New York City | Paris
Your customers expect AI innovation and depend on brand trust.
Brand AI Readiness Scorecard
2 minutes, 7 questions to assess whether your brand is ready to deliver what customers will expect tomorrow. View your score instantly. No email required.
1. Leadership Literacy
How confident is your Board in discussing AI strategy, risks, and opportunities with management?
2. Governance & Strategy
Do you have updated policies and processes to ensure your AI marketing productivity and innovation are on-brand?
3. Organizational Alignment
Are the "owners" of your brand, tech, and core use-cases aligned to innovate safely?
4. Advisory Independence
Do you have access to objective AI expertise, independent of vendors promoting their own solutions?
5. Vendor & Agency Readiness
Can you clearly communicate and monitor your brand's AI-specific requirements for your agencies and vendors?
6. Stakeholder Communication
If a journalist asked your CEO about your AI strategy, would the answer reflect your brand and business priorities?
7. Customer Transparency
If/when your brand uses AI in customer interactions, do customers know they're engaging with AI?
Your Brand AI Readiness Score
We help your people deliver both.
Different Roles. Same Tension.
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Boards often receive fragmented views of AI projects. We provide a high-level but structured way to discuss and assess their risks and opportunities. It is also a reference for management to prepare for Board questions when presenting an AI innovation or status, increasing understanding and inclusion for all board members.
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CMOs are under pressure to deliver AI-driven productivity while protecting brand integrity. We help you frame AI as both a brand behavior and quantifiable brand value, not just a toolset — ensuring customer-facing AI reflects the same principles as your campaigns.
You gain:
A readiness map linking brand values to encoded AI instructions and metrics.
Frameworks for aligning agencies and partners on AI-ready brand guardrails.
Confidence (and metrics) to champion AI responsibly with peers and the Board.
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Leaders are innovating for value faster than governance. We build the bridge that is right-sized for you, aligning strategic goals, brand requirements, and executive ownership so innovation stays on-track and on-message.
You gain:
A governance model that accelerates rather than slows innovation.
Independent perspective on uncoordinated vendor and partner assumptions.
Clarity on where experimentation is safe and valuable – or a potential risk.
“What an impact! Michael hosted an outstanding session... The feedback speaks for itself: 100% of attendees improved their understanding of the topic, with a 4.8/5 rating for content quality and speaker clarity.”
“The information in this workshop transcends different industries. Great for companies that are navigating major initiatives.”
About TheTension.AI
Helping leadership teams turn AI tension into direction
In the urgent push for productivity gains, many brands see AI like another marketing technology that delivers ROI. But AI is much more than that – more so every day. It's a fluid capability that shapes how your brand is perceived through the decisions it makes, the content it creates, and the voice it uses.
I believe AI-generated content, products, and functionality represent a new form of customer experience — one that, when aligned with brand strategy and governance, can strengthen trust, competitive position, and long-term value. With brands spending nearly $1 trillion per year on media and marketing, their responsibility for how AI is deployed in sales and customer experience is immense.
I founded TheTension.AI after two decades leading strategy and creative teams for brands where business results and customer trust were inseparable. My mission is to help Boards, CMOs, and Strategy leaders adopt AI in ways that improve ROI, competitiveness, and customer experience — while aligning governance, brand values, and technology, so AI becomes a long-term brand asset.
Michael
FAQ
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We help leadership teams make AI governance a competitive advantage — not a compliance exercise. Our frameworks ensure AI innovation strengthens brand trust and strategic position, with clear accountability and oversight.
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The Brand AI Readiness Scorecard shows where AI activity is outpacing governance, brand alignment, or executive oversight. We help you prioritize the areas that carry the most value to the business and manage those that present a risk. Then, we design a focused roadmap together — often starting with one urgent initiative.
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We're independent of all platforms and providers, and we work at the leadership level — not the implementation layer. While most AI consultants focus on technology, execution, or compliance, we help Boards, CMOs, and Strategy leaders align AI adoption with brand strategy, governance, and long-term competitive position.
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Senior decision-makers — typically the CMO, Head of Innovation, or a Board member. Each role sees a different dimension of AI risk and opportunity; the Scorecard brings those perspectives into one strategic conversation.
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You'll be invited to schedule a complimentary 30-minute call to discuss your AI Objective. We don’t save your results from the online scorecard, so the conversation normally begins with you describing your AI opportunity or concern. Then, if you agree, we will send you a proposal for next steps.