Your AI Pilot Works. Is Your Business Ready to Own the Risk?

Just because you've successfully demonstrated AI doesn't mean it's business-ready. Check out my YouTube video on Lily. She works well, walks you through setting up a cybersecurity AI assistant, and answers your questions, but lacks guardrails and hasn't been thoroughly tested. This is a starting point, not business-ready.

An AI demo shows how the team could save time; it appears to be successful. Is it ready to tell the world the time and money your team is saving? Are you trying to push something out as fast as possible because other companies in your space told you at a conference they are doing it and it's amazing?

It is nice to have the answers; this is one milestone. What about establishing controls, testing, and accountability? How will you show the auditors you did your due diligence?

Your team demonstrated the savings. How is it measured? Where is the break-even point where the savings bypass the development time?

Before you flip the switch to business-ready, take a look at these six questions. Answer them

1. What problems are you solving? Describe the problem, intended users, and expected outcome.
2. Who owns the system? Is it owned by a single entity, or is it a shared responsibility? Complete your RACI Chart.
3. What information is accessed by the AI? What are the AI's boundaries? What data does it access, and where does it pull information from? What areas are off-limits?
4. Is there someone who approves tasks (recommending a decision, taking action), AI development features, and goals? Where is the Human in the Loop (HITL)?
5. When something goes wrong, what is the plan? What is the Test-Driven Development (TDD) plan prior to production? Is there an escalation path for issues? How do you restrict or shut down the system? What are the go, no go requirements?
6. How will you measure success? What are your Key Performance Indicators (KPI)/ Key Risk Indicators (KRIs)?

Practice with this hypothetical example.

Your team built an AI assistant grounded in your organization’s documents. Grounding is what anchors the assistant’s responses to the documents and materials your team provided it. The demo they provided answered several questions, and they want to go live. On this article, notepad, or piece of paper, write down what you would ask and the answers you expect.

Are you business-ready? Ask your Team for Evidence.

Ask your team for a 1-pager or presentation that covers the six questions above. A polished demo shows what the AI does; a readiness decision explains why the business wants to use it and who owns the risk.