From AI Claims to Defensible Business Value
A convincing AI value story connects a defined improvement to operating records, its full costs and evidence that others can sustain the work. GrowFast’s evidence ladder helps distinguish those levels of confidence.
“AI has cut the time we spend on proposals.” It is a useful starting point for a conversation. To understand the business value, a buyer or leadership team needs to know considerably more.
Which proposals? How much time? Did the measure include review and correction? Did faster preparation improve delivery, release capacity or change costs? Can the process continue when its current operator is unavailable?
These questions give a promising result a firmer foundation. They help distinguish an improvement that has been observed from one that has been measured, understood and incorporated into the way the company operates.
The strength of an AI value claim depends on how clearly the business can connect the result to the work that produced it.
“The strength of an AI value claim depends on how clearly the business can connect the result to the work that produced it.”
Start with a defined claim
Broad language creates avoidable uncertainty. “AI improved productivity” could refer to a faster first draft, more completed orders, lower outside spending or a better customer response. Each requires different evidence.
A useful claim identifies the activity, the result and the period being compared. It also states the boundaries: which team, which kinds of work and which costs are included.
For example, a company might examine whether an AI-assisted proposal process has reduced the total employee time required for comparable jobs. That scope is specific enough to investigate. It includes preparation, review and correction rather than treating the speed of the first draft as the whole result.
If the improvement has only been observed in a pilot, say so. A limited claim with clear evidence gives readers more to work with than a broad assertion whose conditions are unclear.
Four levels of evidence
GrowFast uses an evidence ladder: asserted → anecdotal → documented → operationalized. Each level supports a different degree of confidence.
Asserted. Management describes an improvement. The statement identifies something worth examining, but does not establish its size, cause or durability.
Anecdotal. A specific example shows the improvement in action. One proposal was completed much faster, or one customer issue was resolved with less effort. The example demonstrates possibility; it may not represent ordinary performance.
Documented. Records show how the work was performed and how results were measured. The business can explain its baseline, the comparison period, review effort, costs and relevant changes in the work itself. Documentation also identifies who owns and maintains the process.
Operationalized. The capability is used consistently in normal operations. Authorized people can run it, review its results and handle exceptions. Performance is monitored, and there is evidence of coverage beyond the original builder.
The ladder helps keep the conclusion proportionate to the evidence. A pilot result can justify further testing. A documented operating pattern can support a more developed business case. Neither should be presented as proof of conditions that have not been examined.
Watch: Inside a Proof Pack (1:21) shows how findings and supporting evidence become a usable assessment deliverable.
Follow the improvement through the business
Time saved does not automatically become a reduction in expense. It may create capacity, shorten customer response times or allow employees to perform work that had been deferred.
Those outcomes can be valuable, but they should be described accurately. If staffing costs remain the same, a claim about reduced labor expense needs additional support. If the team produces more, the business should examine the resulting volume, quality and demand. If work moves faster, it should establish whether that speed changes delivery, billing or another meaningful operating result.
The comparison also needs to account for other changes. Easier jobs, a more experienced team or a revised approval process may contribute to the result. Where the effect of AI cannot be isolated, the claim should reflect that uncertainty.
Costs belong in the same account. Subscriptions, integration work, human review, maintenance and exception handling all affect what the company gains from the workflow. A useful business case makes those inputs visible alongside the benefits.
Add the transfer question
Evidence that a process works today leaves another question open: can the capability continue through a change in ownership, leadership or personnel?
For the proposal example, this means examining more than cycle time. Another authorized person should be able to find the right information, use the workflow, recognize a flawed result and obtain approval for an exception. Company access, maintenance responsibility and operating instructions should support that person’s work.
A transition may also alter the systems on which the process depends. Incoming management needs to understand those dependencies before assuming that integration will preserve the same performance.
This is where the evidence connects to GrowFast’s fourth diligence. The result, the people producing it and the conditions for continuity become one operating story.
Make the claim easier to evaluate
A defensible account can be concise. It should state what improved, how the comparison was made, what the improvement costs and what evidence supports continued operation. It should distinguish demonstrated results from expected benefits and record the uncertainties still being tested.
For sellers, this makes a strength easier to explain. For buyers, it helps focus further diligence on the questions that remain. For operating teams, it creates a baseline for maintaining and improving the capability.
The aim is a business that understands its own performance well enough to reproduce it, explain it and carry it through change.
Read The Fourth Diligence: Will the Value Survive the Deal? and AI Can Make a Founder More Productive. Does It Make the Business More Transferable?.
For the conversation behind these questions, listen to Stephen Murray on ACG’s Middle Market Growth Podcast.