Dr. Max — Day 0 (current reality)

Archetype: Elevation — Senior AI Lead in seat but under-authorized organizationally. Engagement amplifies their role, not replaces them.

Configuration (L0)

Authorities (L1)

Convening

• Out — Chair Portfolio Council (L1-101)
• Out — Chair Scale Decision Forum (L1-102)
• Out — Stand up AI Council (L1-103)
• Out — Mandate attendance for named roles (L1-104)
• Out — Stand up cross-functional joint forums (L1-105)

Initiative

• Out — Kill/park initiative at any gate (L1-106)
• Out — Approve Pilot advancement (Gate 1) (L1-107)
• Out — Approve Scale advancement (Gate 2) (L1-108)
• Out — Approve archetype designation (L1-109)

Information

• Out — Board pack access + agenda submission (L1-110)
• Out — Finance data access (L1-111)
• Out — All initiative + system inventory access (L1-112)
• Out — Right to interview anyone (incl. cross-market) (L1-113)
• Out — Vendor contracts access (L1-114)
• Out — PII access (L1-115)

Hiring

• Out — Co-design Internal AI Lead role (L1-116)
• Out — Veto on succession candidate (L1-117)
• Out — Approve AI function hires (L1-118)
• Out — Hire/fire outside AI function (L1-119)
• Out — Reorg existing functions (L1-120)

Budget

• Out — Discretionary experiment budget (L1-121)
• Out — Pilot/capex signoff threshold (L1-122)
• Out — Annual AI envelope-setting (L1-123)

Veto

• Out — Veto: risk-policy violations (L1-124)
• Out — Veto: pilot kickoff w/o sponsor + Lead (L1-125)
• Out — Veto: vendor selection (L1-126)
• Out — Veto: non-AI tech (L1-127)
• Out — Veto: company strategy (L1-128)

Communication

• Out — Direct board access on AI (L1-129)
• Out — Speak to regulators on AI (L1-130)
• Out — External media (L1-131)

Commercial

• Out — Approve VV scope expansion (L1-132)

Mechanisms (L3)

• Not stood up — AI Council (L3-301)
• Not stood up — Portfolio Council (L3-302)
• Not stood up — Scale Decision Forum (L3-303)
• Not stood up — Exec Sponsor 1:1 (L3-304)
• Not stood up — Internal AI Lead 1:1 (L3-305)
• Not stood up — Board AI committee / chair 1:1 (L3-306)
• Not stood up — Heavy Gate 1 (Validated → Pilot) (L3-307)
• Not stood up — Heavy Gate 2 (Pilot-Validated → Scaling) (L3-308)
• Not stood up — Risk gate at Scoped (L3-309)
• Not stood up — Risk gate at Pilot-Validated (L3-310)
• Not stood up — Initiative-BDN snapshot v0 (at Scoped) (L3-311)
• Not stood up — Initiative-BDN snapshot v1 (at Pilot-Validated) (L3-312)
• Not stood up — Initiative-BDN snapshots v2/v3 (Realizing) (L3-313)
• Not stood up — Portfolio-BDN review (L3-314)
• Not stood up — Strategy-BDN review (L3-315)
• Not stood up — Escalation L0 (Initiative team) (L3-316)
• Not stood up — Escalation L1 (AI Council) (L3-317)
• Not stood up — Escalation L2 (Exec sponsor + CEO) (L3-318)
• Not stood up — Escalation L3 (Board chair) (L3-319)
• Not stood up — Stop-the-line right (L3-320)
• Not stood up — Recusal protocol (commercial) (L3-321)
• Not stood up — Conflict-of-interest disclosure (5d SLA) (L3-322)
• Not stood up — Velocity checkpoint (L3-323)
• Not stood up — Exit Review (L3-324)
• Not stood up — Decision register (L3-325)
• Not stood up — Cross-market sync forum (L3-326)
• Not stood up — Vendor portfolio governance (L3-327)
• Not stood up — External Champion handover protocol (L3-328)
• Not stood up — AI conformity assessment process (L3-329)
• Not stood up — Post-acquisition AI integration template (L3-330)

Peer Interfaces

• CEO — named, inactive
• CFO — named, inactive
• CIO — named, inactive
• CRO — unnamed
• DPO — unnamed
• CMCO — named, inactive
• CSCO — named + active
• HeadMA — named, inactive
• QMHead — unnamed
• HeadOfAI — named + active
• ExternalChampion — unnamed
• PEOperatingPartner — unnamed

Active Obstacles

O-001 — Pipeline Stall at Gate 2

Initiatives accumulate at Pilot-Validated; Scale decisions don't happen

Triggered conditions:

• L1-108 is absent_or_denied
• peer.CFO is missing_or_inactive
• L3-303 is not_stood_up
• peer.CIO is missing_or_inactive

Recovery actions:

• Negotiate L1-108 mid-engagement
• Escalate to L3-318 (Exec sponsor)
• Document scoping limitation if irrecoverable

O-003 — Risk Function Disengaged

Regulated profile but CRO/DPO not integrated; risk classification skipped

Triggered conditions:

• peer.CRO is missing_or_inactive
• peer.QMHead is missing_or_inactive
• peer.DPO is missing_or_inactive

Recovery actions:

• Force trigger via L1-124 (veto) on next initiative requiring classification
• Surface to L1 escalation
• Direct to L3-319 for regulated industries

O-008 — VV Commercial Capture

Recusal protocol breached; Partner advocates for VV scope expansion; ethics violation

Triggered conditions:

• peer.CIO is missing_or_inactive

Recovery actions:

• Reset recusal explicitly with client commercial counterpart
• Document case in conflict log
• Replace Partner in extreme cases

O-010 — Heavy-Gate Decision Drift

Forums standing but not deciding; gates become advisory; portfolio prioritization becomes politics

Triggered conditions:

• peer.CIO is missing_or_inactive

Recovery actions:

• Reassert L1-101/L1-102 chair authority
• Time-boxed decision protocol (each PC closes ≥ 1 decision)
• Escalate to L3-318 if blocked

O-013 — Sponsor Escalation Stalled

Engagement begins with a sub-C-suite sponsor; CEO never engages substantively; engagement stays advisory and never reaches structural authority

Triggered conditions:

• peer.CEO is missing_or_inactive
• L3-318 is not_stood_up
• L1-129 is absent_or_denied

Recovery actions:

• Pre-stage CEO at one Configuration session before M0
• Use first decision requiring exec sign-off as natural escalation moment
• Make sponsorship escalation an explicit charter milestone (not implicit)

O-014 — Multi-Market Parity Drift

Multi-market engagement; one market advances 1+ track maturity levels ahead of another; cross-market AI capability becomes fragmented

Triggered conditions:

• L1-113 is absent_or_denied
• L3-326 is not_stood_up

Recovery actions:

• Stand up cross-market sync forum (monthly)
• Rotate Champions across markets
• Mandate seat for each market MD on AI Council

O-015 — Vendor Stack Fragmentation

Multiple AI vendors deployed independently across functions; no unified ops layer; integration debt compounds; vendor lock-in by component

Triggered conditions:

• peer.CIO is missing_or_inactive
• L3-327 is not_stood_up

Recovery actions:

• Force unified AI ops layer ownership under CIO
• Establish vendor portfolio review at AI Council
• Document integration interfaces in BDN

O-022 — AI Act Compliance Stalled

Regulated organization approaching EU AI Act deadline; high-risk AI inventory not catalogued, conformity assessment not staffed; engagement timeline collides with compliance deadline

Triggered conditions:

• L3-329 is not_stood_up

Recovery actions:

• Stand up L3-329 conformity assessment process immediately
• Inventory all customer-facing + decision-support AI systems within 30 days
• Assign explicit owner (typically GC + CIO + named AI Lead jointly)
• Make AI Act readiness an explicit charter milestone

Latent Obstacles (one condition away)

• O-007 — Group/Market Authority Confusion
• O-023 — PE Owner Disengagement