The Padin Group

AI Readiness Diagnostic · Completed April 22, 2026

Relay Tech Inc.

How prepared your organization is to deploy and scale AI across product, engineering, and operations.

Overall readiness

64/ 100
MODERATE READINESS

Benchmark

Peer average58+6
Top quartile79-15

Industry

Technology

Org size

180–300 employees

Respondents

4 leaders

Section 1

The Score

64/ 100

Above “AI-Curious” (58), below “AI-Native” (79).

Relay Tech Inc. sits in the moderate band: enough infrastructure and tooling in place to be dangerous, but the human-side fundamentals (training, governance, ROI measurement) haven’t kept pace with what’s shipped. Below is where that gap shows up across the 10 KPIs in the framework.

4

Above peer

0

At peer

6

Below peer

Section 2

The 10 KPIs

Each KPI scored 0–100 based on respondent input, weighted by role. Grey bar shows your peer benchmark; the colored bar is your score.

KPI 1

Strategic AI Vision

72

+12 vs peer

KPI 2

Data Infrastructure

81

+16 vs peer

KPI 3

AI Talent & Skills

38

-17 vs peer

Lowest score

KPI 4

Tooling & Platform

76

+14 vs peer

KPI 5

Workflow Integration

51

-7 vs peer

KPI 6

Governance & Risk

42

-8 vs peer

KPI 7

Change Adoption

45

-7 vs peer

KPI 8

ROI Measurement

33

-15 vs peer

Lowest score

KPI 9

Customer-facing AI

78

+18 vs peer

KPI 10

Org-wide Literacy

47

-8 vs peer

Section 3

Where leaders disagree

Three places where your leadership team isn’t aligned on where you stand. These gaps matter: they shape hiring, budget, and how this report gets received in the boardroom.

KPI 3 · Spread 42 pts

AI Talent & Skills

Priya Mehta, Head of Operations22
James Park, CEO64

Operations sees a critical capability gap; the CEO believes the team is mostly trained. The reality on the floor is closer to Operations' read — and the difference is roughly the size of an annual training budget.

KPI 8 · Spread 38 pts

ROI Measurement

Sarah Chen, CTO18
James Park, CEO56

The CTO knows the team can't yet quantify what AI is actually saving. Leadership has been reporting upward as if it can. That gap will close one way or the other before the next executive review cycle.

KPI 6 · Spread 31 pts

Governance & Risk

Marcus Liu, VP Engineering28
Priya Mehta, Head of Operations59

Engineering has shipped AI features without a written use policy; Operations assumes one exists. Two enterprise prospects this quarter asked for it and got conflicting answers from different teams.

Section 4

What we found

Your readiness gap isn't tools — it's training, trust, and measurement.

Relay Tech scores in the upper-mid range on infrastructure (81/100) and tooling (76/100): the tech is in place. Where the score collapses is on the human side — AI Talent & Skills (38), ROI Measurement (33), and Org-wide Literacy (47) all sit well below your peer average.

The pattern is consistent across all four respondents but the magnitude isn't. Your CEO and Operations lead disagree by 42 points on whether the team has the AI skills to deliver. That gap shows up everywhere: in hiring decisions, in tool procurement, and — most consequentially — in how this report will be received in the boardroom.

The encouraging signal is your customer-facing AI score (78). You've shipped real product. The risk is that the org-wide engine that supports those features — training, governance, ROI tracking — hasn't kept pace with what shipped. The fix is sequenceable, not structural.

You bought 12 AI tools in 2025 but only 23% of your employees feel they know when to use them.

Section 5

The gaps that matter most

Ranked by combined business impact and feasibility to address.

1

KPI 8

ROI Measurement

Root cause

No baseline metrics were captured before AI tools were rolled out, and there's no routine cadence for measuring time saved or output quality. Each team uses its own informal definition of "is this AI helping?"

Business impact

When the CFO asks for a defensible AI ROI read, you don't have a clean number. Budget for the next wave is at risk — and the tools that are working will get cut alongside the ones that aren't.

$240K annual AI spend at risk

2

KPI 3

AI Talent & Skills

Root cause

Hiring filtered for traditional engineering credentials; training has been ad-hoc and self-directed. The two newly-promoted engineering managers haven't received any structured AI workflow training.

Business impact

Your engineering team is roughly 40% slower to adopt new AI features than your customer-facing team. That gap will compound as the underlying models accelerate.

~$180K/yr in slower delivery velocity

3

KPI 6

Governance & Risk

Root cause

AI features have shipped to production without a formal review or written use policy. There's no documented stance on customer data, IP, or model behavior.

Business impact

Two enterprise prospects this quarter delayed signing because they couldn't get a clear answer to their AI governance questionnaire. One went to a competitor.

~$420K in delayed/lost ARR

Section 6

What to do about it

3 engagements scoped against your findings. The featured option below is what we’d recommend if you choose only one.

high urgency★ Recommended

10-KPI AI Readiness Sprint

Targets KPI 3, 6, 8, 10

Baseline ROI dashboard, written governance policy, and a 90-day AI skills program for engineering and operations. Closes the three highest-impact gaps in one engagement.

Timeline

8 weeks

Investment

$28,500

medium urgency

AI Governance & CFO Brief

Targets KPI 6, 8

Defensible governance doc, executive AI ROI brief for the next board conversation, and audit-ready posture for enterprise sales conversations.

Timeline

3 weeks

Investment

$11,500

medium urgency

Org-wide AI Literacy Program

Targets KPI 3, 10

Role-specific AI training paths for 180 employees with measurable proficiency gates at 30/60/90 days. Best as a follow-on to the Sprint.

Timeline

12 weeks

Investment

$36,000

Section 7

Next Steps

  1. 1Schedule a 30-minute debrief — we'll walk through the score, the gaps, and the recommendation tailored to your leadership team.
  2. 2Receive your custom strategic memo within 48 hours of the debrief — board-ready PDF, citation-grounded.
  3. 3If we're aligned, the proposal lands in your inbox the same week.