Advisory

Advisory and diagnostic support that turns AI investment into AI performance.

Do any of these sound familiar?

Your board is asking what the AI budget has delivered, and the honest answer is nobody can quantify it yet.
AI tools have been rolled out and licenses paid for but the old ways of working persist.
You are stuck in pilot purgatory with promising experiments that never seem to scale.
Your leadership team is not aligned on what AI is for and what problems it is solving.
You suspect the real blockers are about people and how you adapt your leadership.

None of these are technology problems. They are problems that require a fundamentally new approach to your own leadership.

What is my approach?

My work focuses not on what AI can do as a technology, but on what leaders do with it.

That capability has a name: I call it AI-Q®

It is a leader’s capability to create value in a world where human and machine intelligence work together, and it has three components. The mindsets leaders bring to AI. The abilities they apply to AI work. The practices they use day to day to sustain impact. Mindsets, Abilities, Practices, or MAP.

AI-Q and the 3 MAP dimensions - Mindsets, Abilities and Practices - by Athena Peppes — AI-Q and MAP © Athena Peppes 2026.
Please credit Athena Peppes if you use it.

This is not a theory. It comes from original research with 200 senior leaders across industries, alongside extensive interviews and client work.

The finding that matters: leaders with high AI-Q were more than three times as likely to report a quantified business outcome from AI in the previous twelve months, and to be able to put a number on it.

Discover your AI-Q

What does an engagement look like?

Every engagement starts with measurement. Data from the AI-Q diagnostic shows that more than three quarters of leaders had never assessed their own AI readiness, which is why it rarely gets the investment it needs. Without a baseline, you are guessing about where the gap sits and what it is costing you.

From there the work is tailored. The MAP framework stays consistent, because that is what the research supports. What changes is which practices your team focuses on, how the findings map to your structure and incentives, and whether you need a defined piece of work or an ongoing partner.

Who do I work with?

With boards, C-suite teams, and senior leaders across sectors.

The common thread is an organisation that has moved past “should we use AI” and is now confronting the harder question of how to build the Mindsets, Abilities, and Practices that make AI adoption stick and deliver results.

Not ready to talk yet?

Alongside my own advisory work, I co-deliver structured programs with specialist partners, combining my expertise with complementary skills to tackle specific organisational challenges.

I am partnering with Dr. Julia Stamm for an exclusive webinar for heads of L&D across professional services, insurance and legal.

The AI ROI gap seminar

An online exclusive session for senior leaders whose organisations have invested in AI, licences, training, pilots, but aren’t yet seeing the ROI they hoped for. Discover how you can shape a structured path from scattered activity to measurable readiness.

Next session: October 13th at 12:00 GMT. Register below.

Places are limited to senior L&D, transformation and people leaders in professional services, insurance and legal sectors.

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Services

AI-Q audits

Your problem and how I can help:

AI readiness rarely gets measured, and hence rarely gets the investment it needs. Measuring your AI-Quotient addresses this disconnect. Data from the AI-Q diagnostic shows that more than three quarters of leaders had never assessed their own AI readiness. Measurement gives you a starting point and direction.

What it is:

A structured assessment of your leadership team’s AI-Q, benchmarked against the research behind the book, with a full audit across the leadership group, a written report including benchmarks and a session to walk through the findings.

Who it’s for:

Leaders who need to target investment in the right capability gaps, or to establish a baseline before a bigger change programme.

What you gain:

High AI-Q leaders are more than three times as likely to say their team delivered a measurable business outcome from an AI initiative in the past year, and to be able to quantify it. An audit is the essential first step to getting there.

Book a discovery call

Strategic advisory

Your problem and how I can help:

Despite AI vendor promises you are stuck in ‘pilot purgatory’ or failing to see measurable ROI. My advisory approach is research-backed and based on tried and tested approaches from emerging best practices. I help you boost the Mindsets, Abilities and Practices that can enable you get measurable returns.

What it is:

Ongoing, embedded support alongside you and your leadership team. Not a single workshop — sustained work at an agreed cadence, typically monthly or fortnightly, with direct access in between for time-sensitive decisions.

Who it’s for:

Leaders who already know getting ROI from their AI investments is a people-readiness problem and want a strategic partner to help them address it.

What you gain:

A trusted, independent voice that will bring an outside perspective, help you make faster, more confident decisions, and give you the clarity to know what’s actually driving your AI investment forward.

Book a discovery call

Consulting FAQs

How is this different from hiring a traditional AI consultancy?

Most AI consultancies are commissioned through IT and measured against tool adoption. This work starts from AI-Q: a research-backed view of how to boost the leadership team ‘s Mindsets, Abilities and Practices, to make your AI investments pay off. It sits with you and your leadership team directly, not with the project delivering the tools.

Which of the services should I start with?

It depends on whether you need evidence, an ongoing partner, or a view of what’s coming. If you’re not sure, book a discovery call and we’ll work it out together. The first step is usually the AI-Q Diagnostic.

Is this tailored to us, or a standard programme?

The AI-Q model — the mindsets, abilities, and practices — is consistent across engagements, because it’s the model the research is built on. What’s tailored is everything on top of it: which practices you focus on, how audit findings map to your own leadership development plan and that of your team, and what the findings indicate you need to develop further.

What size of organisation do you work with?

Primarily leaders running a function or department in organisations of 250 or more employees, since that’s where AI adoption is furthest along and where the readiness gap shows up most clearly. Smaller organisations are considered case by case.

Have you worked in my sector before?

My work spans financial services, professional services, technology, manufacturing, retail, and healthcare, plus over a decade at Accenture across automotive, insurance, consumer goods, energy, and government. If your sector isn’t listed, raise it on the discovery call.

How long does an engagement take?

It varies by service. Strategic advisory typically runs at a monthly or fortnightly cadence, agreed with you at the start. AI-Q audits are scoped as defined pieces of work with a clear end point. Exact timelines are set once I understand what you’re solving for.

What does this cost?

Pricing is scoped to the engagement. Audits is quoted as a fixed price once I understand what you need; advisory work is set at an agreed rate for the cadence we agree. You’ll have a clear number before anything starts.

Do you work remotely, in person, or both?

Both. Sessions are typically remote for regular-cadence work, with in-person sessions for audit findings, board presentations, and kickoff, depending on what suits you.

Are you affiliated with any AI vendors or tools?

No. I’m not paid by, or reselling for, any AI tool or platform provider. My other roles are Director at Beacon Thought Leadership and Head of AI Research at BossUp.AI, a startup building benchmarks for AI readiness rather than selling AI tools. That’s deliberate: the advice needs to be about your readiness, not about which product you buy next.

Will you present findings directly to my board?

Yes, as part of an audit or advisory engagement. It’s often the most useful session for the leadership team, since it puts an independent voice behind the case rather than leaving you to defend your own investment.

How is confidential information handled?

Any organisational, workforce, or performance data shared as part of an audit or advisory engagement is used only for that engagement, discussed under terms agreed before the work begins.