AI Readiness · 8 min read · May 2026
The 30-day AI readiness assessment: what it covers, what it costs, what you walk away with
By Thinklytics Partners, AI Readiness Practice
A specific scope-and-deliverables breakdown for the most-asked-about engagement we run. What gets measured, who gets interviewed, and the four findings that determine whether AI projects ship at your company.
Frequently asked questions
What does the 30-day AI readiness assessment actually cover?
Three things. One: an honest read on your data layer (entities, metrics, lineage, freshness) against the use cases you want to ship. Two: a sequenced remediation plan with effort, owner, and expected outcome per item. Three: a go or no-go on the AI use cases you are considering with a defensible reason for each.
Who runs the 30-day AI readiness assessment at Thinklytics?
A senior practitioner runs each engagement end to end. Same person who reads your tables runs the readout. We don't ramp junior analysts on your data. The team is small on purpose so the work is consistent.
What is the deliverable at the end of 30 days?
A 14 to 22 page report with the data-layer findings, the use-case go/no-go list, the remediation plan, and the budget envelope. The report goes to whoever sponsored the engagement plus an executive readout call. No slideware. The document is the deliverable.
How much does a 30-day AI readiness assessment cost?
Most engagements land at $35,000 to $55,000 depending on environment complexity (number of source systems, number of in-scope use cases, regulatory overhead). We send a fixed-fee quote after a 30 minute discovery call. No retainer creep.
Will the assessment recommend a specific AI vendor?
No. The assessment evaluates which vendor categories your environment is ready for. Vendor selection happens after the data layer is sequenced because the right vendor depends on what you have, not on what is trending. Our AI workflow automation vendor evaluation 14 questions walks through the selection logic.
What happens after the 30-day assessment?
Most clients pick one to three remediation items from the plan and engage Thinklytics or their internal team to execute. We don't require a follow-on contract. If the plan says fix it yourself, the plan says fix it yourself.
Who reviews the assessment output internally?
Whoever sponsored it plus the operating leaders for each in-scope use case. The assessment is not meant to be IT-only; the business owners need to see the remediation plan because their workflows are downstream of the data layer. We always do an executive readout call to make that explicit.
How long after the readout can we start remediation?
Most clients start the first remediation item within 2 to 4 weeks of the readout. Faster is fine when the sponsor is decisive; slower is fine when the budget cycle gates the start. We don't push to start before the sponsor is ready.