# AI readiness assessment

Free AI readiness self-assessment across strategy, infrastructure, data, governance, talent and culture, the six pillars of the Cisco AI Readiness Index. 24 questions, a radar chart, a readiness stage and the next steps for your weakest pillars.

URL: https://smallbaydigital.com/tools/ai-readiness/  
Updated: 28 October 2026  
Publisher: SBD (smallbaydigital.com). Free, runs in the browser, nothing entered is stored on a server.

## In short

AI readiness is how prepared an organisation is to use AI productively and safely, measured across six pillars: strategy, infrastructure, data, governance, talent and culture. Most organisations are not fully ready: the 2025 Cisco AI Readiness Index found 13% were. The weakest pillar sets the pace, so fix it before scaling pilots.

## How to use it

1. **Answer 24 questions.** Four for each pillar, each from not started to fully in place. Answer for the organisation as it is today.
2. **Read the radar.** The shape shows where you are strong and where you are thin. The weakest pillar limits the rest.
3. **Check your stage.** Beginning, developing, ready or leading, from the overall score and the weakest pillar.
4. **Take the next steps.** Start with the actions listed for your two weakest pillars.
5. **Repeat in a quarter.** Re-run the assessment after three months to see what moved.

## Worked example

A 120-person distributor has a named AI owner and two live use cases (strategy 67), runs on cloud tools with APIs (infrastructure 75), but keeps customer and stock data in separate spreadsheets with no owner (data 25), has no AI usage policy (governance 17), one interested analyst (talent 42) and leaders who support trials (culture 58). Overall 47, Developing. Data and governance are the next steps: name data owners for customer and stock, consolidate them, and publish a one-page AI usage policy.

## Terms

- **AI readiness:** How prepared an organisation is to adopt AI productively and safely, across strategy, infrastructure, data, governance, talent and culture.
- **Data owner:** A named person accountable for the quality, access and definitions of a data set.
- **AI usage policy:** Written rules for which AI tools staff may use, with what data, and who approves new uses.
- **Pacesetter:** Cisco’s term for the fully ready organisations in its index: 13% of respondents in 2025.
- **Pilot to production:** Moving a trial into everyday use with owners, monitoring and support. The step most AI projects stall at.

## Sources

- Cisco, [AI Readiness Index 2025 (press release, October 2025)](https://newsroom.cisco.com/c/r/newsroom/en/us/a/y2025/m10/cisco-ai-research-the-most-ai-ready-companies-outpace-peers-in-the-race-to-value.html). Survey of 8,000 senior IT and business leaders at organisations with over 500 staff. 13% were fully ready (“Pacesetters”), down from 14% the year before. Used for: The six pillars and the 13% benchmark.
- NIST, [AI Risk Management Framework 1.0, 2023](https://www.nist.gov/itl/ai-risk-management-framework). Govern, Map, Measure and Manage functions, with governance as the function that runs through the others. Used for: Governance questions.
- Scoring, How the stage is set. Each answer scores 0 to 3; pillars are scaled to 100. The stage takes the lower of the overall score band and one band above the weakest pillar, so one strong pillar cannot hide a missing one. The questions are adapted for companies of 5 to 1,000 people and are not Cisco’s own. Used for: Stages and next steps.

## FAQ

### What is an AI readiness assessment?

A structured check of how prepared an organisation is to use AI, usually across strategy, infrastructure, data, governance, talent and culture. It shows where the gaps are before money is spent on tools or pilots.

### How many organisations are ready for AI?

Few. The 2025 Cisco AI Readiness Index, a survey of 8,000 leaders at organisations with over 500 employees, found 13% fully ready, down from 14% a year earlier.

### Which pillar matters most?

Usually data and governance, because they limit everything else: a model cannot use data nobody owns or can reach, and staff cannot use AI safely without rules. The weakest pillar sets the pace, so fix it before scaling.

### Is this the Cisco assessment?

No. It uses the same six pillars, with questions written for companies of 5 to 1,000 people. Cisco’s figures are quoted only as a benchmark.