Where will AI actually pay back in your operation?
The AI Executive Briefing is a 90-minute working session for your leadership team. No vendor pitch. We look at where AI is paying back in businesses like yours and where it is not, apply the same scoring we use in our workshops, and build a first map of your own operation in the room. You leave with a one-page opportunity map and an honest next step, which can be "nothing yet".
When the briefing is the right start
AI is on the board agenda
Leadership wants a view on AI and nobody yet has a shared picture of where it would pay back.
Too many ideas, no order
Suggestions are arriving from every function and there is no agreed way to rank them.
Sceptical executives
Some of the room has seen pilots stall and wants to hear what is real before committing time or budget.
A sponsor who needs a starting point
One executive wants to move and needs the rest of the leadership team to see the same picture.
What you would be buying
A 90-minute working session for your leadership team that maps where AI would pay back in your operation, and a one-page opportunity map within 48 hours.
What you receive
- A reality check on where AI is paying back in operations like yours, and where it is not
- The four lenses and the value, feasibility and risk scoring we use in our workshops
- A first-pass heat map of your operation, built in the room
- Two or three candidate processes worth a closer look
- A one-page opportunity map, sent within 48 hours
- An honest next step, which can be to fix a process first or to do nothing yet
What you provide
- A 15-minute call with the executive sponsor beforehand
- Six to ten executives in the room: typically COO, CFO, CIO and the heads of operations and risk
- No documents, data or system access
How success is measured
- Whether the leadership team leaves with a shared view of where AI would pay back first
- Whether the candidate processes are specific enough to scope
The briefing finds candidates. It does not size a saving, and we do not report one.
What can hold it up
- The right executives in the room for the full 90 minutes
- A sponsor who can take the next step, or decide not to
After it goes live
You can stop after the briefing and keep the map. Where there is something worth pursuing, we describe the route that fits it.
Deliverables and measures describe the standard shape of this engagement. Exact scope, duration and commercial terms are agreed and confirmed in writing before work starts.
How we do the work
A reality check
Where AI and automation are paying back in operations like yours today, where they are not, and why the difference is usually the process rather than the model.
The method
The four lenses we apply to every process (rules-based automation, AI and document intelligence, agentic operations, and fix first or leave alone) and how we score value, feasibility and risk.
A live map of your operation
A first-pass heat map built with your team in the room, with two or three candidate processes worth a closer look.
An honest next step
Which route fits, if any. Sometimes the right answer is to fix a process first, or to do nothing yet, and we will say so.
A one-page opportunity map
Written up and sent within 48 hours: the heat map, the scores and the candidate processes, yours to keep whatever you decide.
Why this matters
Most leadership teams are not short of AI ideas. They are short of a shared, defensible view of which ones would pay back, and in what order.
Without that, the loudest idea gets funded, or nothing does. Gartner expects more than 40% of agentic AI projects to be cancelled by the end of 2027, mostly on cost, unclear value and weak risk controls (Gartner, June 2025). The cheapest place to avoid that is before anything is scoped.
You can stop after the briefing and keep the map. Nothing about it commits you to the next step.
How the 90 minutes run
Sponsor call
Fifteen minutes with the executive sponsor to agree who should be in the room and what they want from it. No other preparation is needed.
Reality check
Where AI is paying back in operations like yours, and where it is not.
Method
The four lenses and the scoring, applied to examples from your business.
Live map
A first-pass heat map of your operation, built in the session, with two or three candidate processes.
Follow-up
The one-page opportunity map within 48 hours, with the next step we would recommend, if any.
Often delivered alongside
Timing, cost, access and ownership
How long does it take?
Ninety minutes, plus a 15-minute call with your sponsor beforehand. The opportunity map follows within 48 hours.
Is there a charge?
No. The briefing is offered at no charge to leadership teams who want a straight view of where AI would pay back.
What do we need to prepare?
Nothing beyond the sponsor call. No documents, data or system access.
Who runs it?
George McKenna, ETT's Chairman and CTO, with an ETT delivery lead: the people who would scope and run the work, not an account manager.
What happens next?
You can stop and keep the map. Where something is worth pursuing, we recommend the route that fits: an Executive Value Day, a Business Process Workshop, a process mining discovery or a proof of value.
About this service
What is an AI Executive Briefing?
A 90-minute working session for a leadership team that maps where AI and automation would pay back in their own operation, and ends with a one-page opportunity map sent within 48 hours.
Who should attend?
Six to ten executives: typically the COO, CFO and CIO with the heads of operations and risk. The sponsor joins a 15-minute call beforehand to agree the room.
How is it different from the Executive Value Day?
The briefing finds the candidates in 90 minutes. The Executive Value Day is a full day with pre-work that turns candidates into opportunity charters your executives own, each tested against a nine-month return.
Where would AI pay back first in your operation?
Request a briefing for your leadership team. We will agree the room with your sponsor and send the opportunity map within 48 hours of the session.
Around four minutes. Indicative guidance based on your answers.