Identify and ship the AI and automation plays that move real metrics — not demos.
Most AI work in startups is theatre — pilots that never reach production. A disciplined opportunity-map, top-3 high-ROI use cases shipped, data-readiness assessment and AI governance is the difference between AI-as-marketing and AI-as-margin.
A senior-led delivery sequence — not a template dump. Each phase is operated with your team, not handed over as a deck.
Workshop processes by value × feasibility × data-readiness; rank a long-list of AI / automation candidates with business owners.
Build ROI model, success metrics and data-readiness assessment per use case; agree build / buy / partner per component.
Ship the 3 use cases to production behind flags with cost, latency and quality monitoring; capture model cards and reviews.
Install AI governance (bias log, review cadence, responsible-AI checklist) and quarterly portfolio review with finance.
4–8 weeks