Is it worth funding, and is it ready?
Five questions to answer before the money moves.
Whether the investment is AI, analytics or the data underneath it, the same five questions usually decide whether it pays. Most organizations answer them after the budget is committed. Start with the one nobody in the room can answer with evidence.
Written for the people who fund the work, not only the people who build it.
- 1Value & EconomicsWhat is it worth, and what will it cost?
- 2Governance & AccountabilityIf it is wrong, who owns the decision?
- 3Pilot to ProductionWhy did the pilot work but production did not?
- 4Data ReadinessIs it the model, or the data underneath it?
- 5Adoption & WorkforceYou launched it. Are people working differently?
Usually just one.
The five questions.
Each is asked by someone accountable for the outcome. Each has its own page, the decision it leads to, and one review to start with: a fixed scope, and a fee agreed in writing before work starts.
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1Value & Economics
What is it worth, and what will it cost?
The AI business case is only as good as the costs you count.Explore this question- The decision
- Fund, reprioritize or stop
- Start with
- Business Case Review
- Asked by
- CFO · CEO · Board
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2Governance & Accountability
If it is wrong, who owns the decision?
Every AI decision needs a name, a review and a record.Explore this question- The decision
- Approve, constrain or defer
- Start with
- Governance & Accountability Review
- Asked by
- Board · Risk · Legal · CIO
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3Pilot to Production
Why did the pilot work but production did not?
Pilots stall on everything around the model.Explore this question- The decision
- Scale, revise or stop
- Start with
- Production Readiness Review
- Asked by
- CIO · Business owner
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4Data Readiness
Is it the model, or the data underneath it?
A better model will not fix the data underneath it.Explore this question- The decision
- Fix what is shared, work around a contained gap, or narrow the use case
- Start with
- Data Readiness Review
- Asked by
- CDO · CFO · COO · IT director
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5Adoption & Workforce
You launched it. Are people working differently?
Tools can launch and training can finish without changing how people work or decide.Explore this question- The decision
- Expand what works, rework how it fits, or retire it
- Start with
- Adoption Review
- Asked by
- COO · CHRO · Business owner
Not sure which question is yours?
Most organizations have one question blocking the rest. It is usually the one nobody in the room can answer with evidence.
Bring the decision in front of you. Thirty minutes with the person who would lead the work. We identify the question most likely holding it up, and what evidence would settle it.
Find your question with usOther ways in
- A first read, before anyone talks to us.AI Readiness AssessmentEighteen questions, about seven minutes, no email required. The result names one place to start.
- The answer needs evidence from your own systems.AI & Data Assessment SprintTwo weeks, six dimensions scored against your systems, fixed fee agreed in writing first.
- Arriving from a sector?IndustriesEach industry page hands you to the question that matters most there.
One result behind each question.
Each figure is the one the client reported, labelled by kind: a change in the work, a cost per outcome, or a skill measured in assessments.
- 1 · Value & Economics8%less discount spent per incremental visitThe growth cost less, not more.A national quick-service restaurant chainUnit cost
- 2 · Governance & Accountability98%of recorded events validated on the first attemptOnly approved issuers could write the record, and anyone authorized could check it.A US state governmentOperating result
- 3 · Pilot to Production37%fewer Tier 1 live-agent contacts on the issue types coveredCases it cannot solve go to a person with the full context.A global electronics manufacturerOperating result
- 4 · Data Readiness25%fewer manual comparison stepsThe data was already there. Each team was reading it separately.A global asset managerOperating result
- 5 · Adoption & Workforce80%of participating staff demonstrated improved data skillsTrained by role, then checked.A regional health organizationAssessed result
Questions leaders ask first.
Is this only about AI?
No. The same five questions decide whether analytics and the data platform underneath pay off. AI often makes them more urgent: its running cost usually grows with use, and a wrong answer can reach more people before anyone notices.
Which question should we start with?
The one nobody in the room can answer with evidence. If that is not clear, a thirty-minute conversation or the free AI Readiness Assessment will point to it.
Do we have to answer all five before we start?
No. Most organizations have one that is blocking the rest. Each page ends with one way to start on that question, and hands you to the next one when you are ready.
What is a review, and how is it priced?
Each review is a bounded engagement delivered through one of our starter services, with the scope fixed and the fee agreed in writing before any work starts. It produces the evidence, a recommendation, and the next decision with its owner. Each question page says which service delivers it.
How is this different from your practice pages?
These pages start from the problem in business terms, for the people who fund the work. The practice pages describe the capability that solves it, for the people who will build it.
Bring us the decision in front of you. We’ll tell you which question it is.
Thirty minutes with the person who would lead the work: a senior AI and data strategist who has taken programs from strategy to systems running in production, in more than one industry. If what we hear suggests it is not ready to fund, we will say so.
Book 30 minutes on your decisionNot sure which question is yours? Thirty minutes with the person who would lead the work.
