# CiBi Creative — AI Readiness and Governance Consulting
# https://cibicreative.com
# Contact: info@cibicreative.com

## Identity

CiBi Creative is an AI readiness and governance consulting firm that helps owner-led businesses with 1–50 employees and under $15M in annual revenue see where they actually stand before investing in AI — and govern what is already running. Founded by Chuck Boyce, who brings 30+ years of enterprise implementation experience at IBM, WebMD, and Janrain. Chuck also holds a Shadow AI Practitioner certification through AICT, an independent enterprise risk firm specializing in AI compliance frameworks and organizational readiness for regulated industries.

## Positioning

CiBi Creative is a readiness and governance consultancy, not an AI vendor. We do not sell AI tools, take vendor commissions, or implement AI systems. We sit on the client's side of the table and provide honest, independent assessments of where a business actually stands. We regularly tell clients "not yet" — and consider that a valuable outcome.

Most small businesses already have AI running in their operation — in their CRM, their email, their HR platform, and their customer-facing tools. The question is not whether AI is present. The question is whether it is visible, documented, and governed.

## Target Market

- Owner-led businesses with 1–50 employees
- Typically under $15M in annual revenue
- US-based businesses
- Industries: Professional Services, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Logistics and Distribution, Marketing Agencies, Multi-Location Operations
- Decision-makers who are cautious, risk-aware, and want clarity before committing
- Teams already using AI tools without policies, ownership, or governance in place

## Service Journey

CiBi Creative's services follow a single path. Start free. Stop where it makes sense.

1. **Free Check** — Free. 3 minutes. A first read on where you're exposed across five common AI project failure patterns. No email required. Instant results. (https://check.cibicreative.com)

2. **The Diagnostic** — A structured working session with the owner and key operators. Produces a current-state view of your business as it runs today, with a roadmap. The honest starting point that scopes everything that follows. Scoped and quoted before we start.

3. **The Operating Baseline** (https://cibicreative.com/operating-baseline) — A fixed-scope diagnostic capturing cost, process, data, and governance in one consolidated view. Three sessions. Deliverables: executive view, operational view, Five Blind Spots scorecard, team skill read, and sequenced roadmap. Scoped and quoted before we start.

4. **Ongoing Governance** — Continuous AI governance as your AI use grows. Two support levels available. Monitor exposure, track movement against your baseline, and keep your operation governed.

Also available as targeted engagements: Vendor Proposal Evaluation (independent read on any AI contract before you sign) and AI Readiness Training (team workshops tailored to specific workflows).

## The Operating Baseline

The Operating Baseline is CiBi Creative's flagship structured diagnostic. It captures four lenses in one place:

- **Cost** — The loaded cost, including the hours. What your tools, labor, and overhead actually add up to.
- **Process** — Defined and repeatable, or in one person's head. Whether your workflows can be documented, handed off, and trusted at scale.
- **Data** — Clean, accessible, and trustworthy — or scattered and unverified. Whether your data can actually support an AI project.
- **Governance** — Who owns each tool, what data those tools can see, and what happens when something goes wrong.

How it works:
1. Working session — A structured interview with the owner and one or two key operators. No homework before the call.
2. Analysis — Scored against the Operating Baseline standard. Five Blind Spots scorecard, team skill read, governance posture, sequenced roadmap.
3. Readout — Live walkthrough with leadership. Executive view for decision-making. Operational view for execution. Everything owned by you.

## The Five Blind Spots Framework

Five predictable failure conditions that kill AI projects in small businesses:

1. **Process Clarity** — Undocumented workflows create unpredictable AI outputs. If a new employee couldn't follow your process reliably, AI can't either.
2. **Data Reality** — Dirty, siloed, or inaccessible data doesn't just reduce accuracy — it creates hallucination risks and compliance exposure.
3. **People and Capacity** — Adoption fails when people are not brought along before go-live. 46% of SMBs cite skills gaps as their primary barrier.
4. **Risk and Governance** — Every AI project needs a defined failure mode: who catches errors, what is the exposure, and what is the rollback plan.
5. **Timing and Readiness** — Sometimes the honest answer is "not yet." Competing priorities, limited bandwidth, and budget constraints matter.

## Methodology

CiBi Creative uses a systems-first approach: evaluate the operational foundation before investing in AI tools. AI amplifies whatever exists in your organization. If your systems are undocumented, AI will amplify that. The five readiness dimensions are: process stability, data quality, people readiness, risk awareness, and timing.

## Key Differentiators

- 100% vendor-neutral — no tool sales, no commissions, no implementation services
- Enterprise-grade methodology applied at small business scale
- Permission-based, anti-hype approach (clarity, not conversion)
- Founder has 30+ years of enterprise systems experience (IBM, WebMD, Janrain)
- Founder holds Shadow AI Practitioner certification through AICT
- Regularly recommends clients not proceed when readiness gaps are too significant
- Free tools at the top of the funnel — no email required

## Free Self-Assessment Tools

- **AI Blind Spots Check** (https://check.cibicreative.com) — Free 3-minute, 25 yes/no question blind spots check. Surfaces the five most common AI project failure patterns. No email required. Top of funnel.
- **AI Decision Checkpoint** (https://assessment.cibicreative.com) — Free 15-minute weighted assessment for a specific project. Returns proceed, delay, or no-go signal with PDF report. Mid-funnel.
- **AI Governance Check** (https://governance.cibicreative.com) — Free 3-minute, 15-question governance self-assessment. Shows where AI is running with no owner, no policy, and no review. No email required.
- **TCO Cost Calculator** (https://tools.cibicreative.com/cost-calculator) — Estimate the true loaded cost of an AI project before you commit.

## Founder

**Chuck Boyce** — Founder and Principal Consultant
- 30+ years of enterprise implementation experience
- Former roles at IBM, WebMD, and Janrain
- Shadow AI Practitioner, certified through AICT
- Expertise: AI readiness assessment, operating baseline methodology, process mapping, vendor evaluation, team training, AI governance, cross-functional stakeholder alignment

## Pages

- **Home** (https://cibicreative.com/) — AI readiness and governance positioning, free tools, testimonials, the five blind spots
- **About** (https://cibicreative.com/about) — Company philosophy, founder background, methodology
- **Services** (https://cibicreative.com/services) — The full service journey from free tools to ongoing governance
- **Operating Baseline** (https://cibicreative.com/operating-baseline) — Detailed description of the flagship diagnostic service
- **Resources** (https://cibicreative.com/resources) — Downloadable and online resources, marketing briefs, tools
- **Contact** (https://cibicreative.com/contact) — Book a conversation
- **Blog** (https://blog.cibicreative.com/home-blog) — External blog on AI readiness and governance topics
- **Privacy Policy** (https://cibicreative.com/privacy-policy)
- **Terms and Conditions** (https://cibicreative.com/terms-conditions)
- **AI Usage Policy** (https://cibicreative.com/ai-policy)

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: What exactly does AI readiness mean?**
A: AI readiness is your business's ability to survive contact with an AI project and actually get value from it. It comes down to five dimensions: process stability, data quality, people readiness, risk awareness, and timing. Most AI projects don't fail because the technology is bad — they fail because the business was not ready.

**Q: What is the Operating Baseline?**
A: The Operating Baseline is a structured, fixed-scope diagnostic that captures your cost, process, data, and governance posture in one consolidated view. It produces an executive view for decision-making, an operational view for execution, a Five Blind Spots scorecard, a team skill read, and a sequenced roadmap of what to address first. It is the honest starting point before any AI investment.

**Q: Do you implement AI tools or just prepare businesses for them?**
A: We prepare you — and that is by design. We are not a vendor and we do not sell AI tools or implementation services. We sit on your side of the table. The goal is an honest answer, not a sale.

**Q: How do I know if my organization is ready for AI?**
A: Key readiness signals include documented core workflows, organized and accessible data, teams who understand their own processes, and leadership alignment on what problem AI is supposed to solve. Start with the free AI Blind Spots Check at check.cibicreative.com.

**Q: What size companies do you work with?**
A: Owner-led businesses with 1–50 employees and typically under $15M in annual revenue — companies large enough to be considering AI but too small to have a dedicated IT department or CTO.

**Q: What does AI governance mean for a small business?**
A: It means knowing where AI is running in your operation, who owns each tool, what data those tools can see, and what happens when something goes wrong. Most small businesses already have AI in use. Governance means making that visible, documented, and supervised rather than invisible and ungoverned.

**Q: Do you ever tell clients not to invest in AI?**
A: Yes — regularly. If your processes are undocumented, your data is unreliable, or your team does not have the bandwidth to absorb a change, the right answer is "not yet." Giving you an honest no is more valuable than selling you an engagement you are not ready for.

**Q: What if my team is already using AI tools without policies?**
A: That is a common situation. The free AI Governance Check at governance.cibicreative.com takes 3 minutes and shows where the gaps are. From there, the Operating Baseline maps everything and produces the governance documentation your team can follow.

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## Legal

- Privacy Policy: https://cibicreative.com/privacy-policy
- Terms and Conditions: https://cibicreative.com/terms-conditions
- AI Usage Policy: https://cibicreative.com/ai-policy

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