A complete toolkit, not a collection of tips
6 phases. 15 sections. 95+ downloadable tools and templates. 800+ pages. Structured to take you from “we know AI matters” to governed experiments producing measurable results.
Built for senior operators, not technologists
This playbook is written for CEOs, COOs, commercial directors, and transformation leads in consumer-facing businesses. You don't need a technical background. Every section explains what matters, why it matters, and gives you practical tools to act on it immediately.
Business outcomes first, technology second. No jargon without context.
20 years of transformation delivery, not academic theory.
Every section includes downloadable tools you can use with your team this week.
Every section follows the same structure
Consistent, scannable, and designed for busy leadership teams. Read in full or jump straight to the tools.
What this section covers and why it matters — the executive brief.
What most organisations actually experience at this stage. The gap between theory and practice.
The practical approach — structured, repeatable steps grounded in real delivery experience.
Real examples, common traps, and what good looks like when this is done well.
Downloadable, editable tools you can use immediately with your team.
One playbook, two paths
Where you start depends on where you are. Both paths use the same structured, step-by-step approach.
Optimisation
You have existing processes that could be improved with AI. Start with readiness assessment, identify quick wins, run structured experiments, and scale what works. Lower risk, faster evidence.
Transformation
AI changes your operating model, customer proposition, or competitive position. Requires target operating model design, workforce transition planning, full-programme governance, and sustained investment. Section 15 provides the design framework. Higher stakes, bigger payoff.
The full playbook, phase by phase
15 sections across 6 phases. Each builds on the last. Start at the beginning or jump to where you need help most.
Foundation
Establish context, assess readiness, and build the strategic foundation for your AI journey.
Orientation: What Has Actually Changed
What has actually changed with AI, why it matters for your business, and how to think about it without the hype.
Strategic Context: Why This Matters
Connecting AI to your business strategy, not the other way around.
AI Readiness Assessment
A structured assessment of your organisation's readiness across six critical dimensions.
Planning
Identify the right opportunities and understand the tooling landscape before committing resources.
Opportunity Identification
Finding the right AI use cases by starting from business problems, not technology capabilities.
The Tooling Landscape
Navigating the AI tooling market with a decision framework that starts from your problems.
Execution
Structure the programme, run experiments, and build knowledge systems that generate evidence.
Setting Up for AI: Programme Structure, Teams, and Governance
How to structure the team, governance, and programme approach for AI experimentation.
The Experimentation Framework
A structured approach to running AI experiments that generate evidence for investment decisions.
RAG and Knowledge Systems: Unlocking Proprietary Data
When and how to use retrieval-augmented generation to make AI work with your proprietary information.
Governance
Manage risk proportionately and establish ethical guardrails that enable rather than block progress.
Risk and Governance
Practical risk management and governance for AI that enables experimentation without exposing the business.
Ethics and Responsible AI
Building an ethics position that is practical, enforceable, and proportionate to your context.
Scaling
Move from experiment to operation through structured change management and adoption measurement.
Change Management, Scaling, and Adoption
Moving AI from experiment to operation through structured change management and adoption measurement.
Scalability Assessment: From Experiment to Operation
Assessing whether an AI experiment is ready for production across technical, organisational, change, and commercial dimensions.
Sustaining
Build the investment case and design the operating model for sustained AI capability.
Business Case Production: Making the Case for Investment
Building evidence-based business cases for AI investment that boards and investors will fund.
Operating Model for AI: Who Owns What
Designing the organisational structure and accountability model for sustained AI capability.
Designing for Transformation
Designing the transformed organisation: making the commitment, defining the target state, planning the workforce transition, sequencing the programme, and managing the period when old and new models run simultaneously.
Practical tools, not theory
Every tool is a downloadable PDF designed for workshops, leadership meetings, and individual use. Here are six examples from across the playbook.
AI Readiness Assessment
Score your organisation across six dimensions. Identify gaps before committing resources.
Task Decomposition Worksheet
Break down business processes to find where AI creates genuine value — not just novelty.
Experiment Hypothesis Template
Structure AI experiments to generate evidence for investment decisions, not just demos.
AI Risk Classification Matrix
Proportionate risk governance that enables experimentation without exposing the business.
Change Impact Assessment
Map the operational and people impact of AI adoption before you roll out.
AI Business Case Template
Build evidence-based business cases that boards and investors will actually fund.
Start with the free toolkit
Create a free account to access Section 1, the interactive readiness assessment, and the AI Readiness Toolkit download.