The AI Readiness Sprint · Burning River AI

Know exactly where AI pays back in your business — in three weeks.

A fixed-scope, three-week assessment for Northeast Ohio businesses that want real value, not a pitch deck.

You know your team should be using AI. You also know the internet is full of hype, every vendor sounds the same, and the last thing you need is a six-figure consulting engagement to tell you what a LinkedIn post could have.

The AI Readiness Sprint gives you a clear, prioritized, practical answer — grounded in your actual business, delivered by a local human, in three weeks.

Book a Readiness Call →

How the Sprint works

🔍Week 1 — Discover

Kickoff with your leadership team, then 3–5 structured 45-minute interviews: the owner or executive sponsor, one operations leader, and two or three people who actually do the work. I come in person where it matters — I will walk your plant floor, sit in your claims office, or shadow a day in your clinic.

Week 2 — Assess

I review your systems, workflows, and data in the one or two areas we have targeted, and score you on the AI Readiness Scorecard. In parallel, I build a prioritized opportunity list grounded in what your business actually does — not a generic benchmark.

🤝Week 3 — Recommend

You get a written report plus a 75-minute executive readout. We walk through the scorecard, the ranked opportunities, and the one or two you should start with. You leave the room knowing exactly what to do next — and whether you need outside help to do it.

What you get

  • AI Readiness Scorecard. Seven dimensions — Data Foundation, Process Clarity, Systems & Integration, Team Capacity, Leadership Alignment, Risk & Compliance Posture, Financial Readiness. Scored red / yellow / green with written commentary on each.
  • Prioritized Opportunity List. Five to ten concrete AI use cases for your business, ranked by effort vs. payback, each with risk and compliance notes.
  • 30/60/90-Day Recommendation Memo. Which one or two opportunities to run first, whether to build, buy, or bring in outside help, and what to do when.
  • 75-Minute Executive Readout. Live walkthrough with your leadership team. Questions welcome.

Who the Sprint is for

Northeast Ohio businesses, roughly $5M to $50M in revenue, whose leadership knows they should be doing something with AI but has not found a trustworthy way to figure out what.

We work especially well with:

  • Insurance — independent agencies, brokerages, TPAs, MGAs.
  • Healthcare — independent practices, specialty clinics, mid-sized providers.
  • Manufacturing — producers, distributors, and industrial services firms.

If you are outside those industries but you fit the size and the mindset — practical, skeptical of hype, ready to make real decisions — we should still talk.

Questions we hear a lot

Isn't this just consulting? What makes it different?

It is consulting with a fixed scope and a fixed three-week timeline. You know exactly what you are getting and exactly when you are getting it — no scope creep, no “discovery phase” that turns into six months of invoices.

Can't an AI chatbot do this for free?

A chatbot can list ten generic AI use cases. It cannot walk your plant floor, read the room in your leadership meeting, or notice that the legacy claims system your team has quietly complained about for two years is the actual bottleneck. The value of the Sprint is judgment applied to your business.

We're in a regulated industry. Can you handle that?

Yes. The scorecard has a dedicated Risk & Compliance dimension, and every opportunity on the prioritized list carries compliance notes. We will tell you plainly what is safe to pilot and what is not — and when the right answer is “don't.”

What if the Sprint concludes we shouldn't do anything with AI right now?

Then that is the answer, and it is a valuable one. “Not yet — here is what to fix first” is a legitimate outcome and will save you far more than the cost of the Sprint in misdirected effort.

Who's actually doing the work?

Me. One person, local, in your building when it matters. No junior associates, no offshore team, no handoffs.

Let's talk

Thirty minutes, no pitch deck. You tell me where you are stuck and what you are seeing, I will tell you whether the Sprint is a fit. If it is not, I will point you to someone or something that is.

Book a Readiness Call →

contact@burningriver.ai · Strategy-led AI, built in Cleveland.