From ambition to a clear path forward.
Strategic Advisory is independent counsel for organisations whose decisions depend on asset data, written for boards and programme leaders in regulated and asset-intensive sectors. It covers the governance and maturity of the asset record, assurance on programmes and procurements, AI readiness, and continuing advice at board level.
Most of this work starts somewhere other than AI. A system that is not landing, contracts changing hands, a regulator asking a question the register cannot answer, a board that needs a strategy it can defend. We tell you where you actually stand and what to do about it, in a form that turns into confident, funded decisions.
The honest picture. The credible plan.
Four kinds of question, one discipline. What state is the asset record in, is this programme going to work, can we adopt AI on what we hold, and what should the board be asking. We answer without agenda, without vendor relationships, and without the professional courtesy that usually softens the answer.
Asset Data and Governance Strategy
Where the asset record stands against ISO 55000 and the information requirements underneath it. Ownership, accountability, taxonomy, and the target operating model that keeps it current. Worth doing whether or not AI is on the agenda.
Programme and Procurement Assurance
An independent read on a programme before you commit, or a recovery view on one already running. Pre-procurement readiness, implementation assurance, and the asset data transition that contract change and retendering depend on.
AI Readiness and Roadmap
Whether you can adopt AI on the data you actually hold, and a sequenced, costed route to the point where you can. Structured for board approval and Treasury scrutiny where required.
Board and Executive Advisory
Continuing counsel to boards, audit committees and executives on asset data, governance and AI exposure. Vendor-agnostic, SC-cleared where required, and priced by relationship rather than by deliverable.
ADDR: how every advisory engagement runs.
Every Strategic Advisory engagement follows our four-stage ADDR model. It is designed to deliver a clear, defensible output at each stage, so that if your programme pauses or priorities shift, you always have something tangible.
- Assess: structured discovery against the Asset Intelligence Framework, including data audits, stakeholder interviews, and system reviews.
- Design: gap analysis, benchmarking, and roadmap design. Current state to target state, with sequenced priorities.
- Deliver: Board-ready report, investment case, and briefing materials. Presented at whatever governance level the engagement requires.
- Realise: the stage most advisory stops before. We track whether recommendations are actioned and revisit the picture at agreed intervals, so the work turns into outcomes rather than a report.
What buyers ask about Strategic Advisory
Do we need to have an AI programme to engage Strategic Advisory?
No. A good deal of the work has nothing to do with AI. Organisations come to us because an EAM or IWMS implementation is not landing, because contracts are being retendered and the asset data has to move with them, because a regulator has asked a question the asset register cannot answer, or because the board wants an asset management strategy that will hold. AI readiness is one of the four things we advise on, not the entry condition for the other three.
How long does a Strategic Advisory engagement take?
Duration is agreed per engagement in discussion with the client, rather than published as a standard length. What moves it is the number of asset classes in scope, the state of the existing systems, and any access constraints. Every engagement follows the four-stage ADDR model, which produces a defensible output at each stage rather than only at the end, so a programme that pauses still leaves you with something usable.
How does Strategic Advisory relate to the Foundation Readiness Assessment?
The Foundation Readiness Assessment is the fixed-scope diagnostic: four weeks, from £24,500, founder-led, and it answers where your asset foundations actually stand. Strategic Advisory is the wider advisory relationship around it, and it runs in both directions. Some clients take the assessment first and then use advisory to act on what it found. Others engage advisory on a live problem, a procurement, a failing programme, a regulatory question, and the assessment never arises. It is described in full on the Work With Alex page.
What is the ADDR delivery model?
ADDR stands for Assess, Design, Deliver, Realise, and it is the four-stage model every Strategic Advisory engagement follows. Assess is structured discovery, including data audits, stakeholder interviews, and system reviews. Design covers gap analysis, benchmarking, and roadmap design. Deliver produces the board-ready report and investment case. Realise is where the recommendations turn into outcomes, tracking whether they are actioned and revisiting the picture at agreed intervals.
What is the Asset Intelligence Framework?
The Asset Intelligence Framework is the methodology Brainwave Asset Intelligence assesses against, and it rests on three pillars: Governance, Data Maturity, and AI Readiness. Governance covers policy, ownership, and accountability that hold under scrutiny. Data Maturity is structured assessment and uplift of the asset record itself, which is worth doing on its own terms. AI Readiness is the confidence to adopt AI responsibly. The three are assessed together rather than in isolation, and the first two stand up whether or not the third is ever on the agenda.
Is Brainwave Asset Intelligence tied to any AI or EAM vendor?
No. Strategic Advisory is vendor-agnostic and carries no vendor relationships. Pre-Procurement Advisory exists specifically to tell you whether your organisation is ready to use a platform or partner before you commit to it, which only works if there is no commercial interest in the answer. Assessments are delivered without agenda and without the professional courtesy that usually softens the answer.
Can you advise on Defence and Government programmes that require clearance?
Yes. Brainwave Asset Intelligence holds active SC clearance, which is the baseline for access to Defence and Government programmes. Advisory work covers the back-office, built-estate, infrastructure, and facilities functions of those organisations. It does not extend to frontline capability AI, clinical AI, citizen-facing AI, or operational technology affecting direct service delivery, and where an engagement approaches those boundaries the scope is constrained to the in-scope layer.
What does a Strategic Advisory engagement cost?
Pricing is agreed per engagement in discussion with the client, rather than published as a rate card. Scope varies with the number of asset classes involved, the state of the existing systems, and the access constraints of the environment, so a single published figure would mislead more often than it helped. Two founder-led engagements are the exceptions, the AI Strategy Playbook Session at £12,500 and the Foundation Readiness Assessment: fixed-scope, four weeks, from £24,500.