Our client, a global insurer with operations across 20 markets, had over 40 AI pilots running in parallel across business units — with no shared roadmap, no common governance model, and no reliable way to tell which pilots were worth scaling.
Consolidating 40 Disconnected AI Pilots into One Governed Roadmap
Service Provided
Capabilities Utilized
AI Roadmapping, Governance Design, Portfolio Rationalization
Client challenge
Each business unit had spun up its own AI initiatives independently, chasing quick wins with little coordination. Leadership could not answer basic questions: which pilots were production-ready, which duplicated effort across units, or which carried undisclosed regulatory risk. Budget kept flowing to new pilots while none of the existing ones reached production.
Our solution
We ran a structured portfolio audit across all 40 initiatives, scoring each on business value, technical readiness, and risk exposure, then consolidated overlapping efforts into eight strategic workstreams. Alongside the roadmap, we stood up a lightweight AI governance model — a review gate every initiative had to pass before receiving further funding, with clear ownership and escalation paths.
Rather than a heavyweight committee that would slow teams down, we designed the gate to run in under two weeks per initiative, pairing a risk checklist with a fast-track lane for low-risk experimentation. Leadership got a single dashboard showing every initiative’s stage, owner, and risk rating.
Results
Within two quarters, the client cut its active AI portfolio from 40 fragmented pilots to 8 funded workstreams, redirecting an estimated $6.2 million in redundant spend toward the initiatives with the clearest path to production. Three of the eight workstreams reached production within the first year — more than had shipped in the previous three years combined — and the governance gate has since been extended to cover all new AI proposals company-wide.
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