Free self-assessment

The AI Pulse Check

Twenty-four statements, about five minutes. Answer Yes only if it is true today, not if you intend to make it true. Be honest: a gap you can see is one you can fix. Your score appears when you have answered them all, and nothing you enter leaves your browser. Print this page (Ctrl or Cmd + P) to run it with your team.

01Use and visibility
  • We know which AI tools our people use, approved or not.
  • We have a written policy on what data may be put into AI tools.
  • One named person owns AI decisions, and everyone knows who.
  • We can list every AI-built or AI-assisted tool running in production.
02Data and security
  • We know which kinds of data (customer, employee, financial, source code) have been sent to a third-party AI service.
  • Our vendor contracts say whether our data is used to train their models.
  • We have checked where AI vendors process our data and how long they keep it.
  • AI tool accounts and API keys are managed like any other credential.
  • Our incident response plan covers an AI-related data leak.
03Engineering
  • Engineers have approved AI tools and written guidelines for using them.
  • Our code review process accounts for AI-generated code.
  • AI features are evaluated and tested before they reach production.
  • We track AI spend, and we know the cost of each AI feature.
  • Someone on call knows how to switch an AI feature off.
04Vendors and contracts
  • We know which vendors we depend on, and what happens if one changes its pricing or its model.
  • We could move away from any AI vendor without a rewrite.
  • We know whether anyone advising us is paid by the vendors they recommend.
  • Our contracts are clear on who owns AI-generated output and who is liable for it.
  • No AI commitment runs longer than we can justify today.
05Leadership and strategy
  • Each leader can say in one sentence what AI is for in our business.
  • We have named the specific problems AI should solve, with a measure of success for each.
  • We know which of our problems need a better process, not a model.
  • Our board or investors have seen a plan, not a slogan.
  • Every AI pilot has an owner, a budget, and an end date.

How to read your score

Count your Yes answers.

  • 18 to 24. A strong foundation. Your gaps are specific, and a short review should find them.
  • 9 to 17. Some solid ground and some real exposure. Start with the No answers in sections 1 and 2: use and data.
  • 0 to 8. AI is probably already in use without much oversight. Do not start by buying anything. Start by finding out what is already happening.

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