Comparison updated · Newest review
Side by side
Published data on both agencies. Where one side measurably differs, the dot marks it: the higher score, the lower published rate, the larger team, the more recent review. Which of those is an advantage depends on your brief.
| Attribute | Adastra | Faculty |
|---|---|---|
| Editorial score | Higher score: 74.8/100 | 73.3/100 |
| Hourly rate | Contact for rates | Contact for rates |
| Team size | Larger team: 250+ | |
| Location | Frankfurt, Germany | London, United Kingdom |
| Founded | 2000 | 2014 |
| Last reviewed | More recent review: Sep 16, 2026 | Aug 4, 2026 |
What we said about each
Our take on Adastra
NLB is the study that settles the deployment question: the Slovenian bank put an agentic-AI control layer and its first use case into production in five months, with identity-based approvals through Entra ID, separated development, test and production environments, cost monitoring on Grafana dashboards and a published 80% cut in the time and cost of standing up each further use case. Two more named systems sit behind it—GenAI enterprise search for KWS on Amazon Bedrock, OpenSearch and…
Reviewed Sep 16, 2026
Read the full assessment →Our take on Faculty
Published case studies show systems that survived scrutiny most agencies never face—the NHS AI Lab's model-validation process for clinical AI, deployed generative-AI tooling inside Tide's support operation, and an LLM-backed recommender that now sources 25% of Axiom Law's hires. The published work index spans defense, energy, insurance, and government, though many entries are anonymized or brief. Rates are not published and the engagement profile is institutional—expect procurement-grade…
Reviewed Aug 4, 2026
Read the full assessment →Best for
Where each agency measurably leads on the published data — team capacity, declared specializations, editorial scoring, and rates where both publish them. Use these to match an agency to your project priorities.
Choose Adastra if you need
- larger team capacity for multi-stream or enterprise-scale programs
- disclosed specialization in Manufacturing
Choose Faculty if you need
- closer collaboration at a smaller team scale
- disclosed specialization in Healthcare / Legal
- broader service offering — also covers AI Automation and AI Agents
Strengths and watch-outs
Both upsides and risks, straight from our editorial assessments.
Adastra
Strengths
- Client executives go on the record by name and title—NLB's CIO and AI architect, GZ Media's print production director, Magna Bohemia's CEO—so references are traceable before the first call
- German delivery is not a sales address: four offices with street addresses in Frankfurt, Wolfsburg, Munich and Hannover, a named German CEO and a named German AI lead
- The German-language index lists further AI engagements at E.ON, KUKA, ams OSRAM and Hyundai, so the German book is not one story deep
Watch-outs
- No rate is published anywhere read—ask for a blended day rate and for the split between German and Czech or Slovak delivery before comparing bids
- The 150-plus AI specialists and 20-plus years are the firm's own figures—ask how many sit in the German practice and who would staff your engagement
- Governance is the visible strength; if you need the model built and evaluated, ask for the evaluation method and accuracy numbers behind a delivered use case
Faculty
Strengths
- Published 10% ticket-handling-time reduction at Tide, with the deployed tools named (AgentAssist, MemberSummarise on Amazon Bedrock)
- Applied AI since 2014 with an in-house fellowship talent pipeline—delivery here predates the LLM wave
- NHS England's deputy director of AI is quoted crediting the validation work in the published study
Watch-outs
- Much of the work index is anonymized (military, challenger bank)—ask for a speakable reference in your sector
- No published rates; budget for institutional procurement timelines
Service coverage
Where the two overlap, and where each covers ground the other does not.
Industry coverage
Where the two overlap, and where each covers ground the other does not.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has more FinTech experience, Adastra or Faculty?
- Both agencies show documented FinTech work. Faculty has the broader industry stack overall, with disclosed experience in Healthcare, Legal beyond their shared focus.
- Which scores higher overall, Adastra or Faculty?
- Adastra scores 74.8/100, 1.5 points higher than Faculty at 73.3/100. Both portfolio quality and business credibility feed into the score — see our methodology for the full breakdown.
- When should I consider both Adastra and Faculty?
- Consider running parallel discovery briefs with Adastra and Faculty if your project spans multiple workstreams, you want competitive proposals to compare scope and approach, or you're undecided between the specialization angles each brings (see the Best for cards above). Most engagements ultimately go with one — but the parallel-brief phase is a low-cost way to validate fit.
Read the full reviews
A side-by-side is a starting point. The full assessments carry the portfolio analysis, documented engagements, and the evidence behind every strength and watch-out above.