AI consulting in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia.
Cosmic is an AI consultancy headquartered in McLean, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC, that implements AI to move revenue, margin or hours for private companies. We work with companies across DC, Northern Virginia, Maryland, Baltimore, Annapolis and Richmond, and we'll come to your office for the discovery session and for working sessions when being in the room helps. We don't work for federal, state or local government agencies, and we don't hold security clearances.
For private companies. A free 30-minute call first, by phone or video; we’ll meet in person for discovery.
What we do
We start from one number, revenue, margin or hours, map the system that produces it, then build and ship the AI that moves it. Every release is reported against a baseline set before anything is built. The full approach is on our AI implementation page.
Cosmic comes from Pivotal Labs, where engineers worked inside client teams, a close cousin of what’s now called forward-deployed engineering. Being a drive away from most of the region means we can do that in person. We’re a boutique AI consultancy, so the people on the first call are the people who do the work.
Where we work
The examples under each area are the kinds of numbers AI can move there. Yours comes out of discovery.
AI consulting in Washington, DC
Downtown, Capitol Hill, the Navy Yard
A short drive from our McLean headquarters. DC is dense with professional-services firms, trade associations and nonprofits, organizations whose revenue depends on members, clients and proposals, and whose costs are mostly people's time.
The number: Often membership renewals, qualified pipeline, or the hours spent producing research and reports.
AI consulting in Northern Virginia
McLean, Tysons, Arlington, Alexandria, Reston, Herndon, Ashburn
Our home base. Northern Virginia has a large private technology sector along the Dulles corridor, from software and IT services companies to Loudoun County's data center cluster around Ashburn. Growth here depends on winning deals and on the cost of delivering the work.
The number: Often proposal win rate, the hours it takes to answer an RFP, or delivery cost per customer.
AI consulting in Maryland suburbs
Bethesda, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Silver Spring
The National Institutes of Health is in Bethesda, and the I-270 corridor is lined with life sciences, health IT and research companies. Much of the work is document-heavy and regulated, which is where careful AI saves the most time.
The number: Often the hours spent on documentation and review, or time to first revenue for a new product.
AI consulting in Baltimore
Downtown, Harbor East, Canton, Towson
Anchored by Johns Hopkins and the Port of Baltimore, with a strong base in healthcare, logistics and financial services. Operations teams here run on schedules, handoffs and paperwork.
The number: Often cost per shipment or claim, or hours spent on scheduling and handoffs.
AI consulting in Annapolis
Annapolis and Anne Arundel County
Maryland's capital and home of the U.S. Naval Academy, with maritime, government relations and professional-services firms that sell on expertise and relationships.
The number: Often qualified pipeline, or the hours senior people spend on work a system could draft.
AI consulting in Richmond
Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield
Virginia's capital and home of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, with a large base in financial services, insurance and corporate operations. It's a longer drive from McLean, and we make it for discovery and key working sessions.
The number: Often cost per transaction or policy, or hours spent on manual review.
What happens in person
Discovery at your office
The two- or four-hour discovery session works best in the room with your executive sponsor and the people who do the work today. We agree on the number, map the system behind it and choose where AI goes first.
Working sessions when they help
We come back for reviews, user testing and decisions that need a whiteboard. The build itself runs remotely between visits, in small releases you can see.
Paired enablement on site
If your own team will own the work after the engagement, pairing goes faster side by side. We use the Pivotal Labs "I do, we do, you do" model until your people can run it without us.
How it's priced
Each sprint has a fixed price, agreed before it starts, plus an outcome-linked fee tied to the number set in discovery, so part of what we earn depends on it moving. There’s no hourly billing. More on how AI consulting is priced, and on how to choose an AI consultancy.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an AI consultancy in Washington, DC that works in person?
Yes. Cosmic is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC, and works in person across DC, Northern Virginia, the Maryland suburbs, Baltimore, Annapolis and Richmond. We come to your office for discovery and for working sessions when being in the room helps, and build remotely in between.
Do you work with government agencies?
No. Cosmic works only with private companies. We don't take work from federal, state or local government agencies, and we don't hold security clearances.
Do you work with government contractors in Northern Virginia?
Only on the contractor's own commercial operations, such as sales, proposal development or internal costs, and only on the company's own systems. We don't work under government contracts, on government systems or data, or on anything that requires a security clearance.
Do you only work with companies in the DC area?
No. Cosmic works with clients across the United States, most of it remotely. The DC area is where we can also be in the room without a flight.
How much does AI consulting cost?
Each sprint has a fixed price agreed before it starts, plus an outcome-linked fee tied to the number set in discovery. It starts with a free 30-minute call, then a fixed-scope discovery session of two or four hours.
How big is Cosmic?
A team of four, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC. AI agents do the repetitive build work under the team's review, and the people you meet on the first call are the people who do the work.