The executive guide to AI readiness

The executive decision

Where is the institution ready to move, and what must be true before activation?

AI readiness is the institution's ability to decide where AI belongs, what it may use, how it will be governed, and how progress will be judged.

Use this guide to leave with

• A shared view of readiness and the next condition to establish
• Clear preconditions for moving into controlled execution
• A leadership agenda grounded in decisions instead of product features

Define the institutional decisions first.

Align the executive team on the work to improve and the evidence that would justify continued investment before discussing tools.

Assess readiness across the entire institution.

Create one current-state view across strategy, data, governance, frontline enablement, and operations.

Make the conditions for activation visible.

Name what must be true before the institution commits significant budget, staff time, or member traffic.

Use Organize → Activate → Measure → Grow as the decision spine.

Treat readiness as the foundation for a governed operating cycle, not a one-time assessment.

Questions worth putting on the agenda

1. Which two workflows are important enough to measure and contained enough to govern?
2. What evidence would cause us to proceed, pause, or stop?
3. Who may change scope, approve activation, and accept residual risk?
4. Can every material answer be traced to an approved source, policy, or decision?