AI Ground Truth: Where AI Actually Meets Your Business
A rigorous, document-driven diagnostic that tells you exactly where AI will deliver value in your organization, what it takes to implement, and how it will affect your people. No surveys. No guesswork.
Your board wants an AI strategy. Your teams need clarity, not hype.
Every executive team is fielding the same question: where should we be using AI? The pressure is real, but the path forward is murky. Generic maturity surveys produce generic answers. Internal teams lack the methodology to identify, score, and prioritize AI opportunities at scale. And most AI assessments ignore the hardest part entirely: the organizational change required to actually adopt what they recommend.
The result? Pilot projects that go nowhere. Initiatives that stall at the proof-of-concept stage. Investments that never reach the people they were designed to help.
We analyze your actual process documentation, role descriptions, and operational data to surface exactly where AI fits, what it takes to implement, and how it will affect your workforce. Every opportunity is scored, ranked, and assessed for organizational readiness. You get a prioritized, actionable plan your leadership team can use immediately.
Not another maturity survey
Three principles set AI Ground Truth apart.
Document-Native Analysis
We work from your actual process maps, role descriptions, and team objectives. No surveys to distribute. No workshops to schedule. We analyze how your organization actually operates, not how people think it does.
Change Management at the Core
Every opportunity is assessed for organizational readiness and change impact, not just technical feasibility. Because the technology is the easy part. Getting your people to adopt it is where many AI initiatives stall.
Scored, Ranked, Presentation-Ready
You receive prioritized outputs ranked by ROI potential and implementation complexity. Every deliverable is designed to go directly into board presentations, leadership briefings, and strategic planning sessions.
Five phases. One clear outcome.
Each engagement follows the same structured methodology, scaled to your scope.
- 1
Intake & Scoping
We define the scope, identify the right functions and processes, and request the documentation we need.
- 2
Document Ingestion
Our team reviews your process maps, role descriptions, SOPs, and operational data in full.
- 3
Opportunity Analysis
We decompose every role and process, score each task for AI potential, and match opportunities to specific technologies.
- 4
Synthesis & Packaging
Findings are compiled into presentation-ready deliverables with executive narratives, roadmaps, and risk assessments.
- 5
Executive Debrief
We walk your leadership through the findings, answer questions, and align on priorities and next steps.
Three deliverables. Zero fluff.
Each engagement produces a curated package designed for immediate use with your leadership team, board, and implementation partners.
AI Opportunity Summary
A prioritized inventory of AI opportunities, ranked by business impact and implementation complexity.
- Executive narrative (1 page)
- Scored opportunity inventory
- Opportunity heat map by function
- 3 to 5 quick-win initiatives with ROI estimates
Organizational Implications
A clear-eyed assessment of how AI adoption will affect your workforce, with practical change management guidance.
- Workforce impact assessment by role
- Skills gap analysis (build, buy, or borrow)
- Change readiness matrix
- Risk register with mitigations
Roadmap & Next Steps
A phased implementation plan that moves from quick wins to strategic initiatives, grounded in your organizational reality.
- 3-horizon phased roadmap
- Prioritization decision framework
- Resource and investment planning
- Emergent engagement options for execution
Two engagement types, scaled to your needs
Each type is a complete, standalone engagement. Both can serve as Phase 1 of a larger initiative.
A La Carte
Best for organizations exploring where AI fits before committing to a larger initiative. Ideal for testing the approach on a single pain point or process area.
- Select one or more business processes
- AI Opportunity Summary
- Organizational & change implications
- Recommended next steps
- 30-minute executive debrief
Full Function
Best for organizations ready to build a prioritized AI adoption strategy for an entire function. The right choice when you need a board-ready plan with clear sequencing.
- All processes within a single function
- AI Opportunity Summary
- Organizational & change implications
- Cross-role pattern analysis
- Full 3-horizon phased roadmap
- Prioritization decision framework
- 2-hour executive debrief
Assessing AI across an entire portfolio?
The same Ground Truth methodology, scaled for private equity firms evaluating AI opportunity, readiness, and value-creation potential across portfolio companies. Three tiered engagements, from a single-company diagnostic to a full portfolio-wide assessment with cross-company benchmarking and PE-specific value creation lenses.
Illustrative example from a hypothetical Full Function assessment of a Talent Acquisition function, in which 60 percent of total AI value clusters in just two process areas.
12 business functions. 80+ processes.
Our analysis can cover the enterprise. Select the functions and processes that matter most to your organization.
Human Resources
9 processes
Finance & Accounting
8 processes
Procurement & Supply Chain
8 processes
Sales & Revenue Ops
8 processes
Customer Service
7 processes
Information Technology
8 processes
Legal & Compliance
8 processes
Marketing
8 processes
Operations
7 processes
Risk Management
5 processes
Corporate Comms
6 processes
Product & R&D
6 processes
What clients ask before they start
What documentation do we need to provide?
At minimum: process documentation for the areas in scope and relevant role or job descriptions. Org charts, competency frameworks, and team OKRs strengthen the analysis. We provide a detailed intake checklist tailored to your engagement type.
How is this different from what the big consulting firms offer?
Most large-firm AI assessments rely on interviews, workshops, and maturity models that produce broad, generic recommendations. We work directly from your operational documentation to produce organization-specific, scored, and ranked outputs. We also embed change management into every recommendation, which most assessments skip entirely.
Can we start with A La Carte and expand later?
Absolutely. You can begin with a single process to validate the approach and the quality of the output, then expand to a Full Function engagement. The A La Carte work feeds directly into any subsequent engagement.
Who on our team needs to be involved?
Very few people. We need a project sponsor to coordinate document collection and a brief kick-off call. Unlike traditional assessments, we do not require workshops, interviews, or survey distribution. Your team’s time investment is minimal.
What if our documentation is incomplete?
Most organizations have more documentation than they realize. We work with what exists and flag any gaps that limit the analysis. Even partial documentation yields valuable, actionable findings. We will never pad the analysis with assumptions to fill gaps.
Do you help with implementation?
AI Ground Truth is designed as a diagnostic engagement. However, every deliverable includes clear next steps and implementation guidance. For organizations that want hands-on execution support, Emergent offers follow-on engagement options outlined in the roadmap deliverable.
Ready to find your ground truth?
Schedule a 30-minute consultation to discuss your scope and objectives, or reach out directly at jesse@emergentconsultants.com.