Starting with AI

AI readiness assessment
where AI fits, what it is worth, and what to leave alone

Most organisations have started with AI and few have finished. The AI Readiness Assessment shows where AI could return money in your organisation, on value cases built from your own time and cost data, what your data and controls will bear, what already runs without oversight, and what not to automate, with a costed roadmap to a first proof of value.

Book an AI Readiness Assessment

The first conversation is confidential, without obligation and without charge.

The assessment is a paid engagement led by a senior practitioner.

Is your organisation ready for AI?

Probably in part. Most firms your size have started, and few have finished: among Australian firms of 200 to 500 staff, 78 per cent report some degree of AI adoption and 16 per cent report broad use.

Readiness comes down to six things:

a named process with a value you can measure;
data you can reach and trust;
a process that runs the same way each time;
rules your staff know and follow;
someone who will own the system after go-live;
hosting you can explain to a regulator.

Who is the AI Readiness Assessment for?

It is for an executive who wants to know where AI would return money before committing to a build: a chief operating officer, chief financial officer or chief information officer, or in government an accountable official or chief AI officer.

It fits when:

you have no single named problem yet, and want to know where AI is worth pursuing;
your needs span several functions, and you want the use cases ranked against each other;
you need to know what AI already runs in the organisation, sanctioned and not;
you are a Commonwealth agency closing the gaps the Policy for the responsible use of AI in government asks you to close.

It does not fit when:

you already have one process in mind. A Use Case Sprint costs one named process in one to two weeks;
your board or a regulator needs an independent finding on an AI system. The assessment is advisory, so choose an Independent AI Review;
you want a certificate of compliance. The assessment reports gaps and next steps, and it does not certify compliance with any law.

What does the AI Readiness Assessment include?

A ranked set of use cases with value cases built from your own time and cost data, a clear view of your data, processes and controls, and a costed roadmap to a first proof of value.

ranked use cases, each with a value case built from your own time and cost data;
process and data readiness for the leading use cases;
governance gaps against the Australian Government's Guidance for AI Adoption, and for Commonwealth agencies against the Policy for the responsible use of AI in government, version 2.0;
where multi-step AI agents fit in your organisation, and where people must approve;
an inventory of the AI already in use, sanctioned and not;
what not to automate;
a costed roadmap to a first proof of value;
our build interest, declared when the assessment is scoped.

You keep every deliverable, and any provider can use it. If the numbers do not support a build, we tell you before you commit.

The measured baseline for any one process is set in the proof of value that follows.

Who does the work, and how long does it take?

A senior practitioner leads, with a solution architect and an engineer: three to four weeks for a mid-market firm, and four to six weeks for enterprise and government. The statement of work sets out the days by role.

Planned elapsed time Three to four weeks mid-market, four to six weeks enterprise and government

Week (mid-market)	What happens
One	Sponsor interview; functions in scope agreed; data and system access; the inventory of AI already in use begins.
Two	Use case workshops with the people who run the work; time and cost data gathered; data and process checks.
Three	Value cases; governance gaps; where agents fit and where people approve; hosting.
Four	Ranked use cases, the roadmap and what not to automate, presented to the sponsor and the executive.

For enterprise and government, the same steps run over four to six weeks. These are planned elapsed times, and we replace them with measured times as assessments complete.

What can be added to the assessment?

Two optional modules, each scoped separately: an inventory of automated decisions, and a hosting statement.

Automated decision inventory. Where your systems use personal information to make, or substantially assist, decisions about people, with the APP 1.7 scope flagged for your counsel. The Privacy Act's automated decision rules apply from 10 December 2026.
Hosting statement. The hosting we would use for your leading use cases, set out service by service, with the region each would use and whether any processing would leave Australia.

This is not legal advice. Your counsel decides the legal position.

Do you already have one process in mind?

Then start with a Use Case Sprint: one named process, costed in one to two weeks.

See the Use Case Sprint

What does this mean for a government agency?

It gives an agency a costed, ranked view of its AI use cases and of the gaps it must close under the Policy for the responsible use of AI in government, version 2.0.

The policy asks agencies for accountable officials, use case owners, registers, staff training and impact assessments. Existing use cases come into scope by 30 April 2027, and high-risk use cases must be reviewed at least every 12 months.

The assessment sets out where each of your use cases stands, what it is worth, and what to do next, and every government scope includes a transfer of knowledge to your staff.

Where this work defines requirements for a later procurement, we declare our interest in that later work and accept any probity measure you set, including exclusion from it.

Could this assessment lead to you building something?

It could, and we say so when the assessment is scoped.

Precision builds AI. The assessment is advisory: we declare our build interest at scoping, we never present the assessment as independent, and we write the findings to stand without us, so any provider can act on them.

Read our independence and conflict rules

Common Questions

The questions we are asked most

What is an AI readiness assessment?

An AI readiness assessment works out where AI can create value in your organisation, and whether your data, processes, controls and people can support it. Ours ends with ranked use cases valued from your own data and a costed roadmap to a first proof of value.

What are the main areas of AI readiness?

We look at six: value, meaning a process with a cost you can measure; data you can reach and trust; a process that runs the same way each time; the rules staff follow; the people who will own the system; and where the data would be processed.

How long does an AI readiness assessment take?

Planned at three to four weeks for a mid-market firm and four to six weeks for enterprise and government, from the start date.

How much does an AI readiness assessment cost?

The assessment is a paid engagement, scoped to the size of your organisation and your situation, and its fee is agreed before work starts. Optional modules are scoped separately.

Do you assess against Australian Government guidance?

Yes. Governance gaps are assessed against the Guidance for AI Adoption, and for Commonwealth agencies against the Policy for the responsible use of AI in government, version 2.0. The assessment reports gaps and next steps. It does not certify compliance with any law.

What happens after the assessment?

The roadmap names the use cases worth proving first. The next step is a proof of value on your data, measured against a baseline you sign. You can take the roadmap to any provider.

About the proof of value

How we work, in writing

A costed roadmap in weeks.

Bring us the functions in scope and the sponsor who owns the result.