AI Governance Readiness

AI Governance Readiness for Defense Contractors

StrategyAI Partners helps defense contractors and regulated enterprises prepare for CMMC, CUI, and DoD AI requirements. Our fixed-scope assessment shows exactly where your AI use stands, what an assessor will ask for, and what to fix first. Two to four weeks, fixed fee, no software to buy.

Book a 20-minute AI Governance call See a sample AI governance assessment

Our advisory leadership brings PhD-level research grounding, CISM and CRISC certifications, and more than 20 years of federal and defense-sector experience, including professional experience at SAIC, Lockheed Martin, and Accenture Federal.

Editorial abstract of a navy horizon with brass arcs, representing governed AI adoption.

The problem

AI is already in your workflow. The governance is not.

Defense contractors are adopting AI faster than they can govern it. Copilots draft proposals, models screen resumes, and analytics tools touch controlled unclassified information — often before anyone has documented who approved the tool, what data it can see, or how its output is reviewed.

The requirements are no longer theoretical. CMMC 2.0 assessments now examine how you protect CUI, including where AI tools process it. NIST AI RMF and DoD AI guidance expect documented risk management, not good intentions. DFARS 252.204-7012 makes data protection and incident handling contractual.

Most mid-sized contractors are caught between two bad options: wait for an assessor to find the gaps, or buy another tool that answers none of the governance questions.

Shadow AI in the workflow.

Employees adopt tools faster than procurement, security, and legal can review them. Each unregistered tool is an unmeasured exposure to CUI and a finding waiting to happen.

Requirements without a map.

CMMC, NIST AI RMF, NIST SP 800-171, and DoD AI guidance overlap but do not say the same thing. Without a crosswalk, teams duplicate work and still miss controls.

No evidence trail.

When an assessor, a customer, or a board asks how AI is governed, the answer has to be documented. Policy language alone does not survive review.

The gap is easier and cheaper to close before an assessment than after one.

The lead offer

AI Governance Readiness Assessment for Defense Contractors

A fixed-scope, fixed-fee assessment that shows where your AI use stands against CMMC, NIST AI RMF, and DoD requirements — and what to fix first.

Who it is for

Defense contractors and regulated enterprises that use AI on or near sensitive data, are preparing for a CMMC assessment, or need to answer a customer or board question about AI risk. It fits organizations with a real AI footprint and no documented governance model — or a model that has never been tested.

When you need it

Before a CMMC 2.0 assessment, so findings are fixed on your schedule rather than the assessor's.
Before deploying AI on systems that touch CUI.
After a new DoD AI requirement, customer flow-down, or board question lands on your desk.
When AI tools are already in use and no one can produce a complete inventory.

What you receive

01AI governance readiness scorecard, scored against CMMC and NIST AI RMF practices.
02CMMC and NIST AI RMF gap map, with each gap tied to the requirement it affects.
03CUI-handling AI use inventory, covering every tool that can see controlled unclassified information.
04Model and vendor register, with ownership, data access, and review status for each entry.
05AI governance charter outline, ready for your leadership to adapt and adopt.
06Executive board briefing, in language your board and your assessor can both use.
0790-day remediation roadmap, sequenced by risk and effort.
08Prioritized findings register, so nothing depends on memory or a single owner.

Frameworks covered

Built around the frameworks your assessor and your customers already use.

The assessment is structured around the requirements that govern defense contractors. We do not replace your assessor, your counsel, or your security team. We give all three a shared, documented picture of how AI is used and governed.

Framework

What the assessment does with it

CMMC 2.0

Maps your AI use and governance practices to CMMC requirements, with particular attention to how AI tools touch CUI.

NIST AI Risk Management Framework

Structures the assessment around Govern, Map, Measure, and Manage, so AI risk is owned and documented rather than assumed.

NIST SP 800-171

Reviews how AI tools and vendors affect your protection of CUI across the control set your contracts already require.

NIST SP 800-53

Uses the control catalog as a reference for access, audit, and incident controls that apply to AI systems.

DFARS 252.204-7012

Checks data handling, incident response, and subcontractor flow-down as they apply to AI tools and vendors.

CUI handling

Inventories where CUI enters AI tools, how it is marked, where it is stored, and who can retrieve it.

DoD AI guidance and ethical principles

Tests intended use against the DoD AI ethical principles — responsible, equitable, traceable, reliable, and governable.

Every finding in the report names the framework and requirement it maps to. Nothing is scored on opinion alone.

How it works

Four steps, two to four weeks.

Scoping call

A 20-minute call to confirm your AI footprint, your contracting environment, and the decision you need the assessment to support. You provide a short list of AI tools in use and your current CMMC status; we confirm whether the fixed-fee scope fits.

Evidence collection

In week one we send a structured request list. You provide current AI and security policies, vendor agreements, data-flow documentation, and access to the people who own each AI tool. No system access is required.

Assessment and interviews

Across weeks one to three we review the evidence, interview tool owners, and test your AI use against CMMC, NIST AI RMF, and DoD guidance. Plan on 60 to 90 minutes from each relevant owner.

Findings and executive briefing

In weeks three and four we deliver the scorecard, gap map, inventory, register, charter outline, and roadmap, then brief your leadership. You leave with a prioritized plan and a board-ready summary.

Timeline

2–4 weeks from kickoff, assuming timely access to documents and tool owners.

Pricing

$18,500

fixed fee (starting at)

That fee covers the full assessment for a single business unit: document review, owner interviews, the scorecard, gap map, inventory, register, charter outline, board briefing, and 90-day roadmap. If your scope differs — multiple business units, classified environments, or a larger AI footprint — we quote the variation in writing before any work begins.

Book a 20-minute AI Governance call2–4 weeks from kickoff

Proof

See a sample assessment

The fastest way to judge whether this is useful is to read one. Our sample AI governance assessment shows the scorecard, gap map, and 90-day roadmap you receive, with client details removed. It is the same structure you get at the end of an engagement.

See a sample assessment

Why StrategyAI Partners

Senior, independent, and built for the room you are actually in.

Senior experience at firm level

Your engagement is led by advisors with PhD-level research grounding, CISM and CRISC certifications, and more than 20 years of federal and defense-sector experience. You are not handed to a junior delivery team after the contract is signed.

Vendor-neutral and independent

We sell no software and take no vendor commissions. Our only interest is an accurate picture of your risk, which means the recommendation you get is the one your organization actually needs.

Governance first, with security architecture behind it

We start from how your data is protected and how decisions are made, not from a product demo. That background shows in findings your security team can implement and your assessor can trace.

Executive and board communication

Findings arrive in language your board, your CMMC assessor, and your counsel can each use. One assessment produces one story, told consistently to every audience that asks.

Follow-on services

After the assessment

Most clients start with the readiness assessment. When they need more, two follow-on services are available. Both are scoped after the assessment, so the work builds on findings rather than repeating them.

AI Strategy Advisory

For leadership teams deciding where AI belongs, what to build, and what to stop. Engagements are scoped individually around a specific decision, investment, or operating model change.

AI Governance Training

For teams that need to operate the governance model, not just approve it. Delivered to executives, risk owners, and AI tool owners, using your own policies and findings as the teaching material.

FAQ

Questions buyers actually ask

What does the assessment cost?+

The AI Governance Readiness Assessment starts at $18,500 fixed fee for a single business unit. That covers the full scope described above. If your environment requires more — multiple business units, classified work, or a larger AI footprint — we quote the variation in writing before any work begins.

How long does it take?+

Two to four weeks from kickoff. The timeline depends mainly on how quickly documents and tool owners are available. We agree the schedule at kickoff and flag slippage the week it happens, not at the end.

What do you need from us?+

A list of AI tools in use, current AI and security policies, vendor agreements, data-flow documentation, and 60 to 90 minutes from each AI tool owner. No system access is required, and we do not ask you to transfer CUI to us.

Will this conflict with our CMMC assessor or law firm?+

No. We do not perform CMMC assessments and we do not provide legal advice. We prepare the evidence and documentation that your assessor and counsel will ask for, which usually makes both relationships easier.

Do you implement or only advise?+

We assess and advise. We do not resell products, take implementation contracts, or earn commissions from vendors. If you need implementation, we tell you what to look for and leave the selection to you.

How do you handle confidentiality and CUI?+

We sign your NDA and work within your CUI handling procedures. Collection is limited to what the assessment needs. Where artifacts contain CUI, we review them in your environment or under your approved handling arrangements rather than moving them into ours.

Next step

Find the gaps before someone else does.

AI governance is easier to fix before an assessment than after one. If you are preparing for CMMC, deploying AI on sensitive data, or answering a board question about AI risk, start with a 20-minute call. We will tell you whether the readiness assessment is the right next step — and if it is not, we will say so.

Book a 20-minute AI Governance call

Prefer email? Write to contact@strategyaipartners.com.