AI Strategy and Operating Model
AI strategy consulting
A sequenced twelve-month plan built from a triaged use-case shortlist, each item carrying a metric, an owner, and a validation method
- Duration
- 4 to 6 weeks
- Ladder stage
- Pre-Proof
- NATIVE stages
- Assess, Target
The situation
When this engagement is the right one
An AI strategy that is a list of ambitions is a wish. A strategy is a sequence: what happens first, what has to be true before the next thing starts, and who is accountable when it does not. We build the sequence from evidence you already have, and we cut what cannot be measured.
You are probably seeing
- You have a use-case list with more than twenty items and no ranking anyone believes.
- Two functions are building the same capability with different vendors.
- The roadmap is a set of quarters with technology names in them, not outcomes.
- Budget is approved annually but decisions are needed monthly.
What we do
The work, in the order it happens
- 01Reconcile the existing use-case inventory against the three gates and cut hard.
- 02Sequence the survivors by dependency, not by enthusiasm: data availability, workflow readiness, governance capacity.
- 03Set the funding model: how a use case gets money, how it loses it, and who decides.
- 04Define the twelve-month plan in four gated waves, each with a pass line.
- 05Write the board narrative: what will be true in ninety days, in six months, in a year.
What you get, and keep
- A sequenced twelve-month plan, four waves, each with entry and exit conditions.
- A use-case register with metric, owner, expected benefit, and validation method per item.
- A funding and stage-gate model.
- A board-ready narrative document, six pages, no deck theatre.
Prerequisites
- A readiness baseline, either from our Diagnostic or from your own work, with scores we can interrogate.
- A sponsor with budget authority in the room for the sequencing decisions.
Not included
- We do not produce a technology selection matrix as the primary artefact. Platform choice follows the workflow decision.
- No vendor introductions for commission. We hold no reseller relationships.
Duration and price shape
4 to 6 weeks
Fixed fee. Published on request against scope; never hourly.
Where this sits in the method
Commercially this is a Pre-Proof engagement on the Proof, Product, Platform ladder.
FAQ
Questions we get asked
- How is this different from the Diagnostic?
- The Diagnostic establishes what you can absorb and picks the first target. Strategy sequences the following twelve months and sets the funding logic.
- Can you write the strategy without the assessment?
- Only if a credible baseline already exists. Without one, the plan is a preference ordering, not a strategy.
- Do you stay for delivery?
- Optionally, through the First Workflow Build or a Fractional CAIO engagement. The strategy is usable without us.
Related engagements
Work that usually sits either side of this
AI Strategy and Operating Model
AI Readiness Diagnostic
A scored assessment across leadership commitment, data usability, workflow clarity, and governance, with a named owner assigned to the weakest pillar
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
Next step
Ready to scope ai strategy and roadmap?
Bring the pilots you already have running. The first call is a scoping conversation, not a pitch.