Interviews & document review
Structured conversations with leadership, programs, M&E and IT, plus a read of your plans and past proposals. We agree exactly what gets a deep look.
Assess · 01
A clear, board-ready plan for AI — in two to three weeks.
Where AI can genuinely help your work, where it can't, and what to do next. Specific enough to take straight into a board meeting — and grounded in what real engineering can actually build.
What you get
A plan you can act on — and hand to your board.
Every assessment ends with the same things in your hands, plus a half-day working session to take your team through them properly.
- 01
A written AI plan — plain-language, board-ready, with a one-page summary at the front.
- 02
A capability and gap read specific to how you actually operate, not boilerplate.
- 03
A recommended sequence of next steps, each with rough timing and a budget range.
- 04
A data and governance check — what you have, what's usable, what needs fixing first.
- 05
Named tool and vendor recommendations sized to your context — not “it depends.”
- 06
A half-day working session with your team — to walk through the findings together, pressure-test them, and leave aligned on the next steps.
- 07
A thirty-day follow-up call — by which point you'll have new questions.
How it works
Two to three weeks, in clear steps — no surprises at the end.
The engagement runs like a delivery: each step produces something you can check, so nothing lands as a shock in the final week.
Put it together
What we heard, checked against your data, your governance posture, and your real field conditions. We model what AI would look like for you — and where it would fail.
Written plan & working session
You get the plan a few days ahead, then a half-day working session with your team: what we found, what we recommend, and what to do next — with real time to dig in and challenge it.
What we look at
Six angles. You choose which get the deepest look.
Mission fit
Where AI plausibly helps your mission — and where it would just distract from it.
Data readiness
What you have, what's clean, what's usable, what's missing. Often the real first project.
Governance
What you can defend to a board, a donor, or a ministry — and to the people you serve.
Field conditions
Power, signal, devices, languages, digital literacy at your sites — where demo-AI usually dies.
Your team
What your staff can run today, what they could learn, what would need a vendor.
How you'll decide
How you'll actually pick what to build and when to start. Lock this in and the next year gets easier.
Investment
One price for the whole assessment, agreed up front.
No hourly billing. We set the scope — and the price — in the first conversation.
Price$6k–$12kScoped to your size and how deep you want to go.
Duration2–3 weeksFrom kickoff to the working session.
Good to knowThis kind of work often qualifies as capacity-building in a grant budget. Grant-funded engagements are welcome.
Included
- Interviews and document review
- The six-angle assessment, with deep focus where you choose
- The written plan and one-page summary
- A half-day working session with your team
- A thirty-day follow-up call
Not included
- Building any AI tool — that's the AI Pilot Build
- Ongoing leadership — that's the Fractional AI Lead
- An in-person board briefing (available separately)
- Travel, if you'd like discovery done on-site
Questions
What people ask before we start.
What does “board-ready” actually mean?
A short document — usually eight to fifteen pages — written for a non-technical reader, with a one-page summary, cost ranges, a recommended sequence, and clear “do this, not that” calls. You should be able to print it and hand it across a table without explaining it.
Will you recommend specific tools?
Yes, where the question calls for it. We name the models, hosting options and tools we'd use for each scenario, and explain the trade-offs. We have opinions and we put them in writing.
What if our data isn't ready?
That's a common finding. The plan names what to fix and roughly how long it takes. If data is the real constraint, we'll say so and recommend that as the first project — not an AI build.
Might you tell us not to do AI yet?
Sometimes, yes. If the honest answer is “fix these things first,” that goes in the plan. We'd rather give you a useful “wait” than a wasted pilot.
Where it leads
Common next steps.
If “what should we do about AI?” is the question on your desk, this is where to start.
A short call is enough to scope it. If the honest answer is “not yet,” we'll tell you.