AI Readiness Assessment
$2,500–$7,500
A plain-English audit of where AI can realistically save time, cut cost, or create revenue — delivered as a prioritized action list, not a tech lecture.
Best for — organizations unsure where to start
AI Readiness · Implementation · Advisory
The useful 10% of AI — separated from the hype.
Most organizations know AI matters but have no reliable way to evaluate it. I'm the independent, business-first voice between your organization and the vendors competing for its attention — and I build the working systems myself.
The problem
Stalled pilots, wasted budget, and the sense everyone else is moving faster.
Leadership teams are being pitched tools they can't evaluate, by vendors who don't understand the business, translated by staff who don't have the authority to decide.
The result is predictable: pilots that never ship, budget spent on subscriptions nobody uses, and a growing anxiety that competitors are further ahead than they are.
Almost none of that is a technology problem. It's a translation and sequencing problem — which is a much older kind of problem, and a solvable one.
Who this is for
Organizations that need judgment,
Organizations that need judgment,
not another vendor.
- Trade associations, chambers, and membership organizations whose members are asking about AI
- Small and midsize businesses that need real systems, not more software subscriptions
- Government-affairs firms, nonprofits, and advocacy organizations managing information, outreach, and member communication at scale
- Leadership teams that need an independent, non-vendor voice to evaluate AI proposals before committing budget
Engagements
Three ways to start.
Every engagement is fixed-scope and priced up front. You'll know what you're getting and what it costs before anything begins.
Implementation Sprint
$5,000–$20,000
A fixed-scope build: a dashboard, a follow-up system, a document or knowledge tool, or an automation — delivered and handed off, working.
Best for — ready to act on one clear priority
Advisory Retainer
$1,500–$5,000 /month
Ongoing access for leadership: vetting tools and vendors, reviewing AI proposals, and keeping strategy grounded in business reality.
Best for — boards, associations, leadership teams
How an engagement runs
Five phases. No surprises.
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Discover
A short working session on current operations, pain points, and existing tools.
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Assess
A plain-English readiness review with a prioritized, sequenced action list.
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Build
Fixed-scope implementation of the highest-priority opportunity — working, not theoretical.
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Train
A short internal session so staff can use and maintain what was built.
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Sustain
Optional ongoing advisory access as tools and priorities change.
Why this engagement works
The hardest part of adopting any new capability is never the technology.
Thirty years building businesses, running government-affairs campaigns, and organizing coalitions taught one lesson that applies directly here: the hard part is translating a new capability into language leadership trusts, sequencing it so it doesn't disrupt operations, and building the internal buy-in to actually use it.
That's the skill set I bring, applied to AI. I'm not selling software. I'm the independent voice between your organization and the vendors competing for its attention — and I build the working systems myself, so recommendations arrive with a demonstrated result rather than a slide deck.
- Independent No software to sell, no vendor relationships, no referral fees.
- Built, not briefed Every recommendation comes with a working system behind it.
- Plain English Written for leadership and boards, not for IT.
- Fixed scope, fixed price You know the cost and the deliverable before we begin.
- Honest answers If AI isn't the right answer yet, I'll tell you that instead.
Next step
A conversation,
A conversation,
not a proposal.
Thirty minutes: what's actually slowing your organization down, and whether AI is a realistic answer to it right now.
If it is, we scope an Assessment or a Sprint from there. If it isn't yet, you'll leave with a clear, honest answer either way — at no cost.
Prefer email? bernard@truenorth-inc.com