How the scores work
The scores are rules, not opinions. Here are the rules.
Two scores, on purpose
The first score says how much AI has actually changed the way the business works. The second says whether the groundwork is there to change it. A business can be high on one and low on the other, and that gap is often the most useful finding.
Score 1: where you are today (7 to 21)
Seven parts of the business, each placed at one of three stages and worth 1, 2 or 3 points. This is the same scale NovoPro uses on day one of a client engagement, so a 10 here means the same as a 10 there.
Bolted on (1): AI sits on top of the old way of working. Remove the tools and this part runs the same, just slower.
Redesigned (2): at least one workflow has been rebuilt around what the tools can do. The default has flipped from "a person does it and AI helps" to "AI drafts it and a person checks it".
Built on (3): AI is load-bearing and connected to the rest of the business. Remove it and this part can't run in its current form.
The seven parts: Finding customers, Winning work, Doing the work, Running the business, Money, People, You.
Categories: 7 to 10 Bolted on, 11 to 16 In transition, 17 to 21 Built on.
Score 2: ready to move (0 to 30)
Fifteen statements about things you can see in the business, not feelings about it. Yes scores 2, Partly 1, No 0. Three statements in each of five areas, so each area is out of 6.
- Direction
- People
- Data and process
- Context and tools
- Guardrails
Categories: 0 to 10 Not yet, 11 to 20 Getting there, 21 to 30 Ready.
Your position
The two scores place you in one of four positions.
Where the advice comes from
Every sentence in the free report is written in advance and chosen by rule: your strongest area, your weakest area, the part of the business at the lowest stage, and your position. No AI model writes or reads your free result. Ties are broken in a fixed order, so the same answers always give the same report.
Why there are no benchmarks yet
We will only show "businesses like yours" comparisons once at least 30 businesses of a similar size and type have taken the check. Until then any comparison would be invented, and we would rather tell you nothing than something made up.
Honest answers, better advice
Most owners feel further along than they are. The check is built around descriptions of what you can see, not ratings out of ten, because ratings flatter. A flattering answer only gets you worse advice.
Scoring version rc-1.0. Framework adapted by NovoPro from Benjamin Simkin's The AI First Company companion guides and How to Become a CAIO, NovoPro's Diagnostic Framework (People, Process, Technology, Policy) and NovoPro's own delivery experience. Stage names: Bolted on, Redesigned, Built on.