AI STRATEGY_
Too many AI ideas. Not enough clarity on what to fund.
Leaders get pitched chatbots, agents, and copilots every week. We plot every idea on an Impact × Readiness map, kill the theater, score what survives, and leave you a sequenced roadmap — before money hits the wrong build.
The map on the right is the method: high impact + ready to execute → Pilot. High impact + not ready → Foundation. Low impact → Kill.
AI opportunity map_
This is portfolio triage: every AI idea lands somewhere. Click a chip to see the call — Pilot, Foundation first, or Kill.
Invoice triage
Pilot now_High hours in exception queues + clean data access → fund a scoped pilot.
Goal: fund the pilot zone — not the easy demos
- 01Map ideasPlot candidates by impact and readiness
- 02Gate evidenceToggle proofs — kill vanity PoCs early
- 03Score survivorsImpact, readiness, and risk with honest ranges
- 04Sequence fundingNow / Next / Later with owners and blockers
02 · GATE EVIDENCE_
If you cannot prove these four things, do not fund the PoC
Watch the evidence bar move as you toggle. Kill → Foundation → Pilot updates live — this is how we stop vanity demos from getting a budget line.
Example pitch we hear weekly_
“Let’s ship an AI chatbot for customers”
Sounds modern. Without an owner, a metric, data access, and a write-back path, it is theater — a demo that never reaches production. Flip the gates to see what the call would be in the room.
Evidence strength_
1/4
Live verdict_
Kill theater
Not enough evidence. Park the idea — or run Landscape Sketch before any build spend.
Evidence gates_· Toggle each switch
03 · SCORE SURVIVORS_
Ideas that pass the gates get honest numbers
Switch use cases — the radar reshapes. Impact, readiness, and risk are ranges tied to live workflows, not invented savings slides.
Shape updates when you switch use cases
Why these numbers_
Invoice exception triage
Route exceptions with operator oversight — cut queue time without a black-box auto-pay.
- Impact86
High weekly hours in exception queues across finance ops.
- Readiness74
ERP exports available; owners named; write-back scoped.
- Risk (lower better)32
Human-in-loop on high-value exceptions keeps exposure contained.
04 · SEQUENCE FUNDING_
A scorecard is useless without a funding order
Now / Next / Later is the result of triage: what to fund this quarter, what waits on proof, and what is blocked on foundation work. Click a card — the panel explains why.
Now_
Pilot-ready this quarter
Next_
After first proof
Later_
Needs foundation
Why this lane_ · Now
Invoice exception pilot
4–6 week scoped pilot with evals, operator loop, and a success metric leadership can fund against. Cleared the gates and scored high enough to go first.
05 · DECISION BRIEF_
The artifact that replaces the maturity deck
Triage ends here: a decision-ready dossier so Generative AI, automation, or your team can pick up without rediscovery.
Decision brief_
4 sectionsShortlist ranked by impact, readiness, and risk — theater cut early.
- Ranked candidates with kill / foundation / pilot verdicts
- Owners and workflows named per survivor
- Explicit “not now” list so demos do not resurface
You get_
- Workshop outputs and system/context notes
- Prioritized AI use-case backlog
- ROI and feasibility framing per top use case
- Sequenced AI roadmap with recommended owners
- Data readiness, risk, and governance notes
Not included_
- Production LLM, agent, or copilot builds (see Generative AI)
- Ongoing model ops without a follow-on engagement
- Vendor selection as a pure shopping exercise with no workflow access
FIT_
Is portfolio triage the right next step?
Self-qualify before you book time — saves both sides a wrong start.
Good fit_
- You are exploring where AI pays across ops or product — and need a shortlist, not another demo
- Leadership wants a sequenced AI roadmap before funding builds
- Systems and data are messy — you need triage and blockers called out honestly
Not yet_
- You already have a clear production agent or copilot brief
- You only need engineers to ship an existing Generative AI scope
- You want a pitch deck with no access to real workflows
NEXT STEP_
Still weighing triage vs jumping to build?
Map your systems — or talk through what you already know. We will say honestly if portfolio triage or a Generative AI slice is the better first move.
Common questions
Portfolio triage on your workflows, theater filtering, ROI/feasibility scorecards, a Now/Next/Later roadmap, and a decision brief — ready to hand off to build or your internal team.