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COMPEL Body of Knowledge
C

Stage 1 of 6

Calibrate

Secure executive sponsorship, align AI ambition with organizational risk appetite, and frame the use-case portfolio that drives transformation value. Operationally, produce a validated maturity baseline, shadow AI inventory, risk appetite statement, and prioritized use-case backlog with a measurable value thesis for every initiative across all 18 maturity domains and 10 operational readiness dimensions.

Strategic Objective

Establish executive sponsorship definition, align AI ambition with organizational risk appetite, and frame the use-case portfolio that will drive transformation value.

Operational Objective

Produce a validated maturity baseline, shadow AI inventory, and prioritized use-case backlog with measurable value theses for each initiative.

Calibrate — Stage Flow

  1. Inputs

    • Corporate / Business Strategy
    • Portfolio Strategic Themes
    • Portfolio Vision
    • Funding Guidelines / Investment Guardrails
    • Risk Appetite & Tolerance Statement
    • Regulatory & Compliance Landscape
    • Existing Capability Baseline
    • Stakeholder Mandate / Sponsor Commitment

  2. Activities (12)

    • AI Maturity Assessment across 18 domains
    • Shadow AI Discovery and classification
    • Use Case Pipeline prioritization
    • Self-Assessment questionnaires
    • Stakeholder landscape mapping
    • Data readiness assessment
    • Regulatory exposure mapping
    • Executive readiness interviews
    • Cultural readiness evaluation
    • Agent inventory and autonomy level assessment
    • Third-party AI vendor discovery and inventory
    • AI supply chain risk assessment

  3. Outputs (12)

    • Maturity scorecard with domain-level ratings
    • Shadow AI inventory report
    • Prioritized use case backlog
    • Transformation readiness baseline
    • Stakeholder engagement plan
    • Transformation success criteria
    • Regulatory Exposure Register
    • Data Readiness Assessment
    • Executive Alignment Summary
    • Agent inventory and autonomy classification register
    • Third-party AI vendor inventory with risk scoring
    • AI supply chain risk register

  4. Handoffs

    • → Organize: Maturity baseline and gap analysis
    • → Organize: Stakeholder map
    • → Organize: Transformation success criteria
    • → Organize: Prioritized use case backlog

This diagram breaks down a single COMPEL lifecycle stage into its constituent elements: defined inputs that trigger the stage, key activities performed during execution, outputs and deliverables produced, and quality gate criteria that must be satisfied before advancing. The visual flow from inputs through activities to outputs shows how each stage transforms organizational capability, while gate criteria ensure governance rigor is maintained throughout the transformation journey without sacrificing delivery momentum.

What Are the Inputs for the Calibrate Stage?

External inputs (8)

  • Corporate / Business Strategy

    The enterprise-level strategic direction that AI transformation must serve. Calibrate uses this to ensure maturity assessment and use case prioritization are tied to real business outcomes rather than technology novelty.

    PMBOK 7 (Organizational Process Assets)SAFe Enterprise StrategyTOGAF Phase A (Architecture Vision)

  • Portfolio Strategic Themes

    The thematic investment areas that connect enterprise strategy to portfolio-level execution. Strategic themes anchor which AI capabilities the organization should build, buy, or defer during Calibrate prioritization.

    SAFe Portfolio (Strategic Themes)

  • Portfolio Vision

    A 3-5 year directional view of the AI portfolio target state. Calibrate uses portfolio vision to set aspirational maturity targets and define the gap between current state and intended future state.

    SAFe Portfolio VisionTOGAF Architecture Vision

  • Funding Guidelines / Investment Guardrails

    The financial envelope and lean budget guardrails that constrain AI investment decisions. Calibrate consumes these to keep the use case backlog inside realistic funding horizons.

    SAFe Lean BudgetsPMBOK Funding Limit Reconciliation

  • Risk Appetite & Tolerance Statement

    Board-approved boundaries for the level of AI risk the organization is willing to accept. Calibrate uses this to set risk thresholds in the maturity model and to flag use cases that exceed tolerance.

    NIST AI RMF (Govern function)ISO 42001 Clause 6COSO ERM

  • Regulatory & Compliance Landscape

    A current view of laws, regulations, and standards applicable to the organization's AI footprint. Calibrate uses this to ensure regulatory exposure mapping covers every jurisdiction and obligation in scope.

    ISO 42001 Clause 4.2NIST AI RMF Govern 1.1EU AI Act readiness assessment

  • Existing Capability Baseline

    A grounded inventory of the AI, data, and talent capabilities already in place. Calibrate consumes this baseline to compute maturity scores against an honest current state rather than aspiration.

    TOGAF Baseline ArchitectureCOBIT 2019 Design Factors

  • Stakeholder Mandate / Sponsor Commitment

    A signed commitment from executive sponsors authorizing the transformation and allocating human and financial capital. Calibrate uses this to validate that the program has genuine air-cover before doing assessment work.

    Prosci ADKAR (Phase 1 Awareness)Kotter Step 1 (Establish Urgency)PMBOK Initiating Process Group

What Activities Occur During the Calibrate Stage?

  • → AI Maturity Assessment across 18 domains
  • → Shadow AI Discovery and classification
  • → Use Case Pipeline prioritization
  • → Self-Assessment questionnaires
  • → Stakeholder landscape mapping
  • → Data readiness assessment
  • → Regulatory exposure mapping
  • → Executive readiness interviews
  • → Cultural readiness evaluation
  • → Agent inventory and autonomy level assessment
  • → Third-party AI vendor discovery and inventory
  • → AI supply chain risk assessment

What Are the Outputs of the Calibrate Stage?

  • ✓ Maturity scorecard with domain-level ratings
  • ✓ Shadow AI inventory report
  • ✓ Prioritized use case backlog
  • ✓ Transformation readiness baseline
  • ✓ Stakeholder engagement plan
  • ✓ Transformation success criteria
  • ✓ Regulatory Exposure Register
  • ✓ Data Readiness Assessment
  • ✓ Executive Alignment Summary
  • ✓ Agent inventory and autonomy classification register
  • ✓ Third-party AI vendor inventory with risk scoring
  • ✓ AI supply chain risk register

Key Questions

  • ? What AI systems are currently in use across the organization?
  • ? What is our current transformation maturity level?
  • ? Where are the biggest transformation gaps?
  • ? What third-party and vendor AI systems carry the highest risk exposure?
  • ? What autonomous AI agents are operating, including shadow agents?
  • ? What is our supply chain dependency on third-party AI components?

What Are the Gate Criteria for Calibrate?

  • ⚠ Maturity baseline completed across all 18 domains
  • ⚠ Shadow AI inventory catalogued with risk ratings
  • ⚠ Minimum 5 use cases prioritized with value theses
  • ⚠ Risk appetite statement signed by executive sponsor
  • ⚠ Stakeholder engagement plan approved
  • ⚠ AI ambition statement published to leadership

Related Articles (160)

Articles from the Body of Knowledge that are tagged to the Calibrate stage or are lifecycle-wide and apply here.

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Which Knowledge Domains Apply to Calibrate?

What Cross-Cutting Concerns Apply to Calibrate?

Value Realization
Quantify and track business value across the lifecycle.
Operational Readiness
Platform, process, and people readiness for production AI.
Agent Governance
Autonomy, safety, and control for agentic AI systems.