AI Business Case Workshop
Stress-test your AI investment before you commit budget. Build a board-ready case using the same analytical frameworks used by top-tier consulting firms.
Why most AI business cases fail before they reach the board
Most organisations have more AI ideas than they can evaluate. Most AI investments are approved on gut feel and approved without a real financial case. This workshop fixes that.
No MECE structure
Overlapping initiatives, duplicated effort, no clear boundary between what AI does and what people do. The board cannot evaluate what it cannot separate.
No Pareto filter
Every use case is treated as equal priority. Budget spreads across ten initiatives. None of them reach the threshold for meaningful impact.
No financial framing
‘AI will improve efficiency’ is not a business case. Without EBITDA impact, payback period and implementation cost, the investment decision cannot be made.
No governance
No escalation path, no risk acceptance documentation. When something goes wrong — and it will — there is no framework to fall back on.
Four modules — one session
Each module builds the case from the ground up. You leave with a completed proposal, not a slide deck of intentions.
Map the Opportunity
MECE decomposition of all AI use cases across revenue growth, operational efficiency and risk & compliance. No overlapping initiatives.
Prioritise with Pareto
Score each use case by business value and ease of implementation. Identify the one initiative that delivers 80% of the value first.
Build the Business Case
Translate your priority use case into EBITDA impact, implementation cost and payback period. Numbers your board will act on.
Govern the Investment
Document risk acceptance, define the escalation path, and structure the five-part board investment proposal.
Every AI case needs three numbers
Boards make faster decisions with a clear financial model. This workshop builds it.
We also build the payback calculation: implementation cost ÷ net annual benefit × 12 = payback in months. Boards make faster decisions when payback is under 18 months and clearly evidenced.
Important: boards discount optimistic projections. This workshop builds the conservative case that actually gets approved — not the one that looks good until it doesn’t.
This is for you if…
You are a CTO, MD or Head of Digital with AI initiatives in flight or under consideration
You need to present an AI investment to a board or senior leadership team and want to arrive prepared
You have had a vendor AI pitch and want an independent framework to evaluate it honestly
Your AI strategy exists as a slide deck and needs to become a financial decision with named owners
You want to prioritise between competing AI initiatives but currently have no structured basis for that decision
You want the rigour of a consulting firm’s analytical process applied to your specific situation
Delivered by an ILM Assured AI for Business Mentor
Richard Shaw is one of a small number of UK practitioners formally qualified to advise business leaders on AI adoption, strategy and governance through the ILM Assured AI for Business Mentor programme. He is not an AI vendor. He has no commercial interest in which tools you choose. He combines 25 years of enterprise architecture experience — including AI strategy at Defra — with a formal coaching qualification and a track record of evaluating AI investments at board level.
The frameworks in this workshop are the same ones Richard uses when advising senior leaders on live AI investment decisions. This is not a generic AI literacy session.
What you leave with
- A MECE map of all your AI opportunities — structured, no overlaps
- A Pareto-ranked shortlist with one clearly prioritised use case
- A completed financial model: EBITDA impact, implementation cost, payback
- Risk acceptance documented with named authority and review date
- A five-part board-ready investment proposal — ready to present
- Participant workbook with all exercises and frameworks for future use
From £1,750 + VAT · Half day · 1–6 participants · Remote or in-person
Book a Workshop
The first step is a free 30-minute call to understand your AI landscape and confirm this is the right session for your situation. No obligation, no pressure.
info@nexusblueprint.co.uk · Brighton-based · UK-wide