AI Strategy and Operating Model
AI operating model design
Decision rights, governance cadence, funding model, and the choice between a central centre of excellence, federated pods, or both
- Duration
- 4 to 6 weeks
- Ladder stage
- Platform
- NATIVE stages
- Assess, Integrate, Expand
The situation
When this engagement is the right one
An operating model answers four questions: who decides, who builds, who pays, and who says stop. Most organisations have answered none of them and are surprised when pilots stall at the seam between functions.
You are probably seeing
- Nobody can name who approves an AI use case going into production.
- The centre of excellence has become a queue.
- Business units are buying platforms independently and the security team hears last.
What we do
The work, in the order it happens
- 01Map current decision rights as they actually operate, not as the policy describes.
- 02Choose the structural model: central, federated, or hybrid, with the cost of each stated.
- 03Define the governance cadence: what is reviewed monthly, what is reviewed at the gate.
- 04Set the funding model and the stage-gate criteria.
- 05Write the escalation and override standard that workflow designs must satisfy.
What you get, and keep
- A decision-rights matrix, by activity, with named roles.
- The operating model choice with a written rationale and its trade-offs.
- A governance cadence calendar with agendas and required artefacts.
- A funding and stage-gate standard.
Prerequisites
- At least one workflow already redesigned or in flight, so the model is tested against real work.
Not included
- We do not write job descriptions or run recruitment.
- We do not stand up the CoE as an outsourced team.
Where this sits in the method
- AAssessAre you ready, really?
- IIntegrateRewriting workflows and decision rights
- EExpandWhen the pilot becomes reality
Commercially this is a Platform engagement on the Proof, Product, Platform ladder.
FAQ
Questions we get asked
- Central or federated?
- Both, usually, in sequence. Central for the standard and the gate, federated for the build, with the crossover defined.
- Is this a policy document?
- No. Policy states rules. An operating model states who decides, on what cadence, with what evidence.
Related engagements
Work that usually sits either side of this
AI Governance and Risk
AI Governance Framework
A standing governance discipline with approval, override, and escalation named per workflow, not per company
AI Strategy and Operating Model
AI Strategy and Roadmap
A sequenced twelve-month plan built from a triaged use-case shortlist, each item carrying a metric, an owner, and a validation method
Next step
Ready to scope ai operating model design?
Bring the pilots you already have running. The first call is a scoping conversation, not a pitch.