The AI-Native Operating Model
Nick Talwar
CTO | Agentic AI systems, ex-Microsoft
Earnest Sweat
VC GP at Stresswood | Series A investor
The diligence boards run on AI programs, and the operating plan that passes it.
The challenge. Your board has moved from “what’s our AI strategy?” to “show me what it returned.” Finance counts anecdotes as zero. Pilots multiply; owners don’t. The lever that moves the P&L, agents absorbing volume so the human organization isn’t backfilled, has no chart, no owner and no number.
Five questions, one per session.
What did the money return, and who owns each decision?
What does finance actually count?
Would I fund the next tranche?
Show me the Agent Organization.
What’s the ask, and in what sequence?
How it works. Each session: a 12-minute idea, candid peer Q&A, a teardown of one anonymized case with its numbers and decisions, and a working block on your plan with the instructor in the room. Two trio board reviews: you present, two peers interrogate.
You get: the Bottega8 starter kit (plan skeleton, AI P&L template, agent org chart worksheet, worked example), weekly office hours with Manju, and written feedback from Nick and Manju.
Taught by people who run this diligence: a Partner & CTO who leads board-appointed AI audits of regulated, PE-backed companies, an enterprise AI operator, a solo GP investor, and the creator of the AI/HI Org Chart.
What you’ll learn
Go from a list of AI pilots to a board-ready 2027 operating plan with clear owners, returns your CFO signs, and an org chart for your agents
Apply the frame Bottega8 uses in board-appointed AI audits of regulated companies to your own portfolio
Build your AI P&L: every initiative with its spend, owner and measured return, or none
Map the five AI decisions to named owners in a decision-rights map, so your board sees owners, not pilots
Classify each initiative as hard savings, revenue or named option value
Calculate a unit cost per outcome for every initiative so your numbers survive the CFO’s review
Build a measurement model you can reuse to evaluate every new AI initiative
Stage funding into tranches with clear gates, so no tranche is released without evidence from the last
Separate spend that compounds from one-time headcount cuts, and prepare answers to the questions boards ask
Defend your case to a solo GP investor and two peers who read it the way your board will
Draw two org charts for one team, one for people and one for agents, with owners, review points and unit costs
Right-size people and agents together so the team’s throughput grows without its spend growing
Compare throughput per dollar before and after, so new volume goes to agents instead of new hires
Sequence your initiatives so the first gate lands inside two quarters, with evidence by mid-2027
Draft your funding ask as a board resolution, with owners, tranches and gates
Work through your plan live with peers and instructors in the final working session
Learn directly from expert instructors
Nick Talwar
CTO & AI Architect, Founder, ex-Microsoft
Earnest Sweat
Built VC practices at Prologis and GreatPoint; led Flexport, Flexe investments
Manju Abraham
VP Engineering, ex-HPE, Delphix, ISRO; transformed 1000+ engineer, $4B business
Todd Larsen
15+ years scaling teams at Groupon and Digit; helps execs lead AI transformation
Who this course is for
Execs who own the AI budget: you spent seven figures on AI and can’t show the board a return. Leave with a 2027 plan in finance’s terms.
Board members and investors: every deck has an AI slide. Run five questions in one meeting to know what to fund, cut or stage.
Leaders running the AI office: you have a mandate, but no decision rights or metrics. Design the office, owners, and measures.
Prerequisites
You own, influence, fund or oversee a 2027 budget line with AI in it
You’ll build your AI P&L, funding case and 2027 plan on your own company’s numbers, so you need a real AI budget to work from
No technical skills required
You’ll work in budgets, owners and board asks, not code. To build agents yourself, take Agentic AI Systems: From Prototype to Production
What's included
Live sessions
Learn directly from your instructors in a real-time, interactive format.
Lifetime access
Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.
Community of peers
Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.
Certificate of completion
Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.
The buyer's side is in the room
A solo GP investor reads your funding case the way a board does, before your board does.
Maven Guarantee
Your purchase is backed by the Maven Guarantee.
Course syllabus
4 live sessions • 5 lessons • 7 projects
Live sessions
1-3 hrs / week
Five 80-minute live sessions across four weeks.
Time Commitment
3-5 hrs / week
About 3 hrs/week, 4.5 in week two. Under an hour of homework: the work happens in the room.
Week 1
Jan
28
Optional: Office Hours
Thu 1/281:00 PM—2:00 PM (EST)Optional- ✍️
Pre-work: AI P&L inventory
Submit by Jan 26 - 📅
Live Session #1: What did the money return, and who owns each decision?
- ✍️
Project 1: Decision rights and transformation office
Submit by Jan 30
What did the money return, and who owns each decision?
You build the AI P&L for your company and assign the five AI decisions, so the board sees owners and returns instead of a pile of pilots.
Week 2
Feb
4
Optional: Office Hours
Thu 2/41:00 PM—2:00 PM (EST)Optional- ✍️
Measurement Model
Submit by Feb 2 - 📅
Live Session #2: What does finance actually count?
- 📅
Live Lesson #3: Would I fund the next tranche?
- ✍️
Staged Funding Case
Submit by Feb 9
What does finance count, and would I fund the next tranche?
You put every initiative in terms finance will sign, then stage funding into gated tranches and defend it to peers acting as your board.
Frequently asked questions
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