AI launch readiness: a go or no-go decision
An AI launch-readiness review should connect each gate to test evidence, a decision owner, and a fallback. An organizational readiness score can help identify gaps; it does not approve an individual production system.
| Gate | Evidence to inspect | Decision owner |
|---|---|---|
| Value and scope | Defined task, baseline, investment case, and exclusions | Sponsor and process owner |
| Evaluation | Representative quality tests and unresolved failures | Process and technical owners |
| Data and access | Source ownership, quality checks, and permission tests | Data and security owners |
| Oversight | Review responsibilities, escalation, and approved use | Governance owner |
| Operation | Monitoring, support coverage, change process, and pause exercise | Operations owner |
| Adoption | Role-based training and a working feedback route | Adoption lead |
For each gate, record Pass, Conditional Pass, or Fail with the evidence and accountable decision. A conditional pass needs explicit restrictions, an owner, and a deadline. A failed mandatory control should remain visible in the decision record.
The enterprise rollout playbook, business-case template, and governance kit support the evidence package.
Purpose
This checklist supports a structured go or no-go decision before launching an AI initiative into production or broad user release. It is intended to prevent premature launches that create operational, legal, or trust damage.
Who Should Complete It
- Initiative business owner
- Delivery or product lead
- Data and technology leads
- Security, privacy, and legal reviewers
- Operations or support lead
- Change and training owner
Complete it in a launch readiness review meeting. Record evidence links for material items.
Instructions
Mark each item Yes, No, In Progress, or Not Applicable. Any critical "No" in governance, security, legal, or support should trigger a no-go or conditional go with explicit compensating controls.
Scoring Guidance
- Yes = 2
- In Progress = 1
- No = 0
- Not Applicable = exclude
Use overall score as context, but apply hard gates for critical controls. A high score with one unresolved critical risk is still a no-go.
Assessment Questions
Business Objectives and Value
- The business problem is clearly defined. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Success metrics are agreed and measurable. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Baseline performance has been captured. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Expected benefits and assumptions are documented. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Out-of-scope items are explicit. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- A value owner is named after launch. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
Stakeholders and Ownership
- Business owner is confirmed. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Technical owner is confirmed. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Affected teams have been identified. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Decision rights for pause and rollback are clear. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Stakeholder communication plan is ready. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Dependencies on other teams are acknowledged. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
Budget and Commercial Readiness
- Launch and run costs are funded. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Vendor contracts are executed where required. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Usage-cost forecasts are understood. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Contingency exists for hypercare support. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Commercial approval gates are complete. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
Technology Readiness
- Architecture is documented and reviewed. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Environments for production are prepared. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Identity and access controls are configured. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Monitoring and alerting are in place. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Performance under expected load is tested. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Rollback procedure is defined. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
Data Readiness
- Required data sources are available. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Data quality meets agreed thresholds. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Sensitive data controls are applied. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Lineage and source documentation exist. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Freshness and batch or streaming requirements are met. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Data owners approve use for launch scope. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
Governance and Policy
- Use case is recorded in the AI inventory. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Risk tier is assigned. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Policy compliance is confirmed. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Human oversight model is implemented. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Required approvals are complete. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Known exceptions are documented with expiry. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
Testing and Quality
- Functional testing is complete for in-scope workflows. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Evaluation metrics meet exit criteria. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Edge cases and failure modes are tested. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Bias or fairness testing is complete where relevant. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- User acceptance testing is complete. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Open critical defects are resolved or waived with risk acceptance. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
Legal, Compliance, and Risk
- Legal review is complete where triggered. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Privacy review is complete where triggered. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Security review is complete where triggered. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Regulatory constraints are addressed. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Residual risks are accepted by authorized owners. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Customer or employee disclosures are ready if required. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
Deployment and Operations
- Deployment plan and window are agreed. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Feature flags or phased rollout are configured if needed. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Support model and escalation paths are live. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Runbooks are available to operators. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- On-call or hypercare coverage is scheduled. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Incident response contacts are confirmed. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
Change, Training, and Adoption
- Role-based training is complete for launch users. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Managers are briefed and equipped. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Workflow changes are documented. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Feedback channels are open. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Adoption targets for the launch phase are set. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
Success Metrics and Review
- Dashboard or reporting for launch metrics is ready. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Review checkpoints at 7, 30, and 90 days are scheduled. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Criteria for expand, fix, or stop are documented. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Benefits tracking owner is assigned. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Lessons-learned process is defined. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
Final Go or No-Go Confirmation
- No unresolved critical defects remain. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- No unresolved critical control gaps remain. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Business owner recommends go. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Risk or control partners do not object on critical grounds. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Executive sponsor approves launch decision. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Launch communications are approved. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
- Post-launch support capacity is confirmed. (Yes / No / In Progress / N/A)
Interpretation of Results
High readiness (about 80%+ with no critical Nos): Proceed to launch under the agreed rollout plan.
Moderate readiness (50% to 79% or conditional gaps): Consider a limited pilot or delayed launch. Convert gaps to must-fix actions before broad release.
Low readiness (below 50% or any critical unresolved No): No-go. Replan and return to readiness review.
Critical areas typically include security, privacy, legal, oversight, rollback, and support.
Recommended Next Actions
- Record the launch decision and rationale.
- Track all conditional actions to closure dates.
- Begin hypercare metrics immediately after go-live.
- Reconvene if major defects or incidents appear.
- Feed outcomes into portfolio learning and roadmap updates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we launch with "In Progress" items?
Only if residual risk is accepted by authorized owners and compensating controls are active.
Who has final no-go authority?
Authority should be predefined. Typically the sponsor can withhold approval, and risk partners can block on critical control grounds.
Should every small productivity tool use this full checklist?
Use a lightweight version for low-risk tools. Retain the full checklist for material or higher-risk initiatives.
Summary
This launch readiness checklist provides a practical go or no-go framework covering objectives, ownership, budget, technology, data, governance, testing, legal, risk, deployment, adoption, and support. It helps organizations launch AI initiatives only when evidence supports controlled operation.