Ask Every AI Agency
Technical Credibility (Questions 1-5)
1. "Show me 3 shipped AI products with real users." Not prototypes. Not demos. Products with actual users. If they can't show this, they're learning on your project.
2. "What LLM/model did you use in your last project and why?" The answer reveals technical depth. A good agency discusses trade-offs (cost vs. accuracy vs. latency). A bad agency just says "we used GPT-4."
3. "How do you handle AI hallucination in production?" This is THE question that separates experienced AI agencies from web development shops that added "AI" to their services. Look for: output validation, confidence scoring, human fallback, structured outputs, guardrails.
4. "What's your testing approach for AI features?" Traditional testing doesn't work for AI. Look for: evaluation datasets, accuracy benchmarks, edge case testing, regression testing for prompt changes, cost monitoring.
5. "Can I talk to your lead developer?" If the sales team can't connect you with the person writing code, that's a sign the development team is outsourced or offshore with communication barriers.
Process & Communication (Questions 6-10)
6. "What does your discovery phase look like?" Agencies that skip discovery will build the wrong thing. Good answer: 3-5 days of problem definition, feasibility testing, and architecture design. Bad answer: "We start coding in week 1."
7. "How often will I see progress?" Best practice: daily async updates (Slack/email), weekly demo calls. If they say "we'll show you the final product in 4 weeks," run.
8. "What happens when scope changes mid-project?" Scope WILL change. Good agencies have a change request process with cost/timeline impact assessment. Bad agencies either refuse all changes or say yes to everything and miss deadlines.
9. "Who owns the code and IP?" You should own everything. If the agency retains IP rights or uses a proprietary framework you can't take elsewhere, that's a red flag.
10. "What's your team structure for this project?" Know who's working on your project. How many people? What seniority? Is it the same team from start to finish, or will people rotate?
Business & Value (Questions 11-15)
11. "What's included in the price and what's extra?" Common surprise costs: hosting setup, third-party API fees, post-launch bug fixes, documentation, deployment. Get a line-item breakdown.
12. "What's your support policy after launch?" Good agencies include 2-4 weeks of post-launch support. Some offer maintenance retainers. If they hand off and disappear, you'll be stuck when something breaks.
13. "Have you turned down a project recently? Why?" Agencies that take every project are desperate for revenue. Agencies that turn down poor-fit projects care about quality. Ask them when they've told a client "this isn't a good idea."
14. "Can you work within my budget range?" Don't reveal your budget first. Describe the project and ask for a range. If their minimum is 3x your budget, move on. If they immediately say "yes, we can do it for any budget," they'll cut corners.
15. "What would you do differently if this were your product?" This reveals whether they think strategically or just execute orders. Good agencies challenge your assumptions. Great agencies suggest a simpler scope that achieves the same goal faster.
Red Flags That Should Kill the Deal
No shipped AI products in portfolio. "We can build anything" with no specialization. Proposal generated in 24 hours without asking detailed questions. No discovery phase in the timeline. Only offers time-and-materials for MVPs. Lead developer is unavailable for a 15-minute call. Client references are "confidential." Promises specific results ("guaranteed 10x revenue").
Green Flags You Want to See
Pushes back on your feature list ("you don't need that for MVP"). Asks about your success metrics, not just features. Shares specific technical decisions from past projects. Offers fixed pricing for defined scope. Includes post-launch support in the contract. Shows genuine interest in your business problem, not just the technology.
How SpeedMVPs Answers These Questions
50+ shipped AI MVPs with real users. Fixed pricing, 2-3 week delivery. Built-in 3-5 day discovery phase. Daily progress updates, weekly demos. You own 100% of code and IP. 2-week post-launch support included. We've turned down 30% of inquiries because they weren't a good fit.
We're biased, obviously. But now you have the checklist to evaluate us and everyone else objectively.
