Solutions / CEM & AI / Drift Tax
CEM · AI

Drift Tax Assessment

Map all 6 failure modes in your environment. Quantify rework cost in dollars. Get a phased implementation roadmap.

One-time
2–3 weeks
Let's Scope It Browse All Solutions
10–15
Artifacts Deep-Analyzed
Cross-team, cross-department — not a sample, a full inventory of your AI output
3–5
Practitioner Interviews
Conversations with the people doing the work — not just leadership assumptions
90
Day Implementation Roadmap
Phased plan with priorities, owners, and cost justification for every recommendation
Rework rate under CEM: 3.7% · Industry standard: 20–40%

The Engagement

The Drift Tax Assessment is the deep version of the AI Workflow Audit. Instead of a sample-based snapshot, we map all 6 failure modes — Fabrication, Instruction Non-Compliance, Context Loss, Data Truncation, Autonomous Overreach, and Misdirection — across your entire AI environment. Every failure mode is quantified in dollars: what it costs you per month, per quarter, per year.

The output is a comprehensive assessment document with failure mode mapping, dollar-quantified rework cost per team and annualized, specific CEM mechanism prescriptions for each failure mode, and a phased 90-day implementation roadmap. This is the engagement that produces the business case for CEM adoption.

Designed for organizations with 10+ people using AI in production. Includes practitioner interviews, artifact analysis across multiple teams, and cross-department pattern identification.

What You Get

Drift Tax Assessment Report
Comprehensive document mapping all 6 failure modes in your environment with frequency, severity, and dollar cost per failure type.
Dollar-Quantified Rework Cost
Monthly and annualized cost of AI drift per team and across the organization — real numbers from your artifacts, not estimates.
CEM Mechanism Prescriptions
Each failure mode mapped to the specific CEM mechanism that addresses it, with implementation guidance for your environment.
Phased Implementation Roadmap
90-day roadmap with priorities, timelines, and recommended engagement sequence.

What Gets Mapped

Fabrication
Facts, data, citations, or logic that AI invented and can't be verified against source material.
Instruction Non-Compliance
AI ignored part of the prompt, changed scope, or missed explicit constraints you set.
Context Loss
AI lost track of earlier instructions, reversed prior decisions, or treated established context as new.
Data Truncation
AI silently shortened, summarized, or dropped data when the prompt required completeness.
Autonomous Overreach
AI added content, changed structure, or expanded scope without being asked.
Misdirection
AI presented incomplete or wrong output as complete and correct — no signal that something was off.

How It Works

01

Environment Mapping

We map your AI-assisted workflows, tools, team structure, and output patterns across all participating departments. Access to 10–15 historical artifacts and practitioner interviews.

2–3 days
02

Failure Mode Classification

Every artifact classified against the 6 failure modes. Patterns identified across teams. Cost per failure type calculated from your team's loaded hourly rates.

1–2 weeks
03

Roadmap & Delivery

Full assessment delivered with dollar costs, mechanism prescriptions, and a phased 90-day implementation roadmap. Delivery call with leadership team.

2–3 days

Before We Start

To get the most out of this engagement, come prepared with:

01

10–15 AI-generated artifacts from multiple teams and workflows — the more diverse, the more accurate the assessment

02

Access to practitioners who use AI daily for interviews and workflow observation

03

Historical data on rework incidents if available — even informal tracking helps

04

Approximate fully-loaded hourly cost per role (or we'll use industry benchmarks)

Who It's For

Companies with 10+ people using AI in production workflows

Operations leaders who need the dollar cost of AI drift for budget justification

Organizations preparing for CEM implementation

PE firms conducting AI operations diligence on portfolio companies

Ready to scope this?

Tell us about your situation and we'll shape this engagement to fit. No boilerplate proposals — every scope is built from scratch.

  • Response within 24 hours
  • No commitment required
  • Custom-scoped to your needs

Where It Leads

CEM Implementation Sprint
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CEM Methodology License
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Advisory Retainer
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