Know where AI pays off, backed by real numbers.
Clear guidance on where AI adds value across your organisation, the next steps to roll it out, and someone senior owning the plan.
Rolled out AI and the board wants numbers? Start here.
- Clarity on where AI pays
- A plan your board trusts
- Senior AI ownership
The board wants a number. You've been giving them a hunch.
AI is on every agenda; the return isn't. The hard part isn't ideas, it's knowing which ones are worth the spend, and having the case to prove it.
Without a plan
With RIVER leading
A backlog of AI ideas, no way to rank them
The few moves that pay, named and sequenced
Spend justified on gut feel
Every move costed, so the board sees evidence
AI on every agenda, owned by no one
Someone senior owns it, and reports to your board
A strategy deck everyone nods at, then ignores
A plan with an owner, already moving
You leave with the plan, and the number your board’s been asking for.
The direction, in your hands, and someone senior to hold it.
- A fractional AI leader who owns the agenda in your leadership meetings and reports to your board
- A costed plan across people, process, data and systems, presented to your leadership team rather than emailed as a PDF
- A one-page business case for each move: the cost, the timeline, and the return you can expect
- The numbers behind every call, and a view that stays vendor-neutral about what happens next
Run it as an ongoing retainer, a senior AI leader in your leadership rhythm with nothing being built, or as a one-off sprint that sets the plan and hands it over. You don't have to pick a project to start; the direction is the work, and a fractional leader is included from the Retainer Black tier.
From a first read, to a costed plan.
Start on the RIVER Retainer, or with one of our leadership solutions:
AI Readiness Check
Free
A read on where you actually are, and what to do first.
AI Review
From $2,500
A hands-on read on up to five of your biggest challenges, and what to do about each.
AI Audit & Roadmap
From $7,500
A costed plan for AI across your organisation, with the first three projects scoped.
AI Governance & Policy
From $5,000
A safe-use policy, data classification and a board-ready AI framework, written for your organisation and signed off.
The questions people ask when they’re ready to move.
No. The direction is the work, and it stands on its own.
- Run AI Leadership as an ongoing retainer or a single sprint, with nothing being built.
- A senior leader in your leadership rhythm is a complete engagement in itself.
- If a build turns out to be the right move, you'll have the costed case for it first.
Owns the AI agenda, rather than advising on it from the side.
- Sits in your leadership meetings and drives the strategy.
- Reports to your board with the numbers behind each call.
- Stays vendor-neutral about what gets built and by whom.
It's built for exactly your position. This is for organisations that have rolled AI out and aren't yet seeing the value.
- The work is finding where the value is and what to do next, not explaining what AI is.
- You leave with a costed plan and the case to back the next spend.
You choose the depth, and the cost follows it.
- The AI Review is the short hands-on read; the AI Audit & Roadmap is the costed plan. Both carry a published price.
- A fractional AI leader is On Retainer, and is included from the Retainer Black tier.
Prices exclude GST.
Easy to start. Fast to prove. Built to scale.
Tell us what you're working on and we'll take it from there. Prefer to look first? Ask Moana, or take the free Readiness Check.
Ideas from the field.
Guides and research from a team that ships it.
TakeHighlight
Five frontier models in three days. The only thing that survives is your eval set
Anthropic, Google, Meta, Alibaba and OpenAI all shipped a frontier model in the first three days of September. The teams that switched in a day had one thing in common: 30 to 50 real examples from their own work, scored the same way every time. How to build yours this afternoon.
PerspectiveHighlight
Your AI vendor's pricing has a balance sheet under it
The five biggest US cloud companies are spending close to US$700 billion this year, most of it on AI, and the gap between that and what they earn is borrowed. Prices and terms can move for reasons that have nothing to do with you. Four questions to put to every AI vendor at renewal.
TakeHighlight
Developers felt faster. They were slower
A controlled trial found experienced developers were 19% slower with AI while believing it sped them up. A year later the same developers were faster. The gain was never in adoption. It was in aiming AI at the right work.
Teams like yours, in their own words.
A decade of work, across health, sport, finance and the public good.
RIVER learnt our business inside out, and found growth we hadn't seen ourselves. That is what changed our ability to scale.
Jay HarrisonFounder, Edison Health · 2022We crunch through complex data to generate insights, and RIVER made it simple to work through, while keeping everyone aligned on our core value proposition.
Alex OsbornCTO, trev · 2024Our business runs on what RIVER built. They have been central to our technology and our growth, and it keeps driving results.
Mark BramwellDirector, Commercial Realty · 2024RIVER listens, understands what we actually need, and gives us our time back. That is what a good partnership looks like.
Tony NaiduDevelopment Manager, Auckland Badminton Association · 2025RIVER helped us validate our market and launch our platform, and they haven't stopped since. They've been with us every step.
Mike CollinsFounder, iMatch Sport · 2025RIVER has been a trusted partner from the start, and they exceeded what we expected. We're already seeing the difference their work is making.
Ellen LekkaProgramme Specialist, UNESCO & SVSG · 2025The team at RIVER has been an incredible partner from day one. Their ongoing support helped make our success possible.
Scott TownshendFounder, trev · 2022RIVER approached every detail with care. Every decision was made with consideration and purpose.
Daemon CoyleGM, Mental Health Foundation · 2021Our new brand is bold and effective, and customers love it. The website has driven a real increase in leads.
Marcus SinGM, Cleanly · 2020We have always been ambitious about what our site should do, and RIVER take on the hardest parts of it. They make it happen, no matter how complex.
Chris HartFounder, Real Groovy · 2021RIVER are responsive and always ready to adapt. We have never had to chase them, and their support has been critical as our needs changed.
Supriya Kulkarni-PadhyeM&E Coordinator, Oceania Football Confederation · 2020We love our new brand. It reflects who we are as a team and resonates with our customers. Thank you for bringing our vision to life.
Tracy BergeGM, Greentree Advisers · 2021