There are two ways to start. Bring an existing AI shortlist for review, or bring one bounded operating problem without a shortlist. TightShip turns either starting point into a set of routes that can be compared, rejected or taken forward on operating evidence.
An AI shortlist is useful only when each idea can be traced to a specific operating problem.
A route starts with the work itself: the recurring decision, handoff, exception, review or evidence task that creates avoidable cost, delay, rework or control exposure. It does not start with a model or platform.
What the review tests
Each shortlisted route is assessed against six practical questions:
- Economics: What operating cost, delay, leakage or control problem is being addressed? What baseline and benefit range can Finance test?
- Feasibility: Can the workflow be changed within the available systems, authority, time and delivery constraints?
- Data: Are the required records available, accessible, reliable and permitted for the proposed use?
- Adoption: Who will use the new workflow, what behaviour must change and what would cause people to work around it?
- Controls: What approvals, privacy, security, audit, exception handling and human review are required?
- Measurability: Which before-and-after evidence will show whether the change created operating value?
The result is a decision record, not an AI wish list. Weak ideas are stopped or reframed before they consume delivery capacity.
The answer may not be AI
TightShip preserves the right to recommend the mechanism that best fits the operating problem. That may be:
- narrow AI inside a defined workflow
- conventional rules-based automation
- integration between existing systems
- workflow or control redesign
- better reporting and exception monitoring
- no project, where the economics or delivery conditions do not support one
This keeps the shortlist tied to operating value rather than a predetermined technology choice.
Three authorities are required
A credible production decision needs three named people:
- Operational owner: accountable for the workflow, users, exceptions and operating outcome.
- Technology authority: accountable for architecture, access, security, integration and support constraints.
- Finance verifier: accountable for the baseline, benefit logic and evidence used to confirm value.
If one authority is missing, important assumptions remain unowned. TightShip will not treat an idea as production-ready until the operating, technology and financial accountabilities are clear.
From shortlist to one bounded workflow
The first production move should be narrow enough to govern and meaningful enough to measure. TightShip defines one workflow with:
- a clear start, finish and operating boundary
- known users, systems, inputs and exceptions
- an accountable operational owner
- required technology and business controls
- a baseline captured before the change
- a defined measurement period and evidence source
- a decision point for stopping, adjusting or extending the work
Measurement can include labour effort, cycle time, exception volume, rework, error rates, delayed billing, service performance, control failures or another agreed operating measure. Finance verifies the baseline and benefit logic before any value claim is made.
Commercial fit follows the work
The review does not imply that every AI project is delivered with no upfront fee or under a gainshare arrangement. TightShip’s broader cost-reduction work may support shared-savings terms where savings can be baselined, implemented and independently verified. Other shortlist, validation or delivery work may require a different commercial structure because the scope, delivery risk or benefit evidence is different.
Commercial terms are agreed for the specific work before it begins. No new technology route is justified by a fee model alone.
What to bring
Choose either entry route:
- Bring a shortlist: Share the current list, even if it is rough, plus any available process notes, cost or volume data, system constraints and prior experiments.
- Bring one bounded operating problem: No shortlist is required. Bring one recurring decision, handoff, exception, review or evidence task with a clear owner and an outcome worth improving.
The most useful discussion includes the operational owner, technology authority and Finance verifier for the leading candidate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do we need a finished AI business case before the review?
No. A shortlist, the operating problems behind it and access to the relevant operational and financial owners are enough to begin. TightShip helps test the economics, feasibility, data, adoption, controls and measurement path before a production commitment is made.
Will TightShip recommend an AI project from every shortlist?
No. The right recommendation may be AI, conventional automation, integration, workflow redesign or no project. TightShip keeps the option that best addresses the operating problem and can be controlled and measured.
Who needs to be involved?
Each candidate needs an operational owner, a technology authority and a Finance verifier. They establish workflow ownership, delivery and control constraints, and the baseline and evidence used to verify value.
What is a bounded first production workflow?
It is one recurring workflow with a clear start and finish, known users, defined inputs and exceptions, an accountable owner, agreed controls and a measurable operating outcome. The boundary limits delivery risk and makes the result easier to verify.
Is this always a no-upfront-fee or gainshare engagement?
No. TightShip's broader cost-reduction work may use shared-savings arrangements where the baseline, implementation responsibility and verification method support them. AI shortlist review and delivery are scoped according to the work, risk and evidence available. Commercial terms are agreed before work begins.
Put the shortlist through an operating-value test
Review the ideas, the operating problems behind them and the evidence needed to choose a bounded first production workflow.
Review Your AI Shortlist