Skip to content
Astorna

For executives and board members

Would your first AI project earn the right to a second?

A convincing demonstration can make a project feel inevitable before anyone has agreed what should improve, how improvement will be measured, who owns the result, or what would make the firm stop.

If it disappoints, will the board conclude that the project was poorly chosen, or that AI does not work at your firm? The first project can determine whether there is appetite for a second.

The useful question is not whether the firm should use AI. It is what would have to be true for this particular use to deserve the firm’s money, attention, and organisational change.

First check if this workshop is suitable for you.

Book a free 15-minute call

What would need to be true before you funded it?

Before committing budget, could you answer:

  • What business result is expected to improve, and what is the baseline today?
  • How much improvement would justify the complete commitment?
  • What must change in the workflow, data, systems, and people?
  • Who owns the business outcome after the project goes live?
  • What could make a successful demonstration fail in the real workflow?
  • Which risks could outweigh the expected value?
  • Which other priority will receive less money or attention if this goes ahead?
  • What evidence would justify continuing, scaling, or stopping?

What this workshop helps you decide

Whether this workflow deserves a next step, what would have to be true for it to work, and the smallest commitment that could resolve what remains uncertain.

In a private ninety-minute workshop, you bring one candidate workflow, whether it came from a vendor demonstration, an internal proposal, or a request your teams keep making. Together, we examine the intended outcome, the assumptions behind it, the dependencies, the accountable owner, the principal risks, and how success could be measured.

Within two working days, you receive a one-page AI Decision Brief. It records what appears promising, what remains untested, and the smallest commitment that could resolve the uncertainty.

It is not an investment case or a board recommendation. It gives management and the board a clearer basis for their own decision.

What a good decision looks like

A good outcome is not necessarily approval. It is a decision the board can explain before committing and evaluate after the project begins.

You should be able to say why this use deserves attention, what must be true for it to work, who owns the outcome, how progress will be measured, and what would cause the firm to stop.

Sometimes that leads to a small next step. Sometimes it changes the proposal. Sometimes it gives the firm a reason to leave the workflow alone.

Who this is for

  • Executives and board members deciding which AI use case deserves the firm’s funding and attention
  • Firms with one proposed workflow, vendor demonstration, or recurring internal suggestion
  • Decision-makers who can involve someone who understands how the workflow operates today
  • Leaders who want to test the assumptions before a proposal becomes a programme

How it works

  1. Start with a free 15-minute call

    Tell me briefly which workflow you have in mind. The call is simply to see whether the workshop is likely to be useful. It may not be.

    Book a free 15-minute call

    Prefer email? Write to hossein@initialblock.com.

  2. Book the workshop

    If the workshop fits, you will receive a private booking link to choose a date and time that suits you, and a few questions that help both of us prepare.

    Price
    €400
    paid when booking
    Workshop
    90 minutes
    Online, at your office, or at ours. You choose.

  3. Use the brief to frame the decision

    Within two working days, you receive a one-page AI Decision Brief. It records the preliminary assessment, what remains unresolved, and the smallest sensible next step.

    On whether this use deserves further investment, the answer may be yes, no, or not yet.

What would you want the person examining this investment to understand?

AI, certainly. But also what happens after a convincing demonstration: ownership, integration, operational change, support, regulatory obligations, and the cost of living with a system as the firm grows.

I have spent more than fifteen years building technology. For the past nine, I have been co-founder of Xeco Labs, where we build operational infrastructure for financial firms. I also have a master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Amsterdam.

That combination is why I look at both sides: what the technology may make possible, and what the firm would have to fund, change, govern, and support to make it work.

Some of the firms I have worked with through Xeco Labs

Index People, AssetCare, Carbon Equity, Bits of Stock, OAKK Capital Partners, RegLab.

If that sounds like the perspective you would want in the room, start with the free call.

Fifteen minutes to find out whether the workshop is likely to be useful for your workflow.

Book a free 15-minute call