Reference · Frequently asked
Frequently asked. On AI implementation risk and how WorkLattice diagnoses it.
Plain answers to the questions sponsors ask before a first conversation: what AI implementation risk is, how the decision architecture diagnostic works, what the output looks like, and how it differs from adjacent work.
- What is AI implementation risk?
- AI implementation risk is the risk that an organisation cannot absorb the decisions its AI generates. It is structural, not technical: it sits in the human architecture - authority, definitions, enforceability, escalation - that the AI plugs into. It is distinct from model risk and from AI readiness, and it is the most reliable predictor of whether a working AI programme will land or stall at scale.
- Is AI implementation risk the same as AI readiness?
- No. AI readiness measures the inputs: data, infrastructure, tooling, skills, governance frameworks. AI implementation risk measures the absorbing structure: whether the organisation can ratify, act on, and verify the outputs the AI produces, at the speed it produces them. A programme can pass readiness assessments and still stall on implementation risk.
- What is a decision architecture diagnostic?
- A decision architecture diagnostic maps how an organisation actually decides, authorises, acts, and verifies - as a graph rather than an org chart - and tests that map for the structural conditions that determine whether an AI programme can land. Sagentivum delivers this diagnostic under the product name WorkLattice. It is graph-based, evidence-led, and produces a sponsor-grade decision (scale, conditional, or rebuild) rather than a recommendation deck.
- What does a WorkLattice engagement look like?
- WorkLattice is two to four weeks, fixed scope, fixed fee. Eight to fifteen decision-holders are interviewed. A decision graph is built and a pattern scan is run against it. Each candidate finding is validated against operating evidence - decision logs, escalations, override and exception data. The output is a structural findings report, a decision architecture map, a sponsor-grade presentation, and optionally a remediation roadmap.
- Who is WorkLattice for?
- Chief Operating Officers, Chief Transformation Officers, Chief Data and Analytics Officers, and Chiefs of Staff - sponsors and inheritors of consequential AI programmes who need a defensible structural read before a scaling decision, after a programme has stalled, or when a new executive has inherited an initiative already in flight.
- How is this different from operating model design?
- Operating model design proposes a future state. A decision architecture diagnostic tests whether the current structure can absorb a specific AI programme, and identifies the specific structural conditions that would have to change for it to land. The diagnostic is upstream of operating model work: it tells you whether a redesign is even the right intervention.
- How is Sagentivum different from a Big 4 advisory?
- Sagentivum is independent, single-practitioner, and time-boxed. Engagements are senior-to-senior. There is no second-tier delivery team, no methodology overhead, and no upsell pipeline. The output is a decision, not a programme. The work is best when the structural question is the gating question - not when scale, breadth, or implementation muscle is the primary need.
- What does the output look like?
- A decision architecture map specific to the organisation. A structural findings report covering the patterns identified, the operating evidence, and the implication for the AI programme. A sponsor-grade presentation deck. Optionally, a remediation roadmap covering what must change before scale, what runs in parallel, and what the AI implementation should be reshaped around.
- How long does a structural diagnostic take?
- Two to four weeks of elapsed time, depending on access to decision-holders and operating evidence. The work is concentrated: eight to fifteen interviews, a working session with the sponsor, and a delivery review. Fixed scope, fixed fee.
- Where is Sagentivum based?
- Sydney, Australia. Engagements are delivered across Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, in person and remote.
A different question?
If your situation isn't covered above, a thirty-minute conversation is the right next step. Whether the practice fits, what's worth diagnosing, and how the engagement would be scoped.