AI Consulting Berlin 2026: Which Funding and Contact Points Exist?

In short: Digitalprämie Berlin, long the obvious funding pot for digitalization, no longer exists in 2026, IBB Business Team GmbH is no longer accepting applications for it. An SME in Berlin that wants to fund an AI consulting project today can still claim up to EUR 1,750 through the nationwide BAFA subsidy, plus free initial orientation from the Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Berlin and the Zukunftszentrum Berlin. Anyone planning a concrete digitalization or AI investment should instead look at Transfer BONUS or Pro FIT, both run by IBB.

What Berlin state funding is still available for AI and digitalization in 2026?

Berlin used to have its own, comparatively simple funding program for exactly this kind of project, and many searches still land there.

• In its last version, Digitalprämie Berlin funded 50 percent of eligible expenses, up to EUR 7,000 in the Basic module and up to EUR 17,000 in the Plus module, according to the funding guideline of the Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises. After a restart in August 2022, the program has since closed again: IBB Business Team GmbH now states directly that "keine Zuschüsse mehr" (no further grants) can be applied for, and lists it on its program overview among the discontinued programs.
• Transfer BONUS is still running: it funds knowledge and technology transfer with research institutions, and its digitalization variant covers up to 70 percent of costs, capped at EUR 45,000, for technology-oriented Berlin SMEs.
• Pro FIT is also active and finances early-stage technology companies with up to EUR 500,000, split evenly between a grant and a loan. Berlin's Senate Department for Economic Affairs explicitly names artificial intelligence as a target field of the program, alongside data-driven business models and intelligent software solutions.

Anyone searching for "Digitalprämie Berlin" today usually lands on a program that no longer exists, while the state-level alternatives that are actually current target investment projects rather than pure consulting costs.

What does the federal government fund beyond Berlin's own programs?

For the consulting costs themselves, a federal program is usually the better address than a Berlin state program.

The BAFA funding guideline explicitly places Berlin among the "alte Bundesländer" (former West Germany), with a funding rate of 50 percent of consulting costs, capped at EUR 1,750, against a maximum of EUR 3,500 in eligible costs. A company can fund up to five consultations over the guideline's term, but no more than two per year, and must file the application before the consulting starts, through one of the listed coordinating offices (Leitstellen). That makes the federal subsidy the most reliable building block in 2026 for Berlin companies that want an AI consulting project subsidized, regardless of what is currently running or has expired at state level.

Where can Berlin SMEs get free initial guidance on AI?

Before a funding application makes sense at all, Berlin offers several free, vendor-neutral assessments worth checking first.

• The Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Berlin is funded with federal money and offers workshops, webinars, and a showroom at the Forum Digitale Technologien, free of charge and vendor-neutral, with focus areas ranging from AI applications to the EU AI Act.
• The Zukunftszentrum Berlin is funded by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the European Social Fund Plus, and the State of Berlin, and supports companies free of charge for up to ten days, or 80 consulting hours, on digitalization and AI questions.
• IHK Berlin bundles offers including the KInsights! AI application course, an AI showroom, and the KI-Manager certificate program for member companies.
• Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie, the state's own economic development agency, runs the #ai_berlin platform with free orientation talks, digitalization breakfasts, and an overview of the city's funding and advisory offers.

Four contact points, one common thread: all four target SMEs specifically, are free to use, and replace the orientation before an AI project starts, not the implementation itself.

How is Berlin's economy structured, and what does that mean for AI projects?

Berlin is not a small market for AI consulting, judging by sheer company numbers alone.

• For 2024, a total of 188,834 legal entities and 196,449 establishments registered in Berlin were captured in the statistical business register, according to the Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg.
• In the ICT sector alone, plus software and games, IHK Berlin counted around 2,400 and 6,200 companies respectively in 2021, together about a fifth of the city's entire digital economy cluster.
• Most of these companies qualify as small or medium-sized enterprises under the EU definition, which is exactly the target group for BAFA funding and the Mittelstand-Digital centers.

For an AI project, this mainly means Berlin offers an unusually dense pool of specialists, suppliers, and potential pilot partners, which often makes implementation easier than in smaller economic regions.

What types of AI consulting providers exist in Berlin?

Anyone searching for "AI consulting Berlin" runs into a wide field of provider types that are rarely directly comparable.

• Specialized digital and AI agencies, usually focused on individual use cases such as chatbots, automation, or data analysis.
• Large, often international consultancies with their own AI practices, mainly serving larger mid-market companies and corporations.
• Independent AI consultants and small boutiques, often cheaper, but with limited capacity for larger implementation projects.
• Implementation-first consultancies that offer strategy and software development under one roof, instead of handing off to an external developer after the analysis.

A full, independent overview with selection criteria is available in our post Which AI Consultancy Is Best for German SMEs in 2026?; ranking individual Berlin providers is deliberately not part of this article.

What does AI consulting cost in Berlin?

Price ranges in Berlin do not differ fundamentally from other major German cities, though the density of providers does.

• Hourly rates typically sit between EUR 120 and 350, and day rates between EUR 1,200 and 3,500, according to our post What Does an AI Consultant Cost?
• Project-based AI consulting usually ranges from EUR 2,000 to well over EUR 50,000, depending on scope and implementation depth.
• After deducting the BAFA subsidy of up to EUR 1,750, the out-of-pocket cost of the first consulting engagement drops noticeably, though it changes nothing about the cost of the implementation that follows.

Separating the pure consulting fee from implementation cost makes an offer easier to judge realistically than looking at the day rate alone.

Where we fit in

We are Die AI Berater, based in Hanover, and we advise companies nationwide, remote and on-site in Berlin as well, not out of a Berlin office. On AI projects, what matters less is where a consultant is registered and more whether they can actually deliver the implementation, and that delivery capacity is what we bring from Hanover to Berlin. Our AI potential analysis costs a one-time fee of EUR 999, fully credited against a subsequent implementation. Details are available under Services and Pricing. Whether a specific project qualifies for funding is decided solely by the respective funding body, not by us, but we are glad to review it together with you in an initial conversation.