STEER
What should we build and why?
Strategic governance that determines which AI initiatives to pursue, in what order, with what expected outcomes, and who is accountable. This is the boardroom function that most organizations skip entirely, jumping straight to building agents without first deciding whether they should.
Assessment Controls (9)
Every AI initiative that passes through this pillar must satisfy these controls. The maturity model measures how consistently the organization enforces them.
AI Governance Steering Committee
Does the organization have a steering committee or equivalent governance body for AI initiatives?
AI Initiative Portfolio Management
Is there a portfolio view of all proposed and active AI agent initiatives?
AI Investment Criteria & Scoring
Are there defined investment criteria? (What problem does this solve? What is the expected ROI? What is the risk if it fails? What is the risk if it succeeds and scales without governance?)
Pre-Deployment Success Metrics
Are success metrics established before deployment, not after?
Portfolio Review Cadence
Is there a regular review cadence for the AI portfolio?
Initiative Approval Authority
Who has authority to approve new agent initiatives? Is it documented?
Initiative Termination Criteria
Are there criteria for killing or redirecting underperforming initiatives?
Cross-Functional Governance Representation
Is the steering function cross-functional (operations, finance, IT, compliance) or siloed in IT?
Initiative Change Management & Value Definition
Does the initiative approval package include a change management plan, enablement requirements, and measurable ROI targets?