Vanessa Walker 
Across this series, we argued for a particular way of measuring AI readiness: evidence over enthusiasm, scores delivered as starting points, progress tracked as a trend rather than filed as an event, interviews built with the discipline of hiring science, and a rubric its own makers sit first. Arguments that long invite questions, and the … Read more
The question was about incentives. How does this organisation reward people for adopting AI? The answer was honest, thoughtful, and entirely in the future tense. We are still figuring that out. Under the rule, an answer in the future tense does not score. So it did not score. The finding went into the report, and … Read more
The interviewer asks about data governance, and the answer arrives instantly, polished by a dozen board meetings. “We take governance extremely seriously. It is a top-three priority this year. The interviewer nods, writes nothing, and asks a smaller question. “Tell me about the last time a data problem stopped an AI project. What happened next?” … Read more
The leadership team commissioned the AI readiness assessment eight weeks ago. Today is the readout. Twenty minutes in, the operating-model pillar comes up amber, and the COO wants it noted that the reorganisation lands next quarter. Two seats down, someone is already typing an email disputing the findings. Nobody has yet asked what amber means. … Read more
Forty minutes into the quarterly review, everything is going beautifully. Slide fourteen declares the company “AI-ready”. Three pilots live, one tool rolled out, a roadmap that colours in all of next year. Then a board member looks up from her notes. “Which of these has produced a measured outcome?” The slide does not change. The … Read more