The Meridian AI Maturity Curve

When I work with a new client at Meridian, the first thing I do is assess where they are on the AI maturity curve. It's a simple four-tier model that maps the journey from "we haven't really started" to "AI is a structural part of how we work."

The four tiers

Tier 0 — AI-unaware

The organisation has little to no AI usage. There may be a few individuals experimenting with ChatGPT, but it's personal, unsanctioned, and generating no organisational value. The risk here isn't that AI will replace people — it's that they'll fall behind competitors who have already moved.

Tier 1 — Licensed but unused

The organisation has purchased licences. Maybe Copilot, maybe Claude, maybe ChatGPT Teams. But there's been no investment in enablement, context, or workflow integration. Usage is low and the ROI conversation is uncomfortable.

Tier 2 — Episodically useful

Some individuals and teams have found specific use cases where AI genuinely helps. But the usage is siloed — it depends on a few champions, it's not consistent, and the organisation can't replicate it systematically.

Tier 3 — AI-integrated

AI is embedded into regular workflows across the organisation. There's a shared context infrastructure, a measurement system, and a governance model. The organisation can track usage, identify high-value use cases, and continuously improve.

What it takes to move up

The jump from Tier 1 to Tier 2 is about use case discovery — structured discovery with teams to find where AI can change their daily work.

The jump from Tier 2 to Tier 3 is about infrastructure — building context systems, measurement, and governance so that value is replicable and sustainable.

Most organisations I work with are stuck at Tier 1 or early Tier 2. The good news is that the path forward is well-defined. The bad news is that it requires real investment — not in licences, but in the work of making AI actually work for your organisation.