Tools
Enterprise Debt Index
The Enterprise Debt Index scores the four pre-existing debts (data, technology, process, and talent) that decide whether AI spend compounds or works against itself. Answer twelve questions and get a read on each foundation, which debt is your binding constraint, and the action your deal type calls for first.
Progress0 / 12
data
technology
process
talent
Context
What kind of deal or company is this?
This doesn't change your score - it changes what your score means.
Questions
Common questions
- What is the Enterprise Debt Index?
- A self-serve diagnostic that scores the four pre-existing debts (data, technology, process, and talent) that determine whether AI investment compounds or gets wasted. It returns a read on each foundation, identifies your binding constraint, and maps the first action to your deal type.
- What are the four enterprise debts?
- Data debt (untrusted, fragmented data), technology debt (legacy infrastructure and coupling), process debt (broken or undocumented workflows), and talent debt (concentrated knowledge and skills gaps). Together they represent an estimated $18 trillion of enterprise value that AI spend alone cannot capture. Data and process are the two largest slices.
- What does 'binding constraint' mean?
- It's the single foundation holding everything else back: the one AI spend can't overcome until it's resolved. The Index surfaces it as your lowest-scoring dimension. The core discipline is to resolve the binding constraint before funding AI acceleration, not to spread effort evenly across all four.
- How is this different from the Tech Debt Cost Calculator?
- The Enterprise Debt Index is the umbrella: it scores all four foundations and tells you which one is the binding constraint. The Tech Debt Cost Calculator drills into just one of them, technology, and prices it in annual dollars. Run the Index first; if technology is your constraint, the calculator quantifies it.
- How does it relate to PRISM diligence?
- They ladder. The Enterprise Debt Index is the fast, top-of-funnel read on where the debt sits. A full PRISM diligence replaces those self-reported answers with evidence (invoices, interviews, and the systems themselves) and turns the binding constraint into a funded remediation plan inside the hold period.
- How accurate is the score?
- It's a directional read built from your own answers against a published framework, not an audit. The value is in the pattern it reveals (which foundation binds) more than the precise number. A diligence engagement replaces assumptions with evidence.
- Is the result free?
- Yes. The headline band shows immediately. Your name and work email open the four-foundation breakdown and the binding-constraint read, and Sujit will send a written read on request. No pitch, no obligation.
- Why do most AI initiatives stall after the pilot stage?
- BCG's 2026 CEO survey (n=152) found 56% cite unclear links between AI initiatives and financial outcomes as the top barrier to scale, ahead of technology or data gaps at 49%. Only 14% of companies define P&L impact for every AI initiative. That gap between knowing the problem and instrumenting it is exactly what the Enterprise Debt Index is built to surface before it compounds.