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Enterprise AI Readiness Assessment
For leaders deciding whether the organization can run its first serious AI initiative. Answer as things are today, not as planned.
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In brief
This assessment shows whether your organization can run its first serious AI initiative. You answer questions under data, ownership, process, sponsorship, operations and governance. Your answers give a readiness band, your two weakest areas with the steps to take in order, and a report to download. It is rule-based, runs in your browser and is not an audit.
Step 1 of 6: Data
0 of 18 answered
- Data (current step)
- Ownership (not yet reached)
- Process (not yet reached)
- Sponsorship (not yet reached)
- Operations (not yet reached)
- Governance (not yet reached)
Data
Data is what an AI system learns from and works on, so how it is reached, how far it can be trusted and whether it may be used set a ceiling on everything built on top. These questions ask about all three for the first initiative.
Ownership
Ownership is about who answers for the system once it is live and the team that built it has moved on. A system without a named owner has no one who can change it, stop it or defend it.
Process
An AI system fits into work that people already do, so that work has to be understood as it really runs, with its checks and its people. These questions ask whether that understanding exists before anything is built.
Sponsorship
Sponsorship is whether someone with authority will carry an initiative past the pilot, fund it and stand behind it when it falls short. It also covers whether the people whose work changes have been brought along.
Operations
Operations is what happens after launch: who watches the system, who hears about changes beneath it and whether you could return to the manual route. A system that nobody watches drifts quietly.
Governance
Governance is the written rules, the test evidence and the checks on what people actually use. It decides whether an approval means something and whether staff know where the lines are.
Answer the 3 questions left on this step to go on.
Your result
Where your points are
Your two weakest areas
Your strongest area
Want to talk through what this means for your organization?
Talk through your result with usOn this page
What does this assessment ask, and what does it leave alone?
It asks whether the footing under a first serious AI initiative is there: data you can reach and may use, an owner for the live system, a process drawn as it really runs, a sponsor who funds production, someone watching after launch and written rules. In delivery work the technology usually does what it was built to do; what stalls an initiative is that footing.
It will not rank use cases, compare vendors or size a return, and it cannot say whether one particular pilot is ready to go live, which has an assessment of its own. It takes your account of the organization and hands it back in order, with the weakest places named.
Who should answer, and what does the sitting involve?
The executive sponsor, or the head of the function that would use the first initiative, is the natural person, and a first pass alone is short. A better one adds a colleague from technology and one who runs the process involved, each answering on their own before you compare.
You see one area at a time, and each answer is a card with a level and a note on what it means in practice. When you cannot tell which card applies, take the lower; not knowing is an answer. Describe the organization as it is today, because an owner agreed in a meeting but not written down is the lower card.
Is this the right instrument for your decision?
It fits when
- No AI initiative is funded yet and you want to know whether you could carry one
- A board or an investor has asked whether you are ready
Look elsewhere when
- One pilot is built and close to launch, which calls for its own assessment
- The decision is which use case, which vendor or what return to expect
The trade is speed against independence. Nobody checks what you say, so the value lies in the conversation it starts.
What does each band ask of you?
A band is a posture and not a grade, and each one points to a different next decision.
| Band | Where the footing stands | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| Groundwork first | Work would depend on individuals and favors | Build the footing for one use case first |
| One contained use case | Some areas carry weight and others will not | Pick a use case on your strongest areas |
| Ready for a first serious initiative | The gaps, not the footing, are where a project would fail | Fund it, with the weakest areas as conditions |
| Ready to run several | The arrangements that carry AI into daily use exist | Run more than one, and keep watching what is live |
Why do the two weakest areas matter more than the total?
Each area is scored as a share of its own points, and the two with the smallest share come first. Two organizations can reach the same total, one with every area at a middling level and the other with two areas near nothing. The first can proceed. The second will stall at the weak areas however well the rest is built, since an initiative needs data, an owner and a process together.
What should happen in the days after you have the result?
- 01
Ask the sponsor which answers they would change
Send the report with that one question; answers that depend on who is asked are the first to settle.
- 02
Have two colleagues answer on their own
Pick people who run data, process or risk, and compare area by area.
- 03
Give the first written step to a named person
Put a name and a date beside it, so that it is work for the week and not advice.
- 04
Answer again once it is done
A second sitting shows whether the weakest area has moved.
What do people ask before using the AI readiness assessment?
Should we use this before we fund our first AI initiative?
Yes, if no initiative is funded yet and you want to know whether you could carry one. It checks the footing under data, ownership, process, sponsorship, operations and governance. If one pilot is already built and close to launch, use the assessment made for a single pilot instead.
What does a low band mean for our AI plans?
Spend first on the footing; do not wait. The lowest band describes an initiative that would depend on individuals and favors, so funding one now would likely give a demonstration that never reaches daily use. Pick one use case, name its owner and map its process.
Why does the result name weak areas when I already have a total?
A total can hide it. One organization may sit at a middling level everywhere while another has weak areas near nothing, with the same total. The second will stall at those areas, because an initiative needs data, an owner and a process together. So areas are ranked by share.
Can I show the result to our board as proof that we are ready?
Use it to start the conversation, not as proof. It is one person's account of the organization on the day, and nothing in it inspects a system, a data set or a contract. Ask colleagues in other functions to answer separately and compare before anyone relies on it.
Related
Want to talk through where your footing is thinnest?
Describe what you are weighing in a few lines. A senior practitioner replies with a suggested first conversation.