Advice · Long-term management
Your Outsourced AI Department
Your AI roadmap exists, your committee does too, but no one has two days a month to keep it up-to-date: projects get delayed, suppliers keep coming back, models change, and decisions are left until the next seminar. A part-time AI leader takes on this role: they champion the roadmap, facilitate governance, guide decision-making, and report to the executive committee. Two days a month, on an ongoing basis, without recruiting a rare talent.
From €4,000 excluding VAT per month · Written proposal within 24 working hours, without obligation.
An AI department, without recruiting
Your organization is too exposed to leave AI unmanaged, and a full-time Chief AI Officer is a rare, expensive, and difficult-to-manage profile for an organization of a few hundred to a few thousand people. Assigning this responsibility to the IT department or a project manager in addition to their existing role is tantamount to letting it slip away. This mandate establishes this function on a part-time basis, at the right level and at the right pace.
- To carry the AI roadmap forward over time, at the management level, with the mandate to decide and relaunch.
- Securing uses: governance, charter, register of AI and agents, compliance with Article 4 of the AI Act.
- Staying the course despite the constant evolution of models, tools and publishers' offerings.
- Provide the management committee with an honest quarterly reading: progress, impacts, budget, risks.
The mandate, month after month
Two days a month, including one day on site: a monthly ritual with the sponsor and the AI committee, meetings with the management teams leading the projects, and a quarterly report to the management committee.
Defining the mandate
The first month lays the foundations for management.
- Overview of current practices, ongoing projects, staff in service and risks.
- Prioritized roadmap, validated with management, or continuation of the existing one.
- Setting up or restarting the AI committee: composition, pace, mandate.
Managing the roadmap
A monthly ritual that transforms intentions into progress.
- Review of projects, arbitration and resolution with the relevant departments.
- Indicators of adoption, usage and value tracked over time.
- Adjusting priorities as AI evolves, without starting from scratch.
Facilitating governance
These practices are developing within a controlled framework.
- AI committee animated and documented, decisions tracked, files prepared before the meeting.
- Living charter of practices, register of AIs and agents maintained, compliance with Article 4 of the AI Act.
- Risk management: confidentiality, security, production quality, incidents.
Informing technological choices
Informed decisions rather than gambles.
- Curated monitoring: what matters to you, free from the noise.
- Supplier files reviewed: scope, costs, security, reversibility.
- Build or buy recommendations tailored to your context and your IT system, with no link to a publisher.
Reporting to the Executive Committee
A clear path forward to make informed decisions.
- Quarterly reporting: progress, impacts, budget, risks.
- Decisions to be made should be prepared and documented, with options and their costs.
- Twelve-month trajectory, continuously updated.
Preparing the next generation
The mandate has an end, and it is prepared for from the beginning.
- An internal AI expert has been identified and supported throughout their term.
- Rituals, dashboards and standard files transmitted and documented.
- Organized handover, or continuation at a reduced pace.
Why an AI leader at NextStart
A part-time AI director is valuable because of their experience. Ours has led AI programs lasting 22 to 25 months in international groups and public organizations, trained thousands of professionals, and deployed agents to production alongside teams. They know what's going wrong, why, and how to fix it.
- A single senior contact person, the same throughout the entire term, reachable between days on site.
- Training, agents and advice all in one hand: the committee's decisions are translated into actions without changing service providers.
- Independence from publishers: no commission, no licenses to sell.
- Experience in organizations with high requirements: health, energy, aeronautics, space, defense, social protection.
Two ways to start
A three-month launch mandate to set up the pilot program and assess results, or an annual mandate to maintain the roadmap over time.
Launch mandate
Three months, two days per month: assessment, roadmap validated or revised, AI committee established and running its first three sessions, initial report to the management committee. At the end, you decide whether to continue, internalize, or discontinue.
€4,500 excluding VAT per month
Three months, six days of intervention, plus travel expenses outside the Île-de-France region.
Annual mandate
Twelve months at two days per month: the six components of the mandate, quarterly reporting to the management committee, arbitration monitoring, processing of supplier files and preparation of internal succession.
From €4,000 excluding VAT per month
Twelve months, terminable with three months' notice, with the schedule adjustable to one day per month at the end of the term.
What the mandate brings you
- A single senior contact person, committed for the long term, who brings the issue to the management level.
- A living roadmap, managed month after month, with monitored indicators.
- A governance that works and documented compliance: charter, register of AIs and agents, Article 4 of the AI Act.
- Informed technological choices, an enlightened management committee, and a prepared internal succession plan.
Solid consulting experience
Since 2016, we have been supporting organizations in their transformation, and since 2023 in their generative AI projects. We have supported over 30 organizations, trained 4,850 professionals, and achieved an average satisfaction rating of 9,4/10. See our references →
Regarding this type of mission: We already manage long-term AI programs, with roadmaps and steering committees: Bristol Myers Squibb (22 months, regular use increased from 20% to 72% by the fourth wave), Ceva Animal Health (25 months, deployment in 8 countries), Agirc-Arrco (22 months) or even CNES (since March 2024, on a secure internal tool). See our references and long-term support programs →
FAQ
What is the difference with a consultant working on-site?
A consultant working on a project basis simply carries out the tasks assigned. A part-time AI executive, on the other hand, has a mandate: they set the committee agenda, prepare decisions, follow up with management, and report back to the executive committee. They are there to ensure progress, not to produce deliverables on demand.
Are two days a month enough?
To manage the project, yes: one day on-site for the committee and meetings with management, and one day remotely to review files, track indicators, and prepare reports. The execution of the projects remains the responsibility of your teams or dedicated, separately budgeted teams.
To whom does the AI leader report?
He reports to a sponsor from senior management, appointed at the beginning of his term, and to the management committee every quarter. He works with the IT department, HR, legal and business units, without being attached to any of them.
What happens at the end of the term?
Three outcomes, planned from the outset: an internal mentor takes over with the existing rituals and tools; the mandate is extended at a reduced pace; or it ends, with a complete handover file. The goal of the mandate is to make the organization autonomous, not dependent.
Do we need to have a roadmap already?
No. The first month of the mandate either builds or re-establishes it. If you prefer to build it before making a long-term commitment, Framing your program The product takes four weeks to produce. AI Roadmap Kit, free, provides the models.
How much does it cost ?
The three-month introductory contract is offered at €4,500 excluding VAT per month for two days per month. The annual contract starts at €4,000 excluding VAT per month and can be terminated with three months' notice. A detailed proposal will be sent to you within 24 business hours following an initial discussion.
Build your tailor-made mandate
Describe your context in a few lines: size of the organization, status of the roadmap, whether a committee is in place, and deadlines. A senior consultant will get back to you within 24 business hours with a proposal tailored to your organization. You can also book a 30-minute consultation directly.
Do you prefer to call or write? +33 1 89 16 48 05 or hello@nextstart.aiYour contact details are only used to reply to you.
NextStart is a training organization registered under number 11756140675. This registration does not constitute state approval.
