The Decision Layer | Board AI Decision Assurance

Board AI Decision Assurance

AI moves quickly. Board confidence must keep pace.

Independent, board-facing services that reveal where AI governance is credible, where evidence is thin, and which decision must happen next.

Assess your readiness Explore the services
  • 20+ yearsRisk and assurance
  • Board-facingExecutive judgement
  • IndependentEvidence-led challenge
  • GlobalRegulated industries
  • AI governance
  • Executive judgement
  • Policy
  • Transaction assurance
  • Board confidence

Four ways to engage

Start where the decision is stuck.

Each offer produces a distinct outcome. Together, they form a practical route from uncertainty to governance that survives scrutiny.

01

Diagnose

AI Governance Rapid Review

A fixed-scope review of governance, ownership, evidence and immediate exposure.

A board-ready position in ten business days.

From £12,500

View the review

02

Equip

AI Policy Accelerator

A usable policy system connecting principles, decisions, controls and evidence.

Approved policy without months of committee drift.

From £18,500

View the accelerator

03

Embed

Executive AI Risk Coaching

Private and cohort coaching for leaders carrying AI accountability under scrutiny.

Clearer judgement in the room where it matters.

From £6,500

View the coaching

04

Transact

AI Due Diligence

Independent assessment of AI value, dependency, control and hidden transaction exposure.

A decision-grade view before capital is committed.

From £25,000

View due diligence

The engagement path

Diagnose. Equip. Embed. Transact.

A progression from identifying exposure to making governance hold under pressure.

Step one

Diagnose

Find the decision gaps, evidence weaknesses and unmanaged AI exposure.

Step two

Equip

Put policy, ownership, classification and exceptions on a usable footing.

Step three

Embed

Strengthen the leader, not merely the framework, to perform when scrutiny rises.

Step four

Transact

Test AI claims and liabilities before investment, acquisition or strategic commitment.

01. Diagnose

AI Governance Rapid Review

Ten business days to a position leaders can defend.

For organisations already using AI but unable to explain, with confidence, what exists, who owns the risk, which controls operate, and where the evidence lives.

The review is deliberately bounded. It tests the management system. Auditing every model is a different and longer exercise. The result is a concise executive position, a prioritised exposure map and a ninety-day decision plan.

Discuss the rapid review

What you receive

  • Executive and stakeholder interviews
  • AI inventory, classification and ownership review
  • Governance and control maturity assessment
  • Evidence sufficiency and decision-gap analysis
  • Board-ready observations and ninety-day roadmap
Typical duration
10 business days
Investment
£12,500 to £27,500+

02. Equip

AI Policy Accelerator

A policy should move decisions, not decorate SharePoint.

The accelerator replaces generic principles with an operating policy system. It connects use-case classification, decision rights, supplier controls, exceptions, incidents and evidence.

The work is co-designed with the people who must use it. That keeps the language practical, the approval path visible, and the control burden proportionate to risk.

Build the policy system

What you receive

  • Policy architecture and drafting workshops
  • Core AI policy and supporting standards
  • Use-case intake and impact assessment templates
  • Risk classification and approval matrix
  • Supplier, exception, incident and change records
  • Leadership briefing and adoption plan
Typical duration
4 to 8 weeks
Investment
£18,500 to £45,000+

03. Embed

Executive AI Risk Coaching

The leader enters the boardroom. The framework stays outside it.

Private and cohort-based coaching for CISOs, CIOs, CROs, audit leaders, data leaders and executives who must translate AI uncertainty into credible choices.

The programme blends board communication, decision framing, risk challenge, stakeholder influence and rehearsals built around live organisational situations.

Discuss executive coaching

What you receive

  • Executive decision and influence diagnostic
  • Six private coaching sessions or cohort programme
  • AI risk narrative and board-message development
  • Decision memo and six-slide board deck
  • Pressure rehearsal and challenge preparation
  • Personal ninety-day influence plan
Typical duration
8 to 12 weeks
Investment
£6,500 to £35,000+

04. Transact

AI Due Diligence

AI claims can lift valuation. Unexamined dependencies can destroy it.

Independent diligence for investors, acquirers, lenders and boards assessing an AI-enabled business, product or transaction thesis.

The work tests whether the claimed AI value is real, repeatable and controllable. It also examines data rights, model and vendor dependency, security, regulatory exposure, operational resilience and integration risk.

Open a confidential discussion

What you receive

  • AI value-claim and dependency analysis
  • Data rights, model provenance and vendor review
  • Cyber, privacy, governance and regulatory assessment
  • Operational resilience and concentration analysis
  • Red-flag report and decision implications
  • Deal-team briefing and integration priorities
Typical duration
2 to 6 weeks
Investment
£25,000 to £85,000+

Board AI governance readiness

Can your AI position survive the second question?

Score eighteen practical signals across six dimensions. The assessment stays in your browser and is not transmitted anywhere.

Whether AI use is connected to business intent and accountable leadership.

We have defined which business outcomes AI should support.
Every material AI use case has a named business owner.
Executives understand the decisions they retain, even when AI recommends an action.

Whether the organisation knows what it uses and distinguishes material exposure.

We maintain a current inventory of internally built, purchased and embedded AI.
Use cases are classified by impact, autonomy, data sensitivity and reversibility.
Shadow AI and employee use of public tools are actively identified.

Whether the technical and third-party foundations support defensible use.

Data rights, quality, lineage and permitted use are evidenced for material AI.
Model performance, limitations and change history are documented.
AI suppliers provide evidence proportionate to the risk we inherit.

Whether control design reflects the way AI can fail or overreach.

Human review is defined around consequence, not used as a generic slogan.
Testing covers misuse, bias, security, reliability and unacceptable outputs.
Exceptions have an owner, expiry date, rationale and compensating controls.

Whether the organisation can detect drift, harm and operational failure.

Material AI has defined performance, risk and control indicators.
AI incidents and near misses enter established escalation and crisis processes.
We can pause, restrict or retire AI when evidence no longer supports use.

Whether oversight receives a decision-grade view, beyond activity reporting.

Board reporting distinguishes exposure, control confidence and decisions required.
Management can show evidence behind its most important AI assertions.
Independent assurance is planned according to materiality and change.

Founder

Judgement built in the room.

Maman IbrahimCyber, technology risk, audit, resilience and AI governance executive

Why this work

Governance is tested by decisions.

For more than two decades, I have helped global organisations uncover material technology risk, challenge comforting narratives, and translate complexity into decisions leaders can stand behind.

  • Operator and assurer

    Leadership experience across Michelin, GSK and Haleon.

  • Board-facing

    Risk, audit, resilience, privacy, data ethics and executive reporting.

  • Cross-functional judgement

    Connecting cyber, technology, data, third-party, operational and AI risk.

  • Practitioner and author

    Author of AI Risk: Proven Detection and Governance Strategies.

“A board needs a clearer decision, a named owner, and evidence that survives the second question.”
Maman Ibrahim. Founder, The Decision Layer

Commercial starting points

Buy clarity before complexity.

Each engagement is scoped around risk, access, geography and evidence volume. These figures provide an early planning range.

Entry point

Rapid Review

Decision baseline

£12,500 from

  • Fixed initial scope
  • Ten-business-day turnaround
  • Board-ready observations
  • Ninety-day decision plan
Start here

Policy Accelerator

Operating policy

£18,500 from

  • Policy architecture
  • Templates and decision rights
  • Approval workshops
  • Adoption roadmap
Discuss scope

Executive Coaching

Leader readiness

£6,500 from

  • Private coaching
  • Live decision rehearsals
  • Board narrative
  • Ninety-day influence plan
Discuss coaching

AI Due Diligence

Transaction assurance

£25,000 from

  • Confidential scoping
  • Red-flag assessment
  • Decision implications
  • Integration priorities
Open discussion

How an engagement begins

Fast enough to move. Disciplined enough to trust.

1

Qualify

Confirm the decision, sponsor, urgency and independence requirements.

2

Scope

Agree outcomes, evidence, boundaries, timetable and commercial terms.

3

Mobilise

Set access, interviews, governance, confidentiality and reporting cadence.

4

Deliver

Test evidence, challenge assumptions and keep emerging decisions visible.

5

Land

Translate the observations into owners, decisions, deadlines and measurable outcomes.

Confidential enquiry

What decision are you facing?

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Questions buyers ask

Clear boundaries make better work.

Is the Rapid Review an audit?

No. It is a focused, evidence-led diagnostic designed to establish the current decision position quickly. It can inform a later assurance review, but it does not express an audit opinion.

Can the services be bought separately?

Yes. Each service has a distinct outcome. They also connect naturally. A Rapid Review may lead to the Policy Accelerator, while coaching can support the executives accountable for delivery.

Do you provide legal or regulatory advice?

No. The services provide governance, risk, assurance and decision support. Legal conclusions remain with qualified counsel. Regulatory expectations are used as risk and evidence reference points.

How is independence protected during due diligence?

Independence, conflicts, reliance, confidentiality, information barriers and reporting rights are agreed before mobilisation. The engagement is not accepted where those conditions cannot be protected.

Can coaching be delivered to a cohort?

Yes. Executive AI Risk Coaching can run privately, as an intact leadership-team programme, or as a cross-company cohort with carefully protected confidentiality.

What do you need before the first call?

A concise description of the decision, the sponsor, the timing and the evidence already available. Sensitive documents are not required for the initial conversation.

Privacy

This standalone page does not use cookies, analytics, trackers or a server-side database. The readiness assessment runs locally in your browser. The enquiry form uses a mailto: action and sends nothing until you choose to send the prepared email.

Once an email is sent, it will be handled according to the contracting entity's privacy and records practices. A formal privacy notice should replace this summary before a production launch.

Terms and reliance

Website content is general information and does not constitute legal, investment, regulatory or audit advice. Engagement scope, reliance, confidentiality, liability and deliverables are governed only by a signed agreement.

Service descriptions and pricing are indicative. Final scope and fees depend on access, complexity, evidence volume, geography, timetable and independence requirements.

Turn AI uncertainty into a decision worth defending.

Start with a ten-business-day Rapid Review, or bring a policy, leadership or transaction question that already carries consequence.

Book a decision call