Executive Diagnostic + Playbook
A fixed-scope readiness review that turns scattered risk, governance, vendor, and evidence questions into a board-ready risk map and 90-day operating plan.
A paid diagnostic for leadership teams facing unclear AI, data, cloud, or vendor program decisions. The diagnostic turns scattered evidence into a board-ready risk map, decision log, evidence pack, and 90-day playbook.
Why the diagnostic exists
Evidence lives across chat threads, vendor decks, meetings, tickets, and partial architecture notes. Each piece is real. None of them, alone, is what a board, a sponsor, or a regulator can act on. Leaders need a concise answer before funding, launch, audit, or escalation — and the data they need is technically present, just not present in any one place.
That is the gap this engagement addresses. The diagnostic turns that scattered evidence into one scoped review with named owners, dated artifacts, working gates, and a 90-day plan you can fund. The work is artifact-first and fixed in scope — not a transformation program in disguise.
One scoped review with named owners, dated evidence, working gates, and a plan you can fund.Three triggers the diagnostic resolves
The work starts when a specific decision needs evidence. There are three triggers that come up most often. They share a pattern: leadership is being asked to commit, and the picture they have isn't ready to commit on.
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Trigger 01 · Fragments
Risk is visible but in pieces
It shows up across chat threads, decks, and tickets, but there is no single picture leadership can act on. Everyone has a fragment. No one has the whole map. The diagnostic builds the map.
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Trigger 02 · Vendor
Vendor answers don't add up
The packet is incomplete or contradicts itself, and your board can't sign off on it as-is. The team needs an independent read before the signature page, not after. The diagnostic provides that read.
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Trigger 03 · Funded move
You need a funded first move
You want a scoped, evidence-backed step you can pay for now, not a transformation program. The diagnostic ends with a 90-day plan you can take to the budget conversation — concrete, fundable, and bounded.
How the engagement runs
Three fixed phases from kickoff to a board-ready readout. Each phase has a clear hand-off. You always know what we are working on and what we will need from your team next.
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Phase 1
Scope lock
Confirm the decision, stakeholders, systems, artifacts, and success criteria for the diagnostic. Scope lock is the contract — it names the question the diagnostic is answering and the evidence we'll need to answer it.
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Phase 2
Evidence review
Map risks, owners, missing proof, vendor claims, launch gates, and decision debt. Most of the artifacts already exist somewhere; the review pulls them together and flags what's actually missing.
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Phase 3
Executive playbook
Deliver the risk map, 90-day operating plan, decision log, evidence pack, and readout. The playbook says what's true now, what should happen in the next ninety days, and what evidence supports each call.
Seven artifacts the sponsor can defend
Concrete artifacts, not vague advisory hours. Each item below ships as a named file with an owner and a date. Together they form the playbook your executive sponsor can defend in any room.
Board-ready risk map
The single picture of where risk lives, who owns it, and what evidence backs each entry.
90-day operating plan
The sequence of moves, sized so leadership can fund it as one decision.
Evidence pack
The dated, sourced artifacts that back every claim in the readout.
Recorded executive readout
The walkthrough so the next executive who joins doesn't need a re-brief.
Decision log
What was decided during the diagnostic, by whom, and on what evidence.
Gate memo
The call on the original question: ready, conditional, or hold, with the conditions named.
Upgrade path
The short note that sets up whatever follow-on work the diagnostic surfaced.
Artifact-first. Fixed scope, fixed price. You keep the call.Operating principle
Three principles every diagnostic runs on
Artifact-first
Every claim in the readout ties back to a dated, named artifact you can hand to a board, auditor, or insurer. If a claim doesn't have an artifact, it doesn't make the readout — it goes into the gap register instead.
Fixed scope, fixed price
One engagement with a defined start and end, not an open-ended retainer. The shape is set before kickoff. If the diagnostic surfaces a wider need, that's a separate conversation — not scope creep on this one.
You keep the call
We bring the evidence and the recommendation. You sign off, fund, and own the rollout. The diagnostic makes the decision easier to defend; it does not move the decision away from the people accountable for it.
What stays with you, and what this isn't
You stay in control of every decision and every rollout. The line between what we deliver and what we don't is short and explicit, so there are no surprises during procurement or delivery.
- What we deliver
- Board-ready risk map, 90-day operating plan, evidence pack, recorded executive readout, decision log, gate memo, upgrade path.
- Not a formal audit
- Not an audit or attestation. Your auditor still owns that opinion. The diagnostic reads alongside an audit, not in place of one.
- Not legal advice
- Your counsel still owns that call. We organize evidence; legal interpretation is theirs.
- Not certification
- Not a SOC or ISO certification. We don't replace your certification path.
- No outcome guarantees
- No guarantee of regulatory approval, insurer outcome, or board sign-off. We guarantee the playbook is honest, dated, and readable.
- You provide the inputs
- Access, SMEs, decision-owner availability, and a willingness to act on what the diagnostic surfaces.
Where this leads next
The diagnostic often surfaces a wider operating need. When it does, the follow-on path stays scoped and evidence-driven, not open-ended.
- Governance & Risk Cadence — keep the risk map, decisions, and launch gates current after the diagnostic ships.
- Vendor Gatekeeper — stress-test a specific vendor packet before you sign, renew, or escalate.
- 9-Day Build Sprint — ship one scoped control fast when the diagnostic points to a single fix.
Companion deck: the slide brief carries the same content in a presenter format. Use the slides for the room; use this brief for the operator and the procurement file.