ai-operating-economics
AI Operating Economics
Overview
AI initiatives are operating interventions, not merely model purchases or ROI spreadsheets. Their value depends on what work changes, who benefits, what quality or risk changes with it, what the complete intervention costs, and whether the organization can observe and govern those changes.
This skill provides the cross-domain decision spine for evaluating an AI-enabled workflow. It does not replace financial modeling, product measurement, statistical inference, agent evaluation, runtime operations, or AI governance. It makes those inputs meet in one accountable decision record.
The core question is not “Did the model make people faster?” It is: “What changed in this workflow, for whom, at what full cost, with what outcome and countermetric evidence, and what authority should the organization grant next?”
Entry Points
| Starting state | Start with | Primary artifact or route |
|---|---|---|
| Idea or proposed AI workflow | Steps 1–2 | templates/ai-initiative-evidence-record.md |
| Existing pilot or outcome data | Steps 3–7 | references/evidence-method.md plus the evidence record |
| Request for broader population or side-effect authority | Steps 7–8; load references/evidence-method.md section 7a for the governance packet |
Governance evidence packet plus the evidence record |
| Executive, portfolio, launch, or lifecycle review | Steps 8–9 | templates/ai-economics-review.md; route launch/runtime details onward |
| Standalone financial, statistical, telemetry, runtime, or governance implementation task | When Not to Use | Named adjacent specialist skill |