Audience
Executive sponsors, operating owners, technology, security and finance
AI Project Planning · Updated August 8, 2026
By PlanckCyber
AI Pilot Go / No-Go Checklist
A gate for authorizing a bounded workflow pilot.
How to use this resource
A responsible pilot answers a business question. Check an item only when evidence exists and the accountable owner confirms it.
Important: Passing this checklist does not establish production approval or guaranteed feasibility, savings, security or compliance.
When to use it
A team is considering an AI pilot or proof of concept.
Objective
Prevent a pilot from starting without a decision, baseline, boundary and control plan.
Decision and sponsor
- A specific build / revise / stop / learn decision is named.
- Executive sponsor and operating owner are named.
- Decision date and decision authority are confirmed.
- Pilot budget and internal capacity are available.
Workflow boundary
- One workflow and user group are defined.
- In-scope and out-of-scope cases are documented.
- Systems, data and environments are named.
- Production actions prohibited during the pilot are explicit.
Baseline and evaluation
- Current performance is measured or a baseline plan exists.
- Representative test cases are available.
- Quality, failure, latency, cost and adoption measures are defined.
- Acceptance thresholds and stop rules are approved.
Risk and control
- Data use is authorized.
- Security and privacy review requirements are known.
- Human approvals and escalation are explicit.
- Errors can be detected, contained and reversed.
- Incident and issue reporting paths are defined.
Operating readiness
- Frontline users will participate.
- Technical and systems owners are available.
- Pilot results will be documented and reproducible.
- A production operating owner has been identified.
Gate decision
- Record GO, CONDITIONAL GO or NO-GO.
- Document conditions before start.
- Name the decision owner and date.
- Retain the approval record.
Start with the problem
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