The complete facilitation guide for MSP engineers and consultants running PAI AI Readiness Assessments. Pre-engagement checklist, stakeholder interview questions for every role, PSF-aligned scoring, and how to structure the client readout and roadmap.
Complete every item before on-site work begins. A poorly prepared engagement wastes your time and the client's. Incomplete access on the day is the most common cause of a partial report.
Send to the primary client contact 5 business days before on-site. Keep it short — 10 questions maximum. The goal is context, not exhaustive data collection. Longer questionnaires are ignored.
One guide per stakeholder type. Each includes objective, recommended questions, the reason behind each question, and delivery notes. Not every question needs to be asked — let the conversation flow and use the guide to fill gaps.
Score each of the eight PSF domains RED / AMBER / GREEN using the criteria below. Use your judgement — these are guidelines, not algorithms. A domain can be AMBER overall even if one question scores RED.
Scoring principle: Grade on what is actually deployed and verifiable, not what is planned or intended. If a policy exists in draft but is not enforced, it does not move the score above RED. AMBER means partial implementation. GREEN means consistently applied and verifiable.
The assessment deliverable is a written report, not a slide deck. The deck (if used) comes from the report — not the other way around. Write the report first. Eight sections, twelve to eighteen pages. The Word template is in your toolkit.
The readout is the most important meeting of the engagement. Done well, it turns a report delivery into a proposal conversation. Here is the structure that works.
Start by feeding back what the CEO told you in the executive interview. Repeat their priorities. This creates instant alignment — you are solving their problem, not pitching your service.
Go through RED findings first. Be direct — 'This is a critical gap. Here is why it matters for AI deployment.' Don't soften. Clients pay for an expert opinion, not reassurance.
Present the top three automation wins. For each one: current effort (hours/week), proposed solution, estimated saving, and time to implement. This is where the ROI model comes in.
Show the 30/60/90-day roadmap. Keep it concrete. Month 1 = security remediation. Month 2 = Copilot pilot. Month 3 = first automation live. Clients want a sequence, not a plan.
Present three options. Always three. Option 1 = foundation only. Option 2 = foundation + deployment. Option 3 = full roadmap. The middle option is usually chosen. Let them decide.
Close with: 'The next step is X. Can we lock that in before we leave today?' Get a commitment — even 'send me the SOW' — before the meeting ends. Follow up within 24 hours.
The three pieces of a complete AI Readiness Assessment: the discovery scripts to get the data, this guide to run the engagement, and the ROI calculator to make the business case.