$300K–$1M+
Largest cost avoided
40–70%
Average cost reduction on avoided or redirected spend
6–12 months
Typical decision horizon
Case 01
- Professional services firm
- $2.8M revenue
Services firm.
Three overlapping rollouts.
The owner had stopped attending his own AI meetings because nothing ever got decided. One defined decision changed that.
Situation
Six weeks in, no shared definition
The owner walked into a meeting expecting a progress update, but discovered three departments had each picked their own AI tool without telling anyone else.
Decision needed
Nobody had decided what to protect
Everyone wanted to talk about which tools to keep, but nobody had asked the harder question: what parts of this business should we never hand to a machine?
What changed
One boundary set
We answered that question in one session. All customer support stays human for twelve months. The owner signed a one-page decision, and the arguing stopped.
Result
Two tools cancelled before renewal
Two tools got cancelled before renewal because they no longer fit the boundary. One stayed. The team stopped chasing vendors and started executing.
Case 02
- Healthcare services group
- $4.2M revenue
Regional healthcare practice.
Vendor 72 hours from signing.
He was seventy-two hours from signing a six-figure contract that nobody on his leadership team could fully defend. Nobody had stopped to ask whether the problem they were solving actually required an outside vendor.
Situation
Six-figure contract, 72 hours out
The owner was 72 hours from signing a six-figure AI contract, but leadership was split and nobody could say whose decision it actually was.
Decision needed
The wrong question was already answered
They had spent weeks negotiating terms, but nobody had stopped to ask whether the problem they were solving actually required an outside vendor.
What changed
A one-page decision report
We defined the problem, mapped the options, and assigned a clear owner. The answer turned out to be simpler than anyone expected: they could handle 60% of the need internally.
Result
Contract not signed
The contract never got signed. They kept the money, built what they needed in-house, and the person who owned the decision actually owned it for the first time.
Case 03
- Specialty manufacturer
- $3.1M revenue
Specialty manufacturer.
A pilot that wouldn't end.
The pilot had been running for nine months with no end date and no one willing to call it done. What would have to be true for this to be worth keeping? Nobody had asked that yet.
Situation
Nine-month AI pilot. No end date.
A promising AI pilot had been running for nine months, but nobody had ever defined what "done" looked like, so it just kept going.
Decision needed
No one had defined "done"
The tool was marginally useful, but no one had the authority to kill it. It kept consuming leadership attention because ending it felt like admitting the investment was a mistake.
What changed
One-page decision report
We gave it a 30-day window, clear success criteria, and a named owner. The owner looked at the criteria and made the call in a week.
Result
Pilot ended.
The team got their focus back, and they eliminated three options that would have created bigger problems if they'd kept drifting.
Patterns
"What tool?" is usually the wrong question.
Pilots without endings don't end. They drift.
Decisions made by committee default to inertia.
The best AI call is often the one you don't make.
Before you spend on tools, lock the decision.
Most owners recognize at least one of these. The decision that's stalling you right now has a name. Let's find it.