---
title: "How you can tell a company uses AI well: questions for tomorrow"
slug: senales-empresa-que-usa-bien-ia
lang: en
situation: gobernar
format: checklist
minutes: 5
video: 14
updated: 2026-10-19
---

# How you can tell a company uses AI well: questions for tomorrow

> For executives who want to know whether their company uses AI well, not just pays for it, and have a meeting tomorrow where they can ask.

## When to use it

- You renewed the licences and nobody can say what has changed since they were bought.
- A competitor "already uses AI" and so does your company, and you cannot tell whether you are years apart or not.
- You have to present the state of AI to the committee and all you have is a list of tools.

## The sheet

Two companies can pay for the same AI licences and be years apart. The difference is not on the invoice; it is in three signals. Each one becomes a question you can ask tomorrow, to a specific person, and the answer tells you right away which side you are on.

| ☐ | Signal | Who you ask | The question for tomorrow | Answer that says it is going well | Answer that says work is missing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ☐ | 1 · A number, not an adjective | The director or the lead of the area that uses it most | "What has improved since we started using AI?" | A number tied to a task: "quotes went from three days to one" (illustrative). | An adjective: "people are more productive". |
| ☐ | 2 · Clear rules on data | Someone on the team, not the boss | "Which data can you paste into AI and which can you not?" | Answers without hesitating, with examples. | Hesitates, looks at the boss or says "I suppose…". |
| ☐ | 3 · They learn from their own people | Whoever uses AI daily | "Who taught you to use it?" | "Someone in accounting showed us how." A name from the team. | "A course." And nothing after the course. |

Score: ___ of 3. If you have all three, you are doing well. If one is missing, start there, not with another tool.

Same licence, two companies: the one that ticks all three boxes has a number, rules and a name. The other has the same invoice.

## How to fill it in 5 minutes

1. Choose the three people before the meeting. Signal 2 only works if you ask someone on the team; the boss always knows the rule.
2. Ask the questions exactly as written, without explaining why. If you explain, people tell you what you want to hear.
3. Write down the literal answer, not your interpretation. "More productive" stays as "more productive".
4. Tick the box only if the answer falls in the "going well" column. Half answers go under "work is missing".
5. The most common mistake: asking all three questions to the same director. You will get three good answers and the sheet will have told you nothing.

## The line that is almost always missing

The empty box is the plan. Companies respond to a missing signal by buying another tool, and the tool does not fix a number nobody measures, a rule nobody wrote or a person nobody named. Start with the empty box: it is the cheapest work and the most visible.

## If this becomes a big decision

If the empty box leads you to a renewal or purchase that is hard to reverse and carries your name, the free tools at vicsol.org/decision-clarity/ help you structure it. They do not replace a formal review.

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Vic Sol · Decision Desk · vicsol.org/resources/ · Free to use with attribution.
This sheet structures a conversation; it is not legal, financial or audit advice.