What does it mean to be AI enabled?
An AI-enabled company meets six conditions at once.
Each condition answers a different question from a different person in the room, and failing any one of them breaks the system regardless of the other five.
The six conditions
Owned
Owned means every function has a name attached to the outcome, and each leader knows which part they hold.
The question it answers: Who holds this outcome?
Legible
Legible means the work is documented so a person or an agent can execute it without relying on unwritten background knowledge.
The question it answers: Can a person or an agent execute the work as documented?
Capable
Capable means people can build and maintain useful automations. Managers can evaluate the output and the way the work was produced.
The question it answers: Can people build and maintain automations, and can managers judge the output?
Visible
Visible means every build is registered, costed, assigned an owner, and maintained. Duplication and orphaned workflows can be seen before they become expensive.
The question it answers: What is built, what does it cost, and who maintains it?
Measured
Measured means capability, behavior, and performance are tracked on a rhythm the company can run itself.
The question it answers: Is the company getting better, on a rhythm it runs itself?
Pulled
Pulled means people bring their own problems without being asked. The demand exists, and the demand has somewhere to go.
The question it answers: Do employees bring the next opportunity forward themselves?
| # | Condition | Question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Owned | Who holds this outcome? |
| 2 | Legible | Can a person or an agent execute the work as documented? |
| 3 | Capable | Can people build and maintain automations, and can managers judge the output? |
| 4 | Visible | What is built, what does it cost, and who maintains it? |
| 5 | Measured | Is the company getting better, on a rhythm it runs itself? |
| 6 | Pulled | Do employees bring the next opportunity forward themselves? |
Why all six at once
Together, the conditions put judgment back where the work happens, which is what keeps a company improving after the initial push ends. Employees can improve real work. Managers can judge quality. Leaders can make defensible decisions. Technical teams can see what is being built and who maintains it.
Last updated August 5, 2026