AI Strategy··4 min read
Data Readiness for AI: What Actually Has to Be True
Most companies are told they need a data platform before they can use AI. For most use cases, four narrower conditions matter far more.
Read essayVol. VII — WritingSubscribe via RSS
The JournalEssays & Field Notes
Practical writing on AI in the wild.
Field notes from real engagements. Frameworks, postmortems, and the unglamorous discipline of shipping AI in production.
Latest Articles
Showing 28–36 of 61 essays
AI Leadership··4 min read
A Chief AI Officer's First 90 Days, Done Properly
The first quarter decides whether the seat earns its place. Here is the sequence that works, and the launch that wastes it.
Read essayFractional Leadership··4 min read
Fractional CFO vs Fractional CAIO: Which Seat First?
Both are part-time executives on a retainer. They answer completely different questions, and the order you hire them in is usually obvious once you see it.
Read essayAI Governance··4 min read
How to Find the Shadow AI Already in Your Company
Your staff are already using AI you did not approve. Here are four ways to find out what, without turning it into an investigation.
Read essayAI Governance··3 min read
Do You Need an AI Governance Committee? Probably Not Yet
Most AI governance committees are formed to look responsible and end up slowing decisions without reducing risk. Here is what to do instead.
Read essayAI Strategy··4 min read
Build vs Buy AI: A Decision Most Companies Get Backwards
The build-versus-buy question is not about capability or cost. It is about whether the thing is a differentiator, and most companies answer it backwards.
Read essayAI Strategy··4 min read
How to Prioritize AI Use Cases Without Guessing
Twelve ideas, budget for three. Here is a defensible way to choose, and the reason the best-scoring one is often not where you should begin.
Read essayAI Leadership··4 min read
Does My Company Actually Need a Chief AI Officer?
Most companies asking this question do not need a full-time AI executive. Here is the test that tells you which of the three answers applies.
Read essayAI Leadership··4 min read
The Chief AI Officer Job Description, Written Honestly
Most Chief AI Officer job descriptions are a wish list assembled from three other roles. Here is what the seat is genuinely accountable for.
Read essayFAQ
Common questions
- What does this blog cover?
- AI strategy and leadership decisions for growing businesses: what a Chief AI Officer actually does, how to evaluate vendors, how to measure return, and why most AI projects fail. It is written for people deciding what to fund, not for people building models.
- How often is it updated?
- New pieces publish regularly, and existing ones are revised when the underlying facts change — pricing, market rates and vendor landscapes move quickly enough that stale posts become misleading rather than merely dated.
- Who writes it?
- Erin Moore, a fractional Chief AI Officer and U.S. Army veteran with an Executive MBA, an MS in Data Science and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. Everything is written from the buyer's side of the table, which is where the work happens.
- Where should I start?
- If you are new to the topic, start with what a fractional Chief AI Officer does and why most AI projects fail. If you are already spending on AI, the posts on AI audits and measuring ROI will be more immediately useful.