Data readiness for enterprise AI

A fixed-scope audit and sprint that scores your organization against the 17 components that make AI knowledge systems actually work — then builds the priority ones, so every AI system you build after starts on solid ground instead of a guess.

Knowledge Assets HANDED OVER
Taxonomy & glossary
shared meaning
READY
Source-of-truth map
trust & control
READY
Permissions layer
trust & control
READY
Metadata schema
structure
READY
Retrieval strategy
retrieval & delivery
READY
Evaluation set
proof it works
READY
Deliverables
The cornerstone for scaling AI

Do it once, build on it for years

A taxonomy, a source-of-truth map, and a permissions layer aren't specific to one project. Build them once and every AI system after inherits them — which is why Data Readiness sits at Stage 0, underneath everything else.

STAGE 0 You are here

Data Readiness

Score the 17 components, build the priority ones.

STAGE 1

Rapid AI Activation

Your first working AI system, built on the readiness artifacts.

STAGE 2

AI Engineering as a Service

Run and expand it monthly against the same rubric.

STAGE 3

Scale

New departments become new Activations, not new discovery.

Faster subsequent builds

The second use case starts at implementation — discovery is done.

Lower cost across the roadmap

Taxonomy and permissions get paid for once and reused, not re-billed.

Fewer abandoned projects

This is the work that keeps a project off Gartner’s 60% list.

Consistent answers

One glossary means Sales, Legal and Finance AI don’t quietly disagree.

Audit-ready from day one

Lineage and versioning are what auditors ask for later — built once.

What it delivers

Two fixed-scope products

Both are fixed scope, fixed price, fixed duration — not open-ended advisory. The Sprint contains the Audit, plus construction.

The Audit

Answers one question: is your organization's knowledge ready for AI? We inventory your systems, interview the people who own the data, and score you against the 17-component model.

A component scorecard on a clear maturity scale
A prioritized backlog, costed in euros and hours
Usable with any partner — including none
AUDIT + BUILD

The Sprint

Goes further: we build the highest-priority components ourselves — taxonomy, source-of-truth map, metadata schema — and validate with a retrieval test on real business questions.

Everything in the Audit
Priority components built and handed over
A knowledge base your next AI build runs on directly

Built for “our information is a mess”

The signal is consistent even when the language differs — regardless of company size.

Operations leaders

Process knowledge lives in spreadsheets, shared drives, and people’s heads — with no single version anyone trusts.

IT & data teams

They can see the systems — CRM, ERP, SharePoint, Drive — but not how they relate or which one is authoritative.

Legal & finance owners

They need to know exactly what an AI system can and can’t see before they’ll approve it — mixed-access records included.

Our AI knowledge readiness model

Most “data readiness” checks one thing: is the data clean. That catches typos and duplicates. It doesn't catch why AI systems actually give wrong or untraceable answers. We audit — and where needed, build — against four groups.

GROUP 01

Shared meaning

So the AI knows “qualified lead” means the same thing in Sales and Marketing.

Business glossary Data dictionary Taxonomy Ontology & knowledge graph
GROUP 02

Trust & control

So every answer is current, permitted, and traceable to its source.

Source of truth Permissions layer Version tracking Data lineage Knowledge governance
GROUP 03

Retrieval & delivery

So the right retrieval method is matched to each type of question.

Retrieval strategy Chunking strategy Semantic layer Confidence & citation
GROUP 04

Proof it works

So the system improves after launch instead of quietly drifting.

Evaluation framework Feedback loop

The Audit grades each of the 17 components on a simple maturity scale — absent, ad hoc, documented, or fully operational — so priorities are obvious at a glance. The Sprint builds whichever rank lowest and matter most to your first use case. You don't need all 17 before you start — you need the ones that decide whether your first AI system gives correct, sourced answers.

How the engagement works

Two phases, one continuous thread

Every engagement opens with a one-page charter signed before work begins: scope, what “done” looks like, and named owners on both sides.

The Audit

1

Inventory and interviews

We map every system, document store, and knowledge owner relevant to your target use case, and interview the people who maintain each one.

2

Grade against the model

Each of the 17 components is graded on a clear maturity scale, backed by evidence rather than opinion.

3

Gap report and backlog

A scored, prioritized backlog: what to fix first, business impact in euros and hours, and the delivery effort required.

SPRINT BUILDS ON THE AUDIT

The Sprint

4

Build the priority components

We draft the taxonomy and glossary, define the source-of-truth map, and set up the metadata schema and permissions mapping.

5

Configure retrieval

We set the retrieval and chunking strategy for your document types, and add citation logic so every answer traces to its source.

6

Run the retrieval test

We test against real business questions from your team, score the results, and hand over what passed — plus what still needs work.

Every deliverable is dual-purpose

Useful on its own, and the first artifact of the next stage. Nothing you paid for gets thrown away — even if you choose a different partner, or none at all.

Every engagement

Component scorecard

Every one of the 17 readiness components graded on a clear maturity scale.

Prioritized backlog

Scored in euros and hours, ranked by value ÷ effort.

Source-of-truth map

The official system identified for each knowledge domain.

Sprint adds + SPRINT

Taxonomy & business glossary

Working definitions for your priority knowledge domains.

Metadata schema & permissions

A schema and permissions mapping ready to apply in your systems.

Retrieval test results

Pass/fail against real business questions, with sources cited.

How we measure readiness

One test, scored — not described

Does the system retrieve the right answer, from the right source, for a real question your team actually asks? We define the expected answer and source before building anything, then grade the result on the same clear maturity scale used across every Liorant service.

Not ready

The system can’t answer, or answers incorrectly.

Developing

A partial answer with no traceable source.

Nearly ready

The right answer, but the source is unclear.

Fully ready

Right answer, clear source, and current.

Not readyFully operational
Compliance by geography

Increasingly a compliance problem too

The lineage, permissions, and sources built during readiness are the same artifacts regulators ask for later — built once, not assembled under deadline. This ties directly to the Trust & control group above.

Spain & the EU

EU AI Act, Article 10 — enforced 2 Aug 2026

Article 10 requires documented data governance for high-risk AI — lineage, quality checks, and bias evidence. Most business knowledge systems won’t be high-risk, but the discipline is the same: show where an answer came from, or you can’t show the system is under control.

El Salvador

Decreto Legislativo 234 — ANIA registry (2025)

DL 234 created ANIA and a National AI Development Registry. Systems for certain consequential decisions — credit, insurance, biometrics, public services — must register. Clean lineage and documented sources are the foundation of that registration.

United States

NIST AI RMF — via partners

The NIST AI Risk Management Framework is voluntary, but its Map and Measure functions — system context, data lineage, testing against defined criteria — are exactly what a Data Readiness engagement produces, and already function as an affirmative defense under some state laws.

The realistic options, side by side

Liorant Data Readiness In-house hire Freelance consultant Self-managed tools
Method Scored against a 17-component model, evidence-based Depends on the individual’s background Depends on the individual’s background Self-serve; no external scoring
Ties directly into an AI build Yes — deliverables become the Activation knowledge base Only if the hire also builds the AI system Rarely — most stop at documentation No — surfaces data issues, not AI-ready structure
Best for A scored, AI-specific readiness result, fast Sustained, large-scale data governance One-off documentation projects Teams that already know their gaps
Where this leads

An entry door, not a standalone fix

The backlog, taxonomy, and source-of-truth map you receive become the knowledge base for a Rapid AI Activation — Liorant's flagship that builds your first working AI system on what Data Readiness just structured.

Move into Activation within the agreed window and the artifacts carry forward with zero rework. Build elsewhere, or not yet, and everything you received is yours to use as-is.

Data Readiness
Taxonomy · source-of-truth map · backlog
Rapid AI Activation
Your first working AI system — zero rework
FAQ

Common questions

What’s the difference between the Audit and the Sprint?

The Audit assesses and scores your readiness across the 17 components and hands you a prioritized backlog — you decide what to build and with whom. The Sprint does that, then builds the highest-priority components and validates them with a retrieval test, so you leave with working artifacts, not just a report.

Do we need to fix all 17 components before we can use AI?

No. Most organizations only need three to six components built well for their first use case. The Audit tells you which ones matter for yours; building all 17 upfront is rarely the right use of budget.

Does Data Readiness require us to commit to a specific AI platform?

No. The deliverables — taxonomy, source-of-truth map, metadata schema — are platform-agnostic and work with Copilot Studio, Google Gemini, Claude, or a custom build. If you move to a Liorant Activation they carry over directly; if you build elsewhere, they’re still yours.

How is “readiness” actually measured, not just described?

Every engagement runs a retrieval test — real business questions from your team, scored against expected answers and sources defined before we build anything. That score, not our opinion, is what “ready” means.

Start here

Start with a free 30-minute discovery session

We'll walk through where your organization stands on the 17-component model and tell you honestly whether an Audit, a Sprint, or something else is the right first step — no slides, no pitch.

Book your session The organizations moving fastest did this work first.