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How ready is your organisation for AI?
Twenty-four questions across the six pillars used by the Cisco AI Readiness Index: strategy, infrastructure, data, governance, talent and culture. Get a radar of where you stand, a readiness stage, and the next steps for your weakest pillars.
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Summary and how to use it
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.
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.
How to use it
- 1Answer 24 questions
Four for each pillar, each from not started to fully in place. Answer for the organisation as it is today.
- 2Read the radar
The shape shows where you are strong and where you are thin. The weakest pillar limits the rest.
- 3Check your stage
Beginning, developing, ready or leading, from the overall score and the weakest pillar.
- 4Take the next steps
Start with the actions listed for your two weakest pillars.
- 5Repeat in a quarter
Re-run the assessment after three months to see what moved.
Assessment
Twenty-four questions, about five minutes.
Answer for the organisation as it is today, not as planned. Answers are saved in this browser only.
Next steps
Start with your weakest pillars.
The two lowest pillars, with an action for every question not yet fully in place.
Answer all 24 questions to see your next steps.
Method
How the stage is set.
Each answer scores 0 to 3, and each pillar is scaled to 100. Your stage is the lower of the overall band and one band above your weakest pillar, so one strong pillar cannot hide a missing one.
- BeginningUnder 30
Foundations are missing. Start with an owner, a usage policy and one well-chosen use case.
- Developing30 to 54
Some pieces are in place. Fix the weakest pillar before adding more pilots.
- Ready55 to 79
You can take use cases into production. Scale what works, with governance in step.
- Leading80 and over
Broadly in place. Focus on measuring value and keeping controls current.
For comparison: the 2025 Cisco AI Readiness Index found 13% of large organisations fully ready for AI. The questions here are written for companies of 5 to 1,000 people and are not Cisco’s own.
Sources
Where the numbers come from.
Each default and rule is traced to a published source, or labelled as practitioner guidance where no audited benchmark exists.
- Cisco AI Readiness Index 2025 (press release, October 2025)Used forThe six pillars and the 13% benchmark
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.
- NIST AI Risk Management Framework 1.0, 2023Used forGovernance questions
Govern, Map, Measure and Manage functions, with governance as the function that runs through the others.
- Scoring How the stage is setUsed forStages and next steps
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.
Terms
What the terms mean.
- 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.
FAQ
Questions about AI readiness.
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.
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