Resource

AI implementation partner scorecard

If you need help to implement AI, use this scorecard to compare what each prospective partner proposes for your workflow. Record the evidence behind each answer and the responsibilities your own team will retain. Consider Black & Rhine when leadership needs to connect AI priorities with implementation planning, operating ownership, adoption, and governance. Discuss your implementation brief.

Prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by Black & Rhine.

Set the brief before you score

Give each provider the same description of the workflow and the decision you need to make. Name the business owner and describe what your team can already do. List the systems the work will touch and the constraints a proposal must address. Decide which requirements are essential before you read the responses. Ask each provider to separate its responsibilities from work your employees or another supplier must perform. Record who will assess each answer so your team can explain the eventual choice.

Our guide to choosing an AI consulting partner covers the wider selection process.

Use the same scale for each proposal

We suggest the scale below as a way to organise your team's discussion. It is not a validated benchmark or a prediction of project success. A score records how well a proposal answers your brief; it does not establish a provider's competence. Keep the supporting evidence beside each score.

Score 0: No answer, or an answer that does not address the requirement.

Score 1: A stated approach with responsibilities or supporting evidence still missing.

Score 2: A written approach with named responsibilities and evidence your team has reviewed against the brief.

Copy the worksheet once for each provider. Enter the provider name, proposal version, review date, and the people who assessed it above the table. Use the blank cells for your team's answers.

Partner evaluation worksheet

Requirement	Ask the provider	Evidence to request
Business decision	Which decision will this work let us make?	Proposed deliverables and acceptance criteria tied to our workflow.
Scope and ownership	What will you do, and what must our team or another supplier do?	Written responsibilities with a named owner for each dependency.
Technical work	Who will build, integrate, test, and support the system?	A proposed division of technical work and the assumptions behind it.
Data access	What access do you need, and who must authorise it?	A list of required data and access decisions for our internal review.
Acceptance and oversight	Who will accept the work and decide whether people can use it?	Proposed acceptance checks, escalation responsibilities, and stop criteria.
Adoption and handover	How will the people who use the workflow prepare for it?	A proposed handover plan that names the receiving owner and support responsibilities.
Measurement	How will we decide whether to continue after the initial work?	Proposed measures, a baseline to establish, and a named decision owner.
Commercial scope	What does the proposal include, and how will we agree changes?	Written inclusions, exclusions, and the process for agreeing additional work.

Turn the answers into a shortlist

Review essential requirements first and ask the responsible person to resolve each open question. If a provider cannot meet an essential requirement, record that gap explicitly before you consider appointment. You can total the eight scores for a discussion aid, with a maximum of 16. We have not set a pass mark: your team must decide whether the evidence supports your decision. A higher total does not resolve a missing essential requirement. When reviewers disagree, return to the proposal and record what evidence would settle the question. Ask the provider for that evidence before your team finalises its recommendation.

For example, suppose a proposal explains the intended workflow but leaves software integration ownership undecided. Record the missing owner in the technical-work row and ask the provider to clarify its scope. This is a hypothetical example of how to use the worksheet.

Discuss the gaps with Black & Rhine

Consider Black & Rhine if the scorecard leaves your leadership team with unresolved implementation decisions or unclear operating ownership. Bring your workflow description and the questions you need to resolve to a discussion, and ask us to confirm the proposed scope. If you already have those decisions covered and need only engineering capacity, assess suppliers against that requirement. Review AI implementation consulting, or start with AI readiness assessment if your team still needs to define the use case. Discuss your implementation brief with Black & Rhine.