Whether your organisation is in any state to adopt AI
A five-dimension assessment of your data, governance, skills, process and infrastructure, scored and evidenced, with the gaps that would cause an AI project to fail set out before you commission one.
£2,500 fixed fee, agreed in writing before any work starts
Book a free 30-minute conversationThis has a sibling
The AI opportunity audit answers where AI would be worth the money. This answers whether you could adopt it if you knew. If you have not decided either question yet, start here. A ranked list of opportunities is not much use to an organisation whose data cannot support any of them.
AI opportunity audit »Most AI projects do not fail on the technology
They fail because the data was never in a state to support the use case, because nobody had agreed who approves an AI decision, or because the process the tool was meant to improve was undocumented and inconsistent in the first place.
These are all knowable in advance. They are just not knowable from a vendor demonstration, and they are rarely visible to the people inside the organisation, who have adapted around them for years.
What the assessment is
A structured review across five dimensions, scored against a published four-level scale, with the evidence for each score written down so you can disagree with it.
It does not recommend tools and it does not rank opportunities. It tells you what state you are in, what would break first, and what has to be true before any AI investment is defensible.
The five dimensions
Each is scored one to four. The lowest score matters more than the average, because the weakest dimension is what fails first.
Data
Is there data of sufficient quality, in one place, that anyone is allowed to use?
A score of oneAccurate records held in four systems that disagree with each other.
Governance
Who approves an AI decision, and what is never delegated to a tool?
A score of oneAn AI policy downloaded from a template and never discussed by the board.
Skills
Can anyone internally judge whether an AI output is wrong?
A score of oneOne enthusiast, no oversight, and a leadership team taking it on trust.
Process
Is the process the tool would improve documented and consistent?
A score of oneSix people doing the same task six different ways, all of them correct.
Infrastructure
Can your systems be integrated with, safely and without a rebuild?
A score of oneA core system with no API and a supplier who charges for every export.
What lands on your desk
A buyer paying for an assessment is entitled to know what arrives at the end of it. This is the whole deliverable.
AI readiness assessment
Prepared for your board · 18 to 24 pages
- A one-page summary written for a board paper, quotable without rewriting
- A score of one to four on each of the five dimensions, with the evidence behind it
- The binding constraint: the single dimension that would cause a project to fail first
- A remediation list, ordered, with an indication of effort and who internally would own it
- A readiness statement, setting out what must be true before any AI spend is defensible
- A named point at which reassessment would be worthwhile, usually six to nine months
Delivered as a document you can circulate, plus a 90-minute walkthrough with whoever needs to understand it. The report is written to be read by trustees and finance directors, not by a technology team.
What you get
- Five scores against a published scale, with the reasoning written down so it can be challenged
- The binding constraint named, which is usually not the one the organisation expects
- An ordered remediation list, with effort indicated and an internal owner suggested for each
- A board-ready readiness statement: what has to be true before AI spend is defensible
- A 90-minute walkthrough with the people who have to act on it, in person or remote
What it costs
Organisations over 250 people are quoted individually. The fee is agreed in writing before any work starts, and it does not change.
Who this is for, and who it is not for
This is for you if
- Your board is being asked to approve AI spend with no independent view of whether the organisation could absorb it
- You have tried an AI pilot that quietly did not go anywhere
- You are regulated or data-sensitive, and governance has to be demonstrable
- You are about to commission an AI build and want the constraints found before the contract, not after
This is not for you if
- You already know you are ready and want opportunities ranked. Buy the AI opportunity audit instead
- You want a tool recommendation. This assessment names no products
- You are looking for validation of a decision already taken
- You are under ten people, where the answer is usually a conversation rather than an assessment
Why the score is worth having
No software to sell
I do not own, licence or resell a product. Nothing in a recommendation points at something I profit from.
No reseller agreements
No partner tiers, no referral fees, no vendor relationships that need feeding.
No platform commissions
If the right answer is the system you already have, that is what I will tell you.
Evidence
Assessments delivered, and what they found.
Case study · legal
55 digital audits across a global firm, scored on one framework
Comparable scores across every office, which made the investment case arguable for the first time.
55 digital audits »Case study · charity
An independent review that told a trust what state it was actually in
Scored, evidenced and written for the people who had to act on it rather than for the people who commissioned it.
Devon Wildlife Trust digital review »What happens next
Book a 30-minute conversationRelated services
Not sure where to start?
Most clients begin with a conversation. No pitch, no hard sell.
Just a straightforward discussion about where you are and whether I can help.
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