Answerable AI, without the slowdown.
I'm Jonathan Richards, an independent AI adviser for growing firms. The four HALO questions, asked while the answers are still cheap.
Where are you stuck?
You've rolled out AI across the firm. Licences are paid, people are busy, and nobody can tell the board what it's returning.
of firms using AI can't point to any profit from it. McKinsey, The state of AI, August 2026 ↗
Independent AI Review
TimeframeAbout two weeks
- A map of every AI tool, what it costs and who owns itYou know what you pay for, and who answers for it
- Where AI saves time, and where it quietly loses itYou put money behind what works
- Licences to cut, risks to close, one page for the boardA decision your board can make in one meeting
Sales uses one tool, finance another, and someone in ops has pasted a client file into a free chatbot. Customers are starting to ask how you use AI.
of firms hit by an AI-related breach had no proper controls on who could use their AI. IBM, Cost of a Data Breach 2026 ↗
AI Ground Rules Training
TimeframeHalf a day per team
- The same AI rules for every teamConsistent use, fewer surprises
- Each team's own agreed rulebookPeople follow rules they helped write
- Attendance and decisions loggedEvidence ready for any customer questionnaire
AI decisions get made in every team and owned by none. The board wants a plan and a name, and you can't justify a full-time hire yet.
means nobody to answer when a customer, an auditor or a regulator asks.
Fractional AI Lead
TimeframeMonthly, ongoing
- A senior, independent AI lead on your sideSomeone answerable, without a full-time hire
- Your AI register kept current, reviewed every quarterNo scramble at audit or renewal time
- Customer AI questionnaires answered within five working daysTenders and renewals don't stall
A customer or tender wants ISO 42001, or you hold it and need to keep it. Either way, someone independent has to check the system works.
are needed at planned intervals, and your certification body isn't allowed to do them for you.
ISO 42001: get ready, stay ready
TimeframeA gap check first, then audits at planned intervals
- A gap check against the standardYou know the work before you commit
- Readiness built into how your teams already workNo parallel paperwork
- The independent internal audit, never on anything I builtA certificate you can keep
Not quite your problem? Tell me what is: book 20 minutes →
Four questions. Every use of AI.
HALO: machine and human working together.
Ask them of any AI tool, from one person's chatbot to a firm-wide agent. The questions stay the same; only the depth changes.
I've built digital products and I audit AI. So I know where it breaks, and why.
Years leading digital product and transformation, now independent. I advise, I train and I speak, and I never review a system I helped build.
Team Spheriio: one of four winners at the TechIreland National AI Challenge 2026
Out of 100 team entries, our prototype was one of four winners. Spheriio brings a woman's health records, wearable data and perimenopause symptoms together in one simple chat, using AI agents with governance designed in from the start. I was a key contributor to the prototype, the guardrails and the pitch.
Swipe for more · Galway, 24 September 2026. Event images: TechIreland.
[Playbook title]: the first five AI decisions for a growing firm
[One line on what is inside.] A short PDF with the numbers, the four HALO questions and where to start this month.
- [What you will know after reading it]
- [A second thing]
- [A third thing]
Your playbook is ready
Check your inbox to confirm the weekly briefing.
Twenty minutes. No pitch.
We'll look at what's going on with AI in your firm and whether I'm the right person to help. If I'm not, I'll tell you who is.
Or email me: jonathan@coghalo.com