Huntley Cross Advisory · AI Readiness Audit

Know whether AI will work in your business, before you spend on it.

A two-week audit for businesses considering production AI, automation or analytics work. The consultant embeds with your team, looks at the actual data, the actual workflows and the actual constraints, and writes a recommendation memo your CFO can stand behind.

No upsell pressure. If the answer is “don't do it”, you get that in writing. If the answer is “do it, here's the workplan”, the next-step engagement is yours to decide.

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Consultant-Led

AI Readiness Audit

By engagement 2-week deliverable

Consultant-led. NDA before any data exchange. Written memo on completion. No upsell pressure.

  • One-page recommendation memo (Go / No-go / Conditional)
  • Three to five named next-step workstreams with sizing
  • Risk register with technical and operational items
  • 30-minute board / leadership briefing call
  • Indicative scoping for any recommended follow-on work
Book the Audit Call
Named owner The audit is run by Dhanu directly, not handed to an analyst.
NDA-first Mutual NDA before any data exchange.
Tailored quote Investment scoped on the call. No upsell pressure.
1 business day Reply from the consultant personally.
Two ways to start

Async sanity-check, or the full embedded audit

Lite is a short, async pre-audit that answers one concrete decision question. The full Audit is the two-week embedded engagement. Whatever you invest in Lite credits back if you upgrade to the Full audit within thirty days, so there is no penalty for testing the relationship before committing.

Pre-Audit

AI Readiness Lite

By engagement 3-business-day async deliverable

An asynchronous, single-question sanity check. You bring one concrete decision (“should we pilot RAG on our knowledge base?”, “should we build vs. buy this workflow?”); we send back a written, structured answer in three working days.

  • One-page written sanity-check memo (Go / No-go / Conditional)
  • 30-minute pre-audit briefing call (consultant-led)
  • Up to two follow-up email exchanges within 14 days
  • Mutual NDA before any data exchange
  • Fully credited if you upgrade to the Full audit within 30 days

For founders and leaders who want a written second opinion on one decision before scoping a larger engagement.

Book the Lite Audit
Most chosen

AI Readiness Audit

By engagement 2-week embedded deliverable

The flagship engagement. The consultant embeds with your team for two weeks across data, workflows and constraints, then writes a recommendation memo your CFO can stand behind.

  • Six deliverables (data, use-cases, build-vs-buy, risk, sequencing, briefing)
  • Up to six stakeholder interviews
  • 30-minute board / leadership briefing call
  • Risk register sized and prioritised
  • Indicative scoping for any recommended follow-on work
  • Audit investment credited against the first month of follow-on work

For boards and leadership teams ready to commit to a structured, auditable answer.

Book the Full Audit

After either engagement: continued advisory is available on the Fractional AI Operator retainer (three-month minimum, month-to-month thereafter, scoped on the call).

What's included in the Full audit

Six deliverables. One written memo. Two weeks.

The audit is shaped around the questions a CFO, CTO or board chair actually needs answered before signing off AI spend.

  • Data audit. What you actually have, where it lives, how usable it is for AI, and what the legal handling looks like (UK GDPR, India DPDP).
  • Use-case prioritisation. A ranked shortlist of three to five candidate use-cases, scored on feasibility, ROI and risk.
  • Build-vs-buy memo. For each candidate use-case, an honest read on whether to build, buy off-the-shelf, or partner.
  • Risk register. Technical risks, operational risks, regulatory risks, sized and prioritised.
  • Implementation sequencing. If we recommend going ahead, here's the next-90-days workplan with named workstreams and indicative cost.
  • Board briefing. A 30-minute live walkthrough with your decision-makers, plus the written memo on file.
Process

How the two weeks run

Day 0

NDA & Scoping

One-page mutual NDA signed. 60-minute kickoff call to confirm scope, key stakeholders and data access.

Days 1–5

Discovery

Data review, stakeholder interviews (typically 4–6 conversations), workflow mapping, regulatory framing.

Days 6–10

Analysis & memo drafting

Use-case scoring, build-vs-buy framing, risk register, implementation sequencing. Memo drafted.

Day 14

Board briefing

30-minute live walkthrough with your leadership. Written memo delivered. Decision is yours.

FAQ

The questions buyers ask before booking

Who runs the audit?

The consultant, Dhanu Nagarajan, an AI Systems Engineer with seven years of production experience. Full profile. No analyst hand-off.

What if your recommendation is “don't do it”?

Then that's what the memo says, with reasoning. We have no incentive to push you into a follow-on engagement that won't work, our reputation depends on the recommendation memo holding up over time.

What does the audit fee cover?

All consultant time across the two-week window: NDA, kickoff, up to six stakeholder interviews, data review, analysis, the written memo, and the 30-minute board briefing. No travel costs (delivered remotely, or on-site for the briefing). Investment is scoped on the call so it matches the size and complexity of your situation.

What about confidentiality?

One-page mutual NDA signed before any data exchange. We do not retain pitch documents or commercial-in-confidence material beyond the engagement. The memo is yours.

How does this connect to follow-on advisory work?

The memo includes indicative pricing for any recommended next-step engagement. You're under no obligation to proceed. If you do, the audit fee is credited against the first month of the follow-on work.

How quickly can we start?

NDA can be signed within one business day. Kickoff call typically scheduled within five business days. Most audits run within three weeks of first contact.

Next step

Book a 20-minute call. Decide if the audit is the right next step.

The first call is a scoping conversation, not a sales pitch. If the audit is wrong for you, we'll tell you on the call.

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