For CFOs
Should we approve this AI purchase?
Not before three questions have an answer: what is the return, what does it cost to run after year one, and can your controls and data support it.
The unit price is usually clear and the use case plausible. The risk sits in what the proposal does not price: ownership, running cost, and the data underneath.
Run the Risk Checklist
Leave with a risk score and the gaps to close before approval.
What to look at first
01
The return, defined
Cost displaced, capacity released or a decision changed, with a before number to compare against.
02
The cost after the pilot
Licences, integration, support and the hours of the people who keep it alive.
03
Ownership and data
A named business owner, access controls, and data good enough that the output can be trusted.
The longer version: A $50,000 purchase order and three unanswered questions