Transformation
In 30 days you know which level your company is on and where to start
The 30-day readiness assessment is a sprint that tells the board which level of the transformation the company is on and which one to start from, with a recommendation to implement, organise first, or stop. The AI Business Center Foundation (AIBC) is a think tank and advisory partner that helps the boards of construction, industrial and technical-services companies adopt artificial intelligence so that it delivers measurable results and builds competitive advantage.
An assessment is no longer a report to be read. It has become a board decision
We do not start with an implementation or a six-month commitment. We start with 30 days of work that end in a single board decision, taken on data rather than declarations. The assessment is the entry point to semantic transformation, that is, organising a company’s names, processes and data so that people, language models and board reports understand them the same way.
3 dimensions instead of a single number
| dimension | question | how we measure |
|---|---|---|
| people | what are the competences and the actual use of tools? | a knowledge test and usage data from systems, not a satisfaction survey |
| knowledge | is the company’s knowledge accessible and understandable to a model? | a sample of real employee and customer questions put to models working on the company’s knowledge |
| processes | can the process be described and measured? | a process card with an owner, inputs, outputs, decisions, exceptions and data; an assessment of value, feasibility and risk |
Each dimension receives its own result and its own list of causes. This shows the board where to start: with people, with organising knowledge or with a single process. The dimensions correspond to the first three levels of the method: competence, naming and linking.
We always assess the quality of a particular model’s answers in the context of a particular knowledge source and a particular process, never in isolation.
What stays with the company after 30 days
- a readiness card in three dimensions, with causes and a baseline for subsequent measurements,
- a list of repetitive processes ranked by value, feasibility and risk,
- an information friction map: where work stalls for lack of data, rules or decisions, and who unblocks it,
- a specification of one process ready for a pilot, with an implementation brief for the IT department,
- metrics and a method for measuring before and after, using data from the company’s systems,
- a recommendation: implement, organise first, or stop.
Templates, criteria and scales are the methodological property of the programme’s authors. The completed documents are the property of the company.
What we need from the company
- a decision-maker on the board who is responsible for the objective and for the decision on next steps,
- a process owner in each department involved,
- access to tasks, documents and data within the agreed scope,
- 20–30 employees ready for two workshops and interviews.
Without a decision-maker and a process owner we do not start, because the assessment would end in a report rather than a decision.
How it runs
| week | what happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | meeting with the board, choice of departments and processes, knowledge test, agreement on data access |
| 2 | workshops with employees, interviews with process owners |
| 3 | baseline measurement, sample questions on the company’s knowledge, process cards |
| 4 | readiness card, friction map, specification of the pilot process, decision meeting with the board |
This schedule is illustrative; the actual timetable depends on the number of departments and sites.
Frequently asked questions
Does the assessment require access to our systems?
Within the scope agreed with the company. We work from interviews with process owners, a sample of documents and data that the company itself selects, and data on tool usage and process times needed to measure the baseline.
Can the assessment end with a recommendation not to implement anything?
Yes. The assessment ends with one of three recommendations: implement, organise first, or stop. If the assessment has not shown a process, an owner and a measurable effect, we say so plainly.
How much time do employees need to give?
Usually 20–30 people take part in two workshops and short interviews. Process owners spend more time, because it is with them that we describe the process that is a candidate for the pilot.
What happens after the assessment?
The board decides on the basis of the readiness card and the recommendation. We start further stages only where the assessment has shown a process, an owner and a measurable effect. The scope and commercial arrangement of the next stages follow from the assessment.
Let’s start with an assessment
A good starting point is one process in sales, customer service or proposal preparation. Let’s talk about the assessment.