The ISM AI Compass
From “we should be doing something with AI” to something running in production.
Most organizations have pilots.
Few have anything in production that the board trusts.
Start here, then go deeper, then deliver.
AI Launchpad
A working session with your leadership team, in two variants. Standard is about readiness: we assess your organization across nine dimensions and give you a verdict you can act on. Premium adds a maturity assessment, an opportunity workshop, and a now, next, later roadmap.
Length and depth are agreed on the initial call. A short questionnaire beforehand. Your report within five working days.
Deep dives
The verdict names the two or three areas that need a closer look before anything is built. Each deep dive works through the ISM AI Success Framework: four pillars, four controls, and two experiences. Focused on what your verdict says matters, not a generic checklist.
Delivery
Ten stages in four phases: Foundation, Deployment, Orchestration, and Autonomy. Governance is designed in from day one, and every new capability re-enters the cycle so the program keeps improving. Advisory support and ROI measurement through to production.
A verdict you can act on, and one initiative shaped well enough to start.
In the room, on the day.
- A leadership team that can hold its own in an AI conversation. The awareness is an outcome, not a warm-up.
- An agreed readiness score across all nine dimensions, argued rather than handed down.
- An agreed readiness band, with the evidence that put you in it.
- The initiative you already had in view, tested against that readiness.
- The conditions that would have to be met before it could start.
In your report, within five working days.
- An executive summary written for the board, not for IT.
- A readiness assessment across all nine dimensions, with evidence.
- A verdict: proceed, proceed with conditions, remediate first, or not yet.
- The initiative in view, what it depends on, and how it would be measured.
- A conditions-to-proceed register across data, security, risk, and people.
- A recommended next step: deep dive, Premium Launchpad, or design.
Four pillars, four controls, two experiences.
The four pillars. People, process, technology, and data decide whether it can be built, adopted, and sustained at all.
The four controls. Security, risk and compliance, governance, and ethics and privacy decide whether it can go live and survive scrutiny.
The two experiences. Customer experience is what the person outside gets. User experience is what the person inside has to work with. Both are scored.
And the order matters. A pillar failure means it never worked. A control failure means it worked and was then stopped. An experience failure means it worked, was allowed, and nobody wanted it.
Four phases, ten stages.
The AI Launchpad is stages 1 and 2.
Foundation
- 1Business case and executive alignment
- 2AI readiness assessment
- 3Due diligence: the deep dives
Deployment
- 4Use case prioritization
- 5Architecture design
- 6Data engineering and pipeline
- 7Model development and evaluation
Orchestration
- 8MLOps and CI/CD integration
- 9Governance, security, and compliance
Autonomy
- 10Production, monitoring, and continuous improvement
Phases 2 to 4 iterate. Every new capability re-enters at phase 2.
Built on experience, focused on the future of AI.
44 years of independent advisory.
Advising leadership teams on customer strategy, CRM, and now AI, since long before it was a headline.
Vendor independent.
We do not sell software or take referral fees, so the advice is about your outcome, not a platform.
Enterprise delivery experience.
Grounded in real CRM and Salesforce programs, so recommendations are shaped by what actually ships.
Written for the board, not for IT.
Plain-language verdicts and roadmaps your executive team can decide on in one meeting.
Start with a 60-minute discovery call at no charge.
Bring the initiative you already have in view. We will tell you whether it is ready to start, what it depends on, and which Launchpad fits.
Or email AI.compass@ismguide.com.