Establish the evidence before committing to a build.

The Operating Model Diagnostic is an AI readiness assessment that starts where the business does: with the commercial objective, the operating process and the records it depends on.

Duration: 2 to 3 weeks from agreed access and interviews
What leadership receives: Current-state data map, ranked opportunities, signed recommendation
The decision it leads to: Build, buy, defer or stop
Fees: Fixed, set out in a written proposal

The evidence leads to a decision.

The method holds two decisions apart: Seichō’s review of the recommendation, and the sponsor’s authority over what follows.

From operating evidence to an investment recommendation.

The key

Read the map in words

The sponsor defines the commercial objective. Operating evidence includes interviews, representative records, volumes, available time data and a systems inventory. These inform a current-state data map and opportunity register. The Seichō engagement owner reviews evidence and alternatives before authorising the written recommendation. The client sponsor decides whether to approve a separate scope, defer or finish after the Diagnostic.

Decide where software deserves investment.

The sponsor and Seichō agree the operating flow, records, systems and decisions to examine. The commercial objective sets the scope.

Trace the work before choosing the technology.

Seichō maps sources and approvals, then assesses impact, effort, data readiness and judgement. Existing software and automation remain valid options.

The recommendation passes through human review.

The Seichō engagement owner reviews the evidence before issue. The sponsor decides whether to build, buy, defer or stop.

The recommendation gives leadership a position to approve.

An extract from a recommendation memo and its opportunity register, prepared with synthetic evidence.

Recommendation memo

Establish the order baseline before custom development.

Recommendation: Defer the proposed build until the process owner reconciles order entry and invoice records.
Evidence: The illustrative record contains an order reference and an approval owner. It lacks a consistent receipt timestamp.
Alternatives considered: Configure the existing order tool, buy a replacement or build an integration. Compare these once the baseline is usable.
Condition for reconsideration: The process owner confirms a common order identifier and a repeatable measure of approval time.

Signed recommendation

Seichō engagement owner
Signed on issue.

Opportunity register / Extract

Connect approved orders to the billable record.

Objective: Shorten the interval from approved order to invoice.
Evidence and assumption: Order references exist. Their consistency across systems remains untested.
Dependency: Finance and the systems owner confirm record matching and permitted access.
Operating cost: Licence, integration and support requirements await the option comparison.
Next decision: Defer development. Reassess after the baseline is accepted.

The Diagnostic also records the initial control gaps. It closes with a recommendation meeting, and any further work is scoped separately.

The scope names the work and the people it requires.

The proposal sets the operating boundary and the evidence required. The recommendation is the client’s to keep, whether or not further work follows.

Timing: 2 to 3 weeks from agreed access and interviews. The clock starts when permissions, representative records and the interview schedule are agreed.
Participation: A sponsor with investment authority, the process owner, finance and the systems owner. Participants check the map and resolve factual questions.
Evidence and access: Representative records, available volume and time data, system documentation and relevant policies. Access permissions are agreed before records are examined.
Dependencies: Unavailable participants or missing evidence can change the timetable. Seichō records the dependency and agrees revised dates.
The next decision: Build, buy, defer or stop. A separate Operating Plan can define an approved investment in detail. Implementation requires its own agreement. Read about engagements.

Paper moving through the rollers of a printing press.

300%revenue growth within 12 months

The client's total revenue in the 12 months after launch against the 12 months before. The system was one of several commercial changes in that period.

A connected record carries the enquiry into production.

The print study shows what a connected record does once the evidence is clear. The system connects enquiry, quotation, production and invoicing.

Read the print study

The first decision is where to invest.

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