Stage 1 of 6
Understand
Recognise the starting point
The question
Where are we using AI today?
You arrived from the home page with this situation: “We don't know where to start”. Choose another situation
The problem it solves
Objective See yourself in the problem before looking for a solution.
AI is in use that nobody decided to use. It arrives with a tool, a vendor or a team's initiative. Nobody can say precisely where it is, what data it touches or who answers for it.
Questions it answers
- Where are we using AI today?
- What data does it access?
- Who is accountable for it?
Signs your organisation is at this stage
- Each area uses different tools.
- There is no inventory of uses.
- It is unclear what data is being uploaded.
- Pilots have no success criteria.
- There are policies, but they do not reach operations.
- Nobody knows who answers if something fails.
What AGORA does
- There is nothing to engage at this stage: AGORA publishes these signs and questions so the organisation can recognise itself and share them internally.
- For the next step it offers the free assessment: twelve questions, human review and a written response.
Deliverables
- The signs the organisation recognises, shared with leadership.
- The questions the assessment has to answer.
The organisation produces them itself: this stage is not an AGORA service.
Who needs to take part
- Whoever is driving the topic inside the organisation.
- The leadership that has to decide whether to assess.
Indicative duration
Not applicable: it is a self-check, not a project.
Exit criterion
- The organisation recognises at least one of these signs.
- It decides to get a first reading of its starting point.
Next step
Not a compulsory process
You do not have to go through the six stages in order, or engage work at every stage. An organisation with systems already in production can come in at Govern or Operationalise; one that is just exploring usually starts by understanding and assessing.