Set the target maturity level per AI9GM layer

In plain terms

Decide what governance capability the organization should hold, per layer. This converts AI9GM from a description into a roadmap and turns the assessment from a score into a gap analysis.

What is being judged

How much governance capability the strategy at L6-01 actually requires, layer by layer, and by when.

Targets are per layer and deliberately uneven. An organization whose AI is confined to internal analytics may reasonably target Level 4 on Intelligence and Level 2 on Control. One deploying automated decisions about customers cannot. The shape of the target profile is the statement, and a flat target across all six layers usually means nobody assessed what the strategy needs.

The second judgment is the date. A target with no date is an aspiration, and a target dated three years out gives every layer owner permission to do nothing this year.

Target maturity is a floor, not a ceiling. A layer exceeding its target is not over-governed; it is where the organization’s practice already sits.

What this decision does not cover

It does not assess current maturity, which is the assessment’s output. It does not approve proceeding past a gap, which is L6-06.

When it fires

On event. On approval or material revision of the strategy at L6-01. When an assessment shows a layer has fallen below target. When a maturity gap approval under L6-06 reveals the target was set too low for the ambition.

On cycle. Annually, assessed semi-annually.

What you need before deciding

The approved strategy. The current maturity profile per layer. The minimum viable set, which states what Level 2 requires and is the realistic starting point for most layers. What each layer owner believes is achievable in the period, which is not the same as what is required.

How this goes wrong

The flat target: Level 3 across all six because it looks complete, which over-invests in layers the strategy does not stress and under-invests in the ones it does. Target as aspiration: no date, no owner, no gap stated, so nothing changes. Setting targets from the assessment rather than from the strategy: targets one level above wherever the organization currently sits, which is improvement without direction.

Related decisions

Upstream L6-01 strategy.

Downstream every layer’s maturity descriptors, L6-06 gap approval, the readiness assessment.

Related the minimum viable set, which defines the Level 2 floor.

Instrument references

None. CMMI and its derivatives supply maturity scales. No instrument requires an organization to state which level its strategy requires, which is the difference between a scale and a roadmap. Crosswalk gap 10.