Template · AI readiness board memoTake any AI proposal to the board on one page.
Every AI proposal assumes your data is fine. This memo makes the board ask whether anyone has checked. Seven sections a CEO or CFO can fill in before the meeting: what is proposed, what data it needs, what you know, what you don’t, and the decision you are asking for.
Read it here, copy it as text, or save it as a PDF. Nothing to sign up for.
The template
Seven sections. Decision first.
Each section has a note on what good looks like. Switch to the filled example to see it with numbers in, then copy the blank version and write your own.
Filled example: illustrative, not a client.
What good looks like
One sentence a director could repeat from memory: the call, the proposal and the reason. Write it last, put it first.
01The decision, in one line
- Recommendation
- approve / approve with conditions / holdApprove with conditions
- In one line
- We recommend the board … the … proposal, because …Approve the churn prediction proposal for one segment only, because the data it needs is incomplete today and two named fixes close the gap.
What good looks like
The proposal in the supplier’s own words, so the board can see exactly what is being claimed. No adjectives of your own.
02What is proposed
- Proposal
- what it is, and where in the business it runsAI churn prediction across the installed base
- Supplier
- vendor, consultancy or internal teamAn outside vendor (illustrative)
- Cost and term
- licence, implementation and internal time, over the term€180,000 over two years, plus one analyst for six months
- What it claims
- the outcome promised, quoted“Flags at-risk accounts 90 days before renewal.”
What good looks like
The records, fields and history the proposal depends on, named system by system. If the supplier can’t tell you, that is a finding in itself.
03What data it needs
- Systems
- which systems it reads fromCRM and billing; product usage if available
- Records and fields
- the fields it can’t run withoutOne customer ID across CRM and billing; contract renewal dates
- History
- how far back, and how complete24 months of billing history
What good looks like
Evidence, with its source and date. Say who checked the data, how, and whether they sell anything that depends on the answer.
04What we know
- Evidence
- who checked, how, on which systems, and whenIndependent Truth Score Read on CRM, billing and HR exports, 2,379 customers
- Truth Score™
- score and band, if measured52, Band C, significant work needed
- Leverability read
- deploy now / needs work / blockedNeeds work
- Key findings
- the two or three facts that decide it, in numbers117 customers with no shared ID between CRM and billing; renewal dates missing on 38% of contracts
What good looks like
The gaps in the evidence, stated plainly. A board trusts a memo that names its unknowns more than one that has none.
05What we don’t know
- Not assessed
- what wasn’t checked, and whyProduct usage data: not supplied
- Untested claims
- what in the proposal rests on the supplier’s wordHow well the model performs on our customers
- What would change the call
- the finding that would move the recommendationIf usage data is also incomplete, the play is blocked, not just in need of work
What good looks like
What must be true before the full budget is released, and how you will check. Conditions are how you proceed without pretending the data is perfect.
06Conditions and risks
- Before the full budget
- the fixes, each with an owner and a test for doneOne customer ID across CRM and billing (RevOps and finance); renewal dates on every contract (sales operations)
- How we start
- the smallest version that proves itStart with one segment, not the full roll-out
- Re-test
- when the data is checked again, and by whomBefore the contract is signed, by the same independent reviewer
What good looks like
The specific decision, the owner and the date it comes back. End on an outcome, not a discussion.
07What we need from the board
- Decision needed
- exactly what the board is asked to approveApprove phase one, for one segment, with the full budget gated on the re-test
- Owner
- the executive accountableCFO, with the head of revenue operations
- Comes back
- when the board sees it againNext board meeting, with the re-test result
One page. If it runs longer, you are explaining the work instead of stating the decision.
When to use it
Four moments a memo beats a deck.
A vendor proposal needs signing.
Put the supplier’s claims in section 02 in their own words, and test them in 03 and 04.
Next year’s AI budget is being set.
One memo per bet. The board compares them on the same seven sections.
The board wants an AI plan.
Bring the plays with evidence behind them, and the unknowns named, not hidden.
A pilot needs more money.
Section 05 is where you say why it stalled, and what would change the call.
Section 04
Writing this memo for a real proposal? Tell us what’s on the table.
We’ll reply with which systems the evidence in section 04 should come from, and whether a Truth Score Read is worth it before the board meets. The template is yours to use either way.
- A reply from hello@getdatatruth.com, not a sales sequence
- Which exports would test the proposal
- An honest view on whether a Read is worth it
Questions
About the memo.
Who it is for, where the evidence comes from, and how to adapt it for your own board.
Book the callWho is this memo for?
A CEO, CFO or COO taking any AI proposal to a board, an investment committee or an owner: a vendor contract, next year’s AI budget, or a pilot that needs more money. It works the same way for an operating partner taking a portfolio company’s proposal to the investment committee.
What if we haven’t had our data checked?
Then say so in section 05. A memo that states “the data this proposal depends on has not been independently checked” is honest, and it gives the board a clear choice: approve on trust, or ask for the check before the money moves.
Where does the evidence in section 04 come from?
Ideally from someone with nothing to sell you. A Truth Score Read gives you the Truth Score (a score out of 100 for how far your data can be trusted), a Leverability read on the proposal (which AI ideas you can use now, after fixes, or not at all) and the cross-system red flags, in a signed memo, within 5 working days of complete exports.
Is there a copy we can edit?
Yes: use “Copy as text” on the template to paste either version into your own document, or “Print or save as PDF”. Nothing is sent to us when you do.
Can we change the sections?
Yes. Keep the order, though: decision first, then what is proposed, then what you know and don’t know. Boards read the first line closely and skim the rest.
Section 04 is the hard part. We fill it in.
Your Truth Score™, a Leverability read on the proposal and the red flags between your systems, in a signed memo you can attach. Within 5 working days of complete exports.
Starts with a 30-minute call. Commits you to nothing.