AI noise, no decision
Every vendor and every function has an AI idea. Without a clear view of where value sits, spend spreads thin and nothing reaches the P&L.
AI strategy consulting
AI Strategy Consulting for Business Leaders: Decisions, Governance and Change That Shows in the Numbers
Most organisations do not need more AI tools. They need a clear decision on where AI will create value, what must change operationally, and how to govern it before it scales. AIPEX helps leadership teams make those decisions and see them through.
What AI strategy consulting covers
Expert help with the decisions, not just the tools
An AI strategy consultant helps a business decide where AI will create value, what it will take to get there and how to manage the risk. Good AI strategy and transformation consulting covers strategy, readiness, governance, the operating model and a roadmap the board can fund, not just the choice of tools.
AIPEX works at leadership level, across sectors, with CEOs, managing directors and their executive teams. We start from the business outcome rather than the technology, and every recommendation comes with an owner, a measure and a date.
Why the board should care
Why AI has become a leadership problem
Tool-led pilots that stall
Pilots prove the technology works and then stop, because nobody owns the change to the workflow, the data or the role.
Unclear return, growing risk
Boards are asked to fund AI without a baseline to measure against, while AI already in use, often inside vendor software, goes ungoverned.
Who this is for
- CEOs and managing directors who need a clear view of where AI fits in the business
- COOs and finance directors asked to fund AI and prove the return
- Boards and non-executive directors who need independent oversight of AI decisions
- Investors and portfolio leaders with an AI value-creation mandate
- Leadership teams with pilots running but no route to production
What it solves
- No agreed view of where AI will create measurable value
- Pilots that never reach production or the P&L
- Business cases that would not survive the CFO
- AI in use across the business that nobody has approved or risk-assessed
- No one at leadership level who owns AI and can lead the change
Where AIPEX helps
Six ways in, depending on the decision in front of you
Most clients start with a scoping call or the assessment. From there, the right route depends on where you are and what the board needs to decide.
AI Readiness Assessment
A scored, board-ready report on your readiness for AI, with a roadmap. £999 + VAT, including a call with a senior partner to discuss your results.
About the assessment →Executive AI Strategy Day
One working day with your leadership team: priorities, owners, a benefits scorecard and a 90-day plan. £1,499 + VAT.
About the Strategy Day →AI Governance
Board oversight, an AI policy and a governance structure in proportion to the risk you carry.
AI governance →AI ROI and value
A method for proving AI returns that a CFO will accept: value levers, baselines, measures and owners.
How to measure AI ROI →Fractional Chief AI Officer
Board-level leadership to deliver the transformation, 2 to 6 days a month, without a permanent hire.
Fractional Chief AI Officer →Regulation and standards
Readiness for the EU AI Act and ISO/IEC 42001, so you can show customers and regulators that AI is governed.
EU AI Act readiness →Why AI projects fail
The causes sit with leadership, not the technology
- No agreed business outcome, so success is never defined
- No named owner once the pilot ends
- Workflows, roles and decision rights left unchanged around the new tool
- Data that is not ready for the use case
- No baseline, so nobody can show the return
- Governance added late, after the risk is already live
Our approach
The AIPEX method: evidence, decisions, delivery
Every engagement follows the same method, whether it starts with the assessment, a Strategy Day or a Fractional Chief AI Officer.
Assess
Where you are today, scored on a six-level maturity scale, with an Evidence Confidence rating that shows how much rests on fact rather than opinion.
Decide and govern
The short list of places AI will create value, a clear record of where you will not invest, and controls in proportion to the risk.
Deliver and measure
Operating model changes led through to results, with owners, a benefits scorecard and quarterly board reporting.
What you get
What leadership teams leave with
- A decided AI strategy: where AI will create measurable value, and where it will not
- A value case for each priority, with a baseline and the measures a CFO will accept
- Risk controls and governance in proportion to the AI you use and build
- Named owners and decision rights for every priority
- A 90-day plan and a 12-month roadmap
- A board-ready paper, and a reporting format the board can keep using each quarter
How it works
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Scoping call
A free, confidential 30-minute conversation with a senior partner about your business, your goals and what AI should change. No obligation.
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Assess
The AIPEX AI Readiness Assessment and short conversations with key leaders, so the work starts from evidence.
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Decide
An Executive AI Strategy Day with your leadership team: priorities, owners, measures and a 90-day plan.
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Deliver
Support in proportion to what you need, from focused governance or readiness work to a Fractional Chief AI Officer leading the change.
Prefer to start on your own? Take the free AIPEX Score check for a headline view of where you stand, then book a scoping call to talk it through.
Free board download
AI ROI Board Readiness Scorecard
A 15-minute board test of whether your AI returns would survive the CFO: five areas, 20 evidence-based checks and a clear result.
- Five areas with 20 checks: value case, baseline, measures, ownership and board reporting
- A simple score: Board ready, Value unproven or Activity, not value
- How to turn time saved into a number the CFO will accept
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What does an AI strategy consultant do?
An AI strategy consultant helps a business decide where AI will create value and how to get there safely. That covers AI strategy, readiness, governance, the operating model and a funded roadmap. AIPEX works at leadership level and stays with the outcome, not just the recommendation.
What is an AI strategy?
An AI strategy is a board-level decision on where AI will create measurable value in the business, what must change in workflows, data and roles to capture it, how the risk will be governed and who owns each result. It is a set of funded priorities with owners and measures, not a list of tools.
How do you choose an AI strategy consulting firm?
Look for a firm that starts from business outcomes rather than a technology it sells, covers governance and the operating model as well as use cases, gives every priority an owner and a measure, and is independent of the vendors it may recommend. Ask to see how it will measure value against a baseline.
How do you start an AI transformation?
Start with the decision, not the technology. Agree the two or three business outcomes that matter most, baseline them, check readiness in data, skills and governance, then fund a small number of use cases with named owners. In an enterprise AI transformation the operating model and governance must change alongside the use cases, or the pilots stall. The AI Readiness Assessment is the usual first step. See target operating model consulting.
How is AIPEX different from other AI consultancies?
We start from the business outcome, not the technology. Every priority gets an owner, a baseline and a measure the board can hold people to. Where you need someone to lead the change, a Fractional Chief AI Officer takes it through to results.
How much does it cost?
The scoping call is free and lasts up to 30 minutes. The AI Readiness Assessment is £999 + VAT, including a call to discuss your results. The Executive AI Strategy Day is £1,499 + VAT. A Fractional Chief AI Officer starts at £3,250 a month. Readiness and governance work is scoped and quoted before it starts.
Do we need to be technical to work with you?
No. The work is for business leaders. We translate the technology into decisions about value, risk, ownership and investment, and bring in technical depth where a decision needs it.
Can you help us implement AI, not just plan it?
Yes. Once priorities are agreed, we lead the operating model changes, vendor selection and delivery, and build the internal capability to keep going without us.
Where do you work?
AIPEX is based in the UK and works with leadership teams in the UK and the US, across sectors.
Next step
Book a scoping call
A confidential call with a senior partner about your business and what AI should change. We will tell you honestly where to start, and whether you need us at all. We reply personally, usually within one working day.