Make the Pre-Signature Go/Hold Call Defensibly
Understand how to make clear, defensible recommendations before awarding AI contracts. Learn to use acquisition checklists, document unresolved issues with owners and stop conditions, and ensure compliance with required terms. This lesson helps you make informed go, conditional-go, or hold decisions based on evidence rather than assumptions, protecting your organization from risk in AI procurement.
A same-day ready-to-award email makes the work feel like a timing problem. The real problem is usually that the decision record is still incomplete. The missing pieces are not abstract, because portability proof, change notification terms, and privacy or records reviews are all things someone can later ask to see. Teams often treat the Acquisition Requirements and Vendor Questions Checklist as a nice attachment rather than the basis for a defensible recommendation. That mistake comes from confusing vendor reputation with usable evidence, since a known name does not make unclear terms enforceable.
The acquisition file already contains the checklist, and it already names what cannot be waived by purchase. Some items will still be open at ...