Evaluate AI: From Hype to High-Value Decisions

Lori Lalonde

CEO & Founder - Her Executive Ascent

In one focused morning, move from using AI tools to governing AI at the table.

Most AI training teaches awareness. It doesn't teach you to govern, evaluate risk, or walk into a board meeting and defend a position with the precision that earns a mandate. So you stay fluent and stay peripheral at the exact moment your organization is scrambling to identify who actually owns AI strategy at the executive level.

The AI-Ready Executive was built for that gap. In one 4-hour live intensive, you'll move from AI-literate to AI-authoritative: you'll apply frameworks to evaluate a real initiative, make a defensible build/acquire/partner recommendation, and draft your Board Readout.

You leave with three working artifacts that you can use immediately.

1) AI Readiness Scorecard: an evidence-backed score of your organization across five dimensions — data, talent, processes, culture, and governance.

2) Strategic Decision Matrix: a build / acquire / partner recommendation on a real initiative evaluated for strategic fit, capability, speed, cost, and the risk that survives scrutiny.

3) Board-Ready One-Pager: A single-page narrative connecting your decision, value, and risk posture into the message a board can act on tailored to your primary stakeholder.

What you’ll learn

Learn to govern AI risk, score real initiatives, and brief boards — and leave with three artifacts you can use immediately.

Apply the VFR framework and 12-question toolkit to score any AI initiative across five readiness dimensions.
Map data quality, talent, processes, culture, and governance against a structured rubric — not gut feel.
Complete a hands-on scenario sprint evaluating a real initiative during the session.

Apply the Six Risk Buckets framework to classify and size any AI risk across your organization.
Run a pre-mortem, score risk severity, and define controls using the full AI Risk Playbook.
Build a scored risk register for a real initiative during the session — ready to present on Monday.

Use the Strategic AI Decision Matrix to compare options across timeline, risk, and strategic fit.
Pressure-test your recommendation against the criteria boards and CFOs actually challenge.
Leave with a completed Decision Memo — a structured, shareable rationale for your recommendation.

Use the Four-Stakeholder Communication framework to tailor one AI narrative for four audiences.
Draft your Board Readout in real time using a structured template and leave with a polished, presentation-ready document.
Learn what boards expect on AI: what to lead with, what to quantify, and what to leave out entirely.