Knowing the way.

Benchmark

Find where your company stands on AI.

Nine questions, about three minutes. Your answers place your company in one of nine positions, each with what it usually means, what to do next and where to find help.

How far the work has got

Ambition is deciding what AI should do for the business. Strategy is planning the change. Capability is building it into how your company works.

The mode you're in

In survive mode, AI is mainly a threat to manage. In adapt mode you're keeping up. In thrive mode you're using it for advantage.

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Start the benchmarkSee the nine positions
Where the work has got toHas your board agreed what AI should do for the business?
Where the work has got toIs there a plan saying what changes, in what order, and who owns it?
Where the work has got toHow is AI used in day-to-day work?
Where the work has got toIf outside help left tomorrow, who would run and improve your AI tools and processes?
The mode you're inWhen AI comes up at board level, how is it usually framed?
The mode you're inCompared with your main competitors, where is your use of AI?
The mode you're inWhat drives most of your AI spending?
The mode you're inHow much leadership time and budget is set aside for change, beyond running the business?
The mode you're inHow do your people feel about AI?

The nine positions

Nine positions, each with a next step.

Thrive Big appetite Ready to move Out in front Adapt Testing the water Joining the dots Building Survive Bracing Firefighting Stretched Ambition Strategy Capability

Across: how far the work has gotUp: the mode you're in

AmbitionThrive

Big appetite

Confident and keen, with no agreed direction yet, so energy spreads thin.

What it usually means

Your leaders see AI as an opportunity and want to move quickly. Ideas arrive faster than decisions, and effort gets spread across too many of them.

What to do next

Choose. I'd help the board test which ambitions are realistic and what each would take and cost, then commit to the one or two worth backing.

Resources

  • Executive Briefing. Every Sunday: what changed in AI that week and where a business like yours might be exposed, with questions for your executive team.
  • Deep dive. Every Wednesday: one development followed all the way through, with the evidence set out for your board.
  • My Substack. All three, free by email as each one is published.
Work with me on ambition

StrategyThrive

Ready to move

A clear ambition and the appetite for it. You need the operating model to deliver it.

What it usually means

The board agrees on the ambition and has made time and money available. The risk now is moving faster than the organisation can absorb.

What to do next

Design the operating model before you scale: who does what, with which technology and in what order, while the business keeps running.

Resources

  • Deep dive. Every Wednesday: one development followed all the way through, with the evidence set out for your board.
  • Practical build. Every Friday: a decision kit, a set of board questions or a step-by-step guide your team can use the following week.
  • My Substack. All three, free by email as each one is published.
Work with me on strategy

CapabilityThrive

Out in front

Owned capability and a growing advantage. Next comes scaling it with sound governance.

What it usually means

AI is part of how your teams work, and they own it. You're ahead of most competitors and the gap is growing.

What to do next

Protect the lead. Scale what works with governance that keeps it safe and explainable, and keep building skills so the advantage stays in-house.

Resources

  • Regulated industries. How I handle assurance, accountability and adoption where the rules are strict.
  • Deep dive. Every Wednesday: one development followed all the way through, with the evidence set out for your board.
  • My Substack. All three, free by email as each one is published.
Work with me on capability

AmbitionAdapt

Testing the water

Pilots and curiosity, with no board position yet. The activity needs a direction.

What it usually means

People are trying AI tools and a few pilots are running. Nobody has decided what AI is for in your business, so the pilots can't be judged against anything.

What to do next

Turn the activity into a position. I'd help the board agree what AI should do for the business and which of the current pilots deserve to continue.

Resources

  • Executive Briefing. Every Sunday: what changed in AI that week and where a business like yours might be exposed, with questions for your executive team.
  • Deep dive. Every Wednesday: one development followed all the way through, with the evidence set out for your board.
  • My Substack. All three, free by email as each one is published.
Work with me on ambition

StrategyAdapt

Joining the dots

The ambition is agreed, but the plan is in fragments. It needs sequence and ownership.

What it usually means

The board has agreed a direction. Teams are acting on it separately, with their own tools and budgets, and nobody owns the whole.

What to do next

Join the work into one plan, with an order and an owner for each part. That is operating model work: structure, roles, technology choices and the sequence of change.

Resources

  • Deep dive. Every Wednesday: one development followed all the way through, with the evidence set out for your board.
  • Regulated industries. How I handle assurance, accountability and adoption where the rules are strict.
  • My Substack. All three, free by email as each one is published.
Work with me on strategy

CapabilityAdapt

Building

The plan is agreed and being embedded. The job is moving from pilots to processes your teams own.

What it usually means

The plan is in place and work is under way. Some pilots have become everyday practice; others have stalled between trial and adoption.

What to do next

Move the stalled pilots into owned processes, with the skills and governance to keep them running. My involvement should reduce as your teams take over.

Resources

  • Practical build. Every Friday: a decision kit, a set of board questions or a step-by-step guide your team can use the following week.
  • Deep dive. Every Wednesday: one development followed all the way through, with the evidence set out for your board.
  • My Substack. All three, free by email as each one is published.
Work with me on capability

AmbitionSurvive

Bracing

AI feels like a threat and the board hasn't agreed a response. Start with exposure and options.

What it usually means

The board sees AI mainly as a risk to margins, to jobs or to the business model. Without an agreed position, each director carries a different picture of the threat and decisions stall.

What to do next

Start with exposure. I'd work with the board to map where AI could hurt the business and where it could help, then put a cost on doing nothing. That gives you one shared view to decide from.

Resources

  • Executive Briefing. Every Sunday: what changed in AI that week and where a business like yours might be exposed, with questions for your executive team.
  • Deep dive. Every Wednesday: one development followed all the way through, with the evidence set out for your board.
  • My Substack. All three, free by email as each one is published.
Work with me on ambition

StrategySurvive

Firefighting

The direction is set, but there's no capacity for change. A few protective moves come first.

What it usually means

You know what you want AI to do, but the day job takes every hour and every pound. Plans get written, then shelved when the next pressure arrives.

What to do next

Pick two or three moves that protect the core business and fund them properly. I'd help you sequence them so each one frees up time or money for the next.

Resources

  • Practical build. Every Friday: a decision kit, a set of board questions or a step-by-step guide your team can use the following week.
  • Executive Briefing. Every Sunday: what changed in AI that week and where a business like yours might be exposed, with questions for your executive team.
  • My Substack. All three, free by email as each one is published.
Work with me on strategy

CapabilitySurvive

Stretched

The tools are in place, but adoption is defensive and people are anxious. Confidence and skills are the gap.

What it usually means

The technology is there and the plan has been agreed, but people use AI because they've been told to. Worry about jobs slows adoption and the benefits stay small.

What to do next

Confidence comes from skills and from involvement. I'd work with the teams who use the tools to redesign their roles with them, so the capability becomes theirs.

Resources

  • Practical build. Every Friday: a decision kit, a set of board questions or a step-by-step guide your team can use the following week.
  • Regulated industries. How I handle assurance, accountability and adoption where the rules are strict.
  • My Substack. All three, free by email as each one is published.
Work with me on capability

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