[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":96},["ShallowReactive",2],{"profile":3,"writing-five-questions-before-the-ai-budget":14},{"name":4,"role":5,"tagline":6,"location":7,"contact":8},"Sankar Vema","AI Builder & Architect of Agentic Systems","I help enterprise leaders turn AI ambition into capability that actually ships.","India · open to global advisory engagements",{"email":9,"linkedin":10,"github":11,"blog":12,"twitter":13},"sankar.vema@gmail.com","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.linkedin.com\u002Fin\u002Fsankarvema\u002F","http:\u002F\u002Fsankarvema.github.io\u002F","http:\u002F\u002Fsankarvema.blogspot.com\u002F","https:\u002F\u002Ftwitter.com\u002Fsansvema",{"id":15,"title":16,"body":17,"date":81,"description":23,"draft":82,"excerpt":83,"extension":84,"meta":85,"navigation":86,"path":87,"seo":88,"slug":89,"status":83,"stem":90,"tags":91,"__hash__":95},"writing\u002Fwriting\u002Ffive-questions-before-the-ai-budget.md","The Five Questions Your Board Should Ask Before the Next AI Budget",{"type":18,"value":19,"toc":74},"minimark",[20,24,29,64,68,71],[21,22,23],"p",{},"Most AI budgets get approved on a mix of faith, fear of missing out, and an\nimpressive demo. A year later, nobody can quite say what happened to the money. The\nfix is not more oversight. It is five sharp questions, asked before the budget is\napproved, not after it is spent. Any CEO should welcome them, and any program that\ncannot answer them is not ready.",[25,26,28],"h2",{"id":27},"the-five-questions","The five questions",[30,31,32,40,46,52,58],"ol",{},[33,34,35,39],"li",{},[36,37,38],"strong",{},"What number does this move, and in what unit?"," If the answer is \"efficiency\"\nor \"innovation,\" it is not a business case. Demand dollars, hours, risk, revenue,\nor cycle time. A number you did not name is a number you cannot defend.",[33,41,42,45],{},[36,43,44],{},"Are we building an asset we own, or renting a capability everyone rents?"," If\nthe advantage comes from a general model on a generic workflow, every competitor\nbuys the same thing. Ask what here is ours, the data, the workflow, the judgment,\nthat a rival cannot buy tomorrow.",[33,47,48,51],{},[36,49,50],{},"What is the plan for year two?"," AI value compounds in the second year, through\nthe platform, the data flywheel, and the eval loop. A program funded for a quarter\nand expected to pay off for a decade is mis-designed. Ask what makes this compound,\nnot just launch.",[33,53,54,57],{},[36,55,56],{},"Who owns it when the pilot ends?"," Most AI dies in the gap between a successful\npilot and a production owner. Ask which team runs this, on which platform, with\nwhat budget, after the excitement fades. If nobody owns year two, there will not be one.",[33,59,60,63],{},[36,61,62],{},"What could go wrong, and who is accountable?"," Governance, data, model error,\nvendor lock-in. Ask what the failure modes are and who carries the risk. An AI\nprogram without a named owner of its downside is an incident waiting to be scheduled.",[25,65,67],{"id":66},"why-these-five","Why these five",[21,69,70],{},"Each question kills a specific way AI programs waste money: unnamed outcomes, rented\nadvantage, quarter-thinking, orphaned pilots, and unowned risk. A program that\nanswers all five is not guaranteed to succeed, but it is honest, and it is fundable.\nA program that cannot answer them will absorb budget and produce slides.",[21,72,73],{},"So before the next AI budget lands on the table: which of these five can your\nprogram not yet answer?",{"title":75,"searchDepth":76,"depth":76,"links":77},"",3,[78,80],{"id":27,"depth":79,"text":28},2,{"id":66,"depth":79,"text":67},"2026-08-01",false,null,"md",{},true,"\u002Fwriting\u002Ffive-questions-before-the-ai-budget",{"title":16,"description":23},"five-questions-before-the-ai-budget","writing\u002Ffive-questions-before-the-ai-budget",[92,93,94],"cxo","governance","strategy","K05WYGfiuRJf-0uva1wWPD-VWyDoBLAlCwfshd8oiUQ",1790601541683]