AI adoption

Help the team understand AI, then choose the right first project.

The assessment maps what employees know, the work they actually do, the systems they use, the data involved, and the baseline numbers that will show whether a pilot helped. It produces a ranked training and implementation plan, not a generic list of AI ideas.

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Useful outcomes

What the work should improve.

  • A clear inventory of current AI tools, subscriptions, and shadow usage
  • A role-based training and acceptable-use starting point
  • A ranked list of workflows by value, feasibility, risk, and time to first result
  • A provider, model, and architecture recommendation tied to real users and data
  • A defined pilot with success metrics, permissions, and escalation rules
  • A list of ideas to postpone or reject

How it works

A practical scope with clear boundaries.

Team readiness and training needs

Understand what owners and employees already use, where confusion or unsafe behavior exists, and which role-specific examples will create practical confidence.

  • Current usage and skill level by role
  • Sensitive-data and verification habits
  • Workshop, enablement sprint, or office-hours recommendation

Workflow and tool inventory

Review repetitive work, lead flow, document handling, reporting, communication, and the software already in place.

  • Who performs the work and how often
  • Where information is copied, delayed, or lost
  • What must remain accurate, private, or reviewable

Opportunity scoring

Score each candidate against urgency, measurable value, buyer ownership, technical fit, explanation burden, adoption difficulty, and operational risk.

  • Time saved or response time improved
  • Revenue leakage or cost avoided
  • Implementation and support burden

Provider and architecture decision

Compare business chat plans, APIs, Microsoft or Google tools, model gateways, open-weight models, and local or hybrid options only after the workflow is understood. Current model availability, pricing, and data terms are rechecked when the project begins.

  • Mainstream options such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot
  • Current alternatives such as Kimi K3, GLM 5.2, MiniMax M3, Qwen 3.7, Ollama, and OpenRouter
  • Agent and routing platforms such as OpenClaw and Vercel AI Gateway when justified

Pilot and rollout plan

Define the smallest useful implementation, test examples, failure paths, human handoff, training, and numbers to track before wider rollout.

  • Baseline and target metrics
  • Access required from the client
  • Training, documentation, and ownership

Good fit

A company with a real learning gap, workflow problem, or tool decision.

  • Five to 250 employees with repeated administrative or customer-response work
  • Several AI subscriptions or growing unsanctioned staff use
  • A leadership owner who can provide access and make process decisions
  • A need to train staff, compare providers, integrate tools, or define safe use

Usually not a good first project

What Vertex Authority will push back on.

  • A request for a long list of futuristic ideas with no owner or baseline
  • Replacing expert judgment in high-impact decisions without review
  • Buying an agent platform before defining the workflow
  • An expectation that a one-time generic prompt lecture will create lasting adoption

Next step

Describe the workflow before choosing the tool.

Share the current process, software, volume, and the time or revenue impact. Zach will reply with the most sensible next step.

Discuss an AI assessment