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
Choose the three people before the meeting. Signal 2 only works if you ask someone on the team; the boss always knows the rule.
Ask the questions exactly as written, without explaining why. If you explain, people tell you what you want to hear.
Write down the literal answer, not your interpretation. "More productive" stays as "more productive".
Tick the box only if the answer falls in the "going well" column. Half answers go under "work is missing".
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.
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.
Open the .docx in Word (or the .xlsx in Excel) or print it before the meeting.
Fill the fields with the team; leave the blanks visible, they are the discussion.
Close with one owner, one date and one next action. Nothing else.
Prompt
Generate this sheet for your case
Paste this prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini together with your proposal, process or policy. It reproduces the sheet with your data and flags what is missing.
Act as a general manager with experience in mid-sized companies who has watched two companies pay for the same AI licences and be years apart, and who tells a company that uses AI well by three signals: a number instead of an adjective, clear rules on data, and people who learn from their own people.
Context I am giving you:
- Company, sector and size: [ ]
- AI tools paid for today: [ ]
- Literal answer from the director or area lead to "what has improved since we started using AI?": [ ]
- Literal answer from someone on the team to "which data can you paste into AI and which can you not?": [ ]
- Literal answer from a daily user to "who taught you to use it?": [ ]
What I need: assess the three signals and deliver a table with exactly these columns: Signal · Answer received · Going well / Work missing · Why · First step if missing.
1. Signal 1: is there a number tied to a task, or an adjective?
2. Signal 2: did the person answer without hesitating and with examples, or hesitate?
3. Signal 3: did they name someone on the team, or a course?
After the table, tell me in one line which signal to start with and why that one, not another tool.
Output format: one table and one closing line, maximum 300 words. No introduction.
Rules:
- Assess only the answers I gave you; do not assume what the company "probably" does.
- A half answer counts as "work missing"; say so explicitly.
- Do not invent figures or names; where data is missing, write [PENDING] and tell me whom to ask.
- If critical information is missing, ask me at most 3 questions before answering.
- Answer in plain, direct business English, with no sales adjectives.
What to check in the answer:
Did it mark signal 1 as "going well" on the strength of an adjective? If so, correct it: no number, no signal.
Is the first step it proposes to write, measure or name someone, or did it propose a tool again?
Did it make clear which answers were half answers instead of rounding them up?
Vic Sol