AI STRATEGY THAT GETS BUILT
AI STRATEGY THAT GETS BUILT
I make AI simple enough to decide on, and real enough to build.
Leaders bring me in when AI gets complex, crosses disciplines, and has to show results. I find the real question, turn it into a decision your team stands behind, and stay until it works.
Leaders bring me in when AI gets complex, crosses disciplines, and has to show results. I find the real question, turn it into a decision your team stands behind, and stay until it works.
WHEN SCRUTINY STARTS
WHEN SCRUTINY STARTS
The questions that surface when stakes go up
If budgets froze tomorrow, which AI initiatives would you confidently defend, and which ones would you hope nobody asks about?
If your board asked for the total cost of your AI experiments versus measurable impact, could you answer in under a minute?
If a new CTO joined next quarter, would your current AI portfolio make sense to them, or would they start over?
SERVICES
SERVICES
How leaders work with me
Clients tend to say the same thing: it felt easy from day one. That helps, because the work usually isn't. I make complex AI discussions simple, and I'll tell you when something isn't working. I move easily between your leadership team and your engineers, as that's usually where the real problems are hiding.
Clients tend to say the same thing: it felt easy from day one. That helps, because the work usually isn't. I make complex AI discussions simple, and I'll tell you when something isn't working. I move easily between your leadership team and your engineers, as that's usually where the real problems are hiding.
AI strategy & executive alignment
Where should we invest in AI, and what should we stop pretending is going to work?
I run executive workshops that force honest prioritization by asking the uncomfortable questions until the real picture emerges. We define what to pursue, what to park, and how to bring your people along.
You walk away with a strategy your leadership team has actually committed to, not one they politely nodded through.
Zero-based workflow redesign
Most organizations bolt AI onto existing processes and wonder why nothing changes. I start from scratch: what should this workflow look like if we designed it today, with AI built in from the start?
That usually means sitting with the people who do the actual work, understanding where time really goes, and rebuilding the process so that saved time doesn't evaporate. This is where the real P&L impact lives.
AI implementation and oversight
Strategy without execution is a slide deck. I stay involved during implementation, working with a trusted delivery partner, to make sure what was decided actually gets built.
Depending on the situation, that means advisory oversight or stepping in as embedded product owner when hands-on leadership is what's needed. Either way, there's one person accountable for the connection between strategy and delivery.
THE PROCESS
THE PROCESS
How I work
When leaders bring me in, there’s usually already momentum around AI. What’s missing is a shared view of what’s working, what isn’t, and who owns the next call.
STEP 1
Make reality unavoidable
See what’s actually happening Across AI, product, and technology initiatives - so leadership is looking at the same picture, not competing narratives.
STEP 2
Put real options on the table
STEP 3
Commit to the hard calls
STEP 4
Keep decisions intact under pressure
STEP 1
Make reality unavoidable
See what’s actually happening Across AI, product, and technology initiatives - so leadership is looking at the same picture, not competing narratives.
STEP 2
Put real options on the table
STEP 3
Commit to the hard calls
STEP 4
Keep decisions intact under pressure
STEP 1
Diagnose
We start by getting a clear picture of how GenAI is actually creating value in your organization today. By looking across functions, workflows, and decisions, we make it visible where AI is helping, and where potential value is being lost.
STEP 2
Prioritize
Not every GenAI initiative matters equally. We identify the few areas where change will have the biggest impact, often in operational and back-office workflows where returns are faster and easier to prove. This turns scattered initiatives into a short list of clear priorities leaders can align around.
STEP 3
Redesign
Instead of adding AI to existing processes, we redesign how work gets done from the ground up. Workflows are rebuilt with GenAI and agents in mind, so time saved is deliberately redirected to higher-value work rather than disappearing into the system.
STEP 4
Sustain
Finally, we make sure the results last. We embed ownership, governance, and decision-making inside the organization to prevent a slide back into pilots, shadow AI, or one-off experiments. The focus is not on using AI, but on keeping its impact measurable over time.
ABOUT
ABOUT
AI decisions owned end-to-end
I’m Christan. I work with leadership teams on AI, product, and technology decisions that have real consequences for cost, performance, and accountability.
Most organizations already have GenAI initiatives in motion. What’s usually missing is defensible impact, things that actually show up in cost, capacity, or revenue.
I’ve spent my career helping executives create clarity when trade-offs get uncomfortable. That’s been true in strategy roles, in product ownership, and in hands-on AI work where outcomes had to hold up beyond the pilot phase.
In practice, that’s meant advising leaders under pressure, leading AI initiatives that materially reduced costs and manual work, and acting as the connective tissue between strategy, engineering, and operations.
Clients often tell me I’m easy to work with, and direct when something isn’t working. That combination is what makes progress possible.
What I do is simple:
I help teams see what’s actually happening, make the hard calls explicit, and stay close enough to ensure those decisions don’t fall apart once execution starts.
Insights
Insights
Read the decision-review notes
Read the decision-review notes
Practical frameworks and questions for leaders navigating AI governance, board-level risk, and responsible implementation.
Practical frameworks and questions for leaders navigating AI governance, board-level risk, and responsible implementation.
Visit the blog
Business cases & ROI
Why a hiring freeze is a fair test for your AI business case
Why a hiring freeze is a fair test for your AI business case
A finance team decided not to hire until they knew whether AI could absorb the growth. Why that test beats an hours-saved business case, and where it gets hard.
A finance team decided not to hire until they knew whether AI could absorb the growth. Why that test beats an hours-saved business case, and where it gets hard.
4 min read
Exit readiness & due diligence
AI made the standard part of due diligence cheap. Why haven’t fees moved?
AI made the standard part of due diligence cheap. Why haven’t fees moved?
DD vendors now run the standard checklist with AI, yet fees stay the same. What that means for how PE funds brief and pay for assessments.
DD vendors now run the standard checklist with AI, yet fees stay the same. What that means for how PE funds brief and pay for assessments.
3 min read
TESTIMONIALS
TESTIMONIALS
Trusted by leaders navigating real AI transformation
Trusted by leaders navigating real AI transformation
Christan is an exceptional AI consultant and advisor with a heart for caring for people. I have had the pleasure of working with him since 2024, and I have seen him walk the talk of “I want to work on good projects with good people.” He is a total people person with outstanding communication and strategy skills. I have sat with him in countless client meetings where he immediately pinpoints the client’s needs, suggests a win-win solution, and stays two steps ahead, already thinking about what would make the client more successful. More than once, I caught myself thinking: “This never crossed my mind until now, really great point.” That kind of attention has consistently led to successful projects, great client feedback, and follow-on engagements. If you are looking for an AI strategist who takes your business problem from figuring out where the bottleneck is, to finding the right people to build the solution, to tracking the right metrics, Christan is your person. You will walk out of every meeting with him feeling you are on the right path. In the age of AI, you want to work with a human who cares, and I could not think of a better person than Christan.
Hwei Geok Ng
Data Science & AI Consultant
I worked with Christan to work smarter within our school. We had a situation where information had to come from different systems. Some things that didn't fit into a standard system, we kept track of in various Excel lists and physical folders. To then get an accurate picture of how certain processes were developing was a time-consuming task. Together with Christan, we developed a tailor-made program where I, as school leader, now bring together an enormous amount of information and data in one place. Furthermore, a number of processes are now automated, which means that some tasks no longer get lost in the hustle and bustle, but are carried out automatically. In addition to the enormous improvement in quality for our organization, it was also extremely pleasant to work with Christan. He understood very well what we needed and translated this well. Christan is punctual and meets all his commitments on time. A breath of fresh air to do an IT/AI project together like this! I can therefore wholeheartedly recommend him!
Barbara van den Bosch
Director Education
Christan’s perspective on GenAI has genuinely influenced how I approach emerging AI tools in my own work as a delivery lead of production-grade software. His focus on sustainable architecture and value stands out in a space full of experimentation. As someone building and deploying my own LLM stack, I value his balanced view between innovation and operational responsibility.
Dirk Bruinsma
IT Leader
Working with Christan was easy from day one. It felt like reconnecting with an old university friend you hadn’t spoken to in a while—open, straightforward, and comfortable. This atmosphere made it possible not only to discuss workloads constructively, but also to openly address problems and even raise concerns when teams were heading in the wrong direction. Throughout all of this, Christan remained professional, friendly, and consistently showed a compassionate and solution-oriented approach. The outcome was a very strong start. From the first rollout, the AI solution successfully reduced our customer support ticket volume by over 40%, exceeding our initial expectations.
Vera Andi
Director Customer Service
Working with Christan on a zero-based workflow redesign for a large financial institution has been genuinely refreshing. From the very first moment, it felt like we'd been working together for years "He consistently pushes for first-principles thinking, asking what the workflow should look like if we were designing it from scratch. He combines strong technical understanding with the ability to articulate complex AI concepts in a way that clients immediately grasp. That balance between depth and clarity is rare. Christan also demonstrated the ability to easily switch between thinking at all levels, from strategic to operational. And all this in a suitably authentic way. The collaboration has been smooth, pragmatic, and commercially focused from day one. And I'm certain that this positive start will lead to great next steps!”
Marco Heij
Direcor Consulting
Working with Christan has been outstanding. He brings deep AI expertise, thinks critically at every step, and consistently delivers solution-focused results that exceed expectations. The collaboration was seamless, and when challenges arose, we always found a solution together. I highly recommend Christan.
René Raaphorst
Entrepreneur
In the developments at PWN, I see Christan repeatedly taking on a connecting role as product owner for innovative digital solutions. He moves across domain boundaries and focuses on issues that cannot be solved within a single discipline. For me, Christan's strength lies in his analytical sharpness and his ability to make complexity manageable. He translates content into clear visual presentations, which gets conversations started between different disciplines. Even when there is friction, he keeps making progress: listening, reflecting, and with an eye for both the process and the result.
Suze van der Meulen
Innovation Lead
The water sector is navigating exciting yet challenging times—balancing complex operational and strategic demands while advancing its digital transformation and adopting rapidly evolving AI technologies to address these challenges. In this landscape, leaders like Christan truly stand out. His deep understanding of digital and AI technologies, coupled with his ability to translate business needs into practical solutions, is invaluable. I had the pleasure of working with him on PWN’s digital transformation journey, and our collaboration was consistently energetic, smooth, and highly productive!
Siddharth Seshan
Porftolio Manager - Digital Water
We’re a software engineering company focused on building highly custom, reliable, well-designed products. Technology should serve our customer's use case, so we’re deliberate about when and where we adopt new technology, including AI. Christan helped us evaluate AI in a structured, realistic way. He approached it not as hype, but as a practical capability: another tool in the toolbox when it truly supports the outcome. What stood out was his ability to explain AI clearly to both technical teams and decision-makers, and to consistently steer the conversation toward value, trade-offs, and real-world implications rather than specific tools or buzzwords. Even short conversations with him sharpen our thinking when we’re evaluating new ideas or directions.
Sander Rossel
Director Software Engineering
Christan is an exceptional AI consultant and advisor with a heart for caring for people. I have had the pleasure of working with him since 2024, and I have seen him walk the talk of “I want to work on good projects with good people.” He is a total people person with outstanding communication and strategy skills. I have sat with him in countless client meetings where he immediately pinpoints the client’s needs, suggests a win-win solution, and stays two steps ahead, already thinking about what would make the client more successful. More than once, I caught myself thinking: “This never crossed my mind until now, really great point.” That kind of attention has consistently led to successful projects, great client feedback, and follow-on engagements. If you are looking for an AI strategist who takes your business problem from figuring out where the bottleneck is, to finding the right people to build the solution, to tracking the right metrics, Christan is your person. You will walk out of every meeting with him feeling you are on the right path. In the age of AI, you want to work with a human who cares, and I could not think of a better person than Christan.
Hwei Geok Ng
Data Science & AI Consultant
Working with Christan was easy from day one. It felt like reconnecting with an old university friend you hadn’t spoken to in a while—open, straightforward, and comfortable. This atmosphere made it possible not only to discuss workloads constructively, but also to openly address problems and even raise concerns when teams were heading in the wrong direction. Throughout all of this, Christan remained professional, friendly, and consistently showed a compassionate and solution-oriented approach. The outcome was a very strong start. From the first rollout, the AI solution successfully reduced our customer support ticket volume by over 40%, exceeding our initial expectations.
Vera Andi
Director Customer Service
In the developments at PWN, I see Christan repeatedly taking on a connecting role as product owner for innovative digital solutions. He moves across domain boundaries and focuses on issues that cannot be solved within a single discipline. For me, Christan's strength lies in his analytical sharpness and his ability to make complexity manageable. He translates content into clear visual presentations, which gets conversations started between different disciplines. Even when there is friction, he keeps making progress: listening, reflecting, and with an eye for both the process and the result.
Suze van der Meulen
Innovation Lead
I worked with Christan to work smarter within our school. We had a situation where information had to come from different systems. Some things that didn't fit into a standard system, we kept track of in various Excel lists and physical folders. To then get an accurate picture of how certain processes were developing was a time-consuming task. Together with Christan, we developed a tailor-made program where I, as school leader, now bring together an enormous amount of information and data in one place. Furthermore, a number of processes are now automated, which means that some tasks no longer get lost in the hustle and bustle, but are carried out automatically. In addition to the enormous improvement in quality for our organization, it was also extremely pleasant to work with Christan. He understood very well what we needed and translated this well. Christan is punctual and meets all his commitments on time. A breath of fresh air to do an IT/AI project together like this! I can therefore wholeheartedly recommend him!
Barbara van den Bosch
Director Education
Working with Christan on a zero-based workflow redesign for a large financial institution has been genuinely refreshing. From the very first moment, it felt like we'd been working together for years "He consistently pushes for first-principles thinking, asking what the workflow should look like if we were designing it from scratch. He combines strong technical understanding with the ability to articulate complex AI concepts in a way that clients immediately grasp. That balance between depth and clarity is rare. Christan also demonstrated the ability to easily switch between thinking at all levels, from strategic to operational. And all this in a suitably authentic way. The collaboration has been smooth, pragmatic, and commercially focused from day one. And I'm certain that this positive start will lead to great next steps!”
Marco Heij
Direcor Consulting
The water sector is navigating exciting yet challenging times—balancing complex operational and strategic demands while advancing its digital transformation and adopting rapidly evolving AI technologies to address these challenges. In this landscape, leaders like Christan truly stand out. His deep understanding of digital and AI technologies, coupled with his ability to translate business needs into practical solutions, is invaluable. I had the pleasure of working with him on PWN’s digital transformation journey, and our collaboration was consistently energetic, smooth, and highly productive!
Siddharth Seshan
Porftolio Manager - Digital Water
Christan’s perspective on GenAI has genuinely influenced how I approach emerging AI tools in my own work as a delivery lead of production-grade software. His focus on sustainable architecture and value stands out in a space full of experimentation. As someone building and deploying my own LLM stack, I value his balanced view between innovation and operational responsibility.
Dirk Bruinsma
IT Leader
Working with Christan has been outstanding. He brings deep AI expertise, thinks critically at every step, and consistently delivers solution-focused results that exceed expectations. The collaboration was seamless, and when challenges arose, we always found a solution together. I highly recommend Christan.
René Raaphorst
Entrepreneur
We’re a software engineering company focused on building highly custom, reliable, well-designed products. Technology should serve our customer's use case, so we’re deliberate about when and where we adopt new technology, including AI. Christan helped us evaluate AI in a structured, realistic way. He approached it not as hype, but as a practical capability: another tool in the toolbox when it truly supports the outcome. What stood out was his ability to explain AI clearly to both technical teams and decision-makers, and to consistently steer the conversation toward value, trade-offs, and real-world implications rather than specific tools or buzzwords. Even short conversations with him sharpen our thinking when we’re evaluating new ideas or directions.
Sander Rossel
Director Software Engineering
Christan is an exceptional AI consultant and advisor with a heart for caring for people. I have had the pleasure of working with him since 2024, and I have seen him walk the talk of “I want to work on good projects with good people.” He is a total people person with outstanding communication and strategy skills. I have sat with him in countless client meetings where he immediately pinpoints the client’s needs, suggests a win-win solution, and stays two steps ahead, already thinking about what would make the client more successful. More than once, I caught myself thinking: “This never crossed my mind until now, really great point.” That kind of attention has consistently led to successful projects, great client feedback, and follow-on engagements. If you are looking for an AI strategist who takes your business problem from figuring out where the bottleneck is, to finding the right people to build the solution, to tracking the right metrics, Christan is your person. You will walk out of every meeting with him feeling you are on the right path. In the age of AI, you want to work with a human who cares, and I could not think of a better person than Christan.
Hwei Geok Ng
Data Science & AI Consultant
In the developments at PWN, I see Christan repeatedly taking on a connecting role as product owner for innovative digital solutions. He moves across domain boundaries and focuses on issues that cannot be solved within a single discipline. For me, Christan's strength lies in his analytical sharpness and his ability to make complexity manageable. He translates content into clear visual presentations, which gets conversations started between different disciplines. Even when there is friction, he keeps making progress: listening, reflecting, and with an eye for both the process and the result.
Suze van der Meulen
Innovation Lead
Working with Christan on a zero-based workflow redesign for a large financial institution has been genuinely refreshing. From the very first moment, it felt like we'd been working together for years "He consistently pushes for first-principles thinking, asking what the workflow should look like if we were designing it from scratch. He combines strong technical understanding with the ability to articulate complex AI concepts in a way that clients immediately grasp. That balance between depth and clarity is rare. Christan also demonstrated the ability to easily switch between thinking at all levels, from strategic to operational. And all this in a suitably authentic way. The collaboration has been smooth, pragmatic, and commercially focused from day one. And I'm certain that this positive start will lead to great next steps!”
Marco Heij
Direcor Consulting
Christan’s perspective on GenAI has genuinely influenced how I approach emerging AI tools in my own work as a delivery lead of production-grade software. His focus on sustainable architecture and value stands out in a space full of experimentation. As someone building and deploying my own LLM stack, I value his balanced view between innovation and operational responsibility.
Dirk Bruinsma
IT Leader
We’re a software engineering company focused on building highly custom, reliable, well-designed products. Technology should serve our customer's use case, so we’re deliberate about when and where we adopt new technology, including AI. Christan helped us evaluate AI in a structured, realistic way. He approached it not as hype, but as a practical capability: another tool in the toolbox when it truly supports the outcome. What stood out was his ability to explain AI clearly to both technical teams and decision-makers, and to consistently steer the conversation toward value, trade-offs, and real-world implications rather than specific tools or buzzwords. Even short conversations with him sharpen our thinking when we’re evaluating new ideas or directions.
Sander Rossel
Director Software Engineering
Working with Christan was easy from day one. It felt like reconnecting with an old university friend you hadn’t spoken to in a while—open, straightforward, and comfortable. This atmosphere made it possible not only to discuss workloads constructively, but also to openly address problems and even raise concerns when teams were heading in the wrong direction. Throughout all of this, Christan remained professional, friendly, and consistently showed a compassionate and solution-oriented approach. The outcome was a very strong start. From the first rollout, the AI solution successfully reduced our customer support ticket volume by over 40%, exceeding our initial expectations.
Vera Andi
Director Customer Service
I worked with Christan to work smarter within our school. We had a situation where information had to come from different systems. Some things that didn't fit into a standard system, we kept track of in various Excel lists and physical folders. To then get an accurate picture of how certain processes were developing was a time-consuming task. Together with Christan, we developed a tailor-made program where I, as school leader, now bring together an enormous amount of information and data in one place. Furthermore, a number of processes are now automated, which means that some tasks no longer get lost in the hustle and bustle, but are carried out automatically. In addition to the enormous improvement in quality for our organization, it was also extremely pleasant to work with Christan. He understood very well what we needed and translated this well. Christan is punctual and meets all his commitments on time. A breath of fresh air to do an IT/AI project together like this! I can therefore wholeheartedly recommend him!
Barbara van den Bosch
Director Education
The water sector is navigating exciting yet challenging times—balancing complex operational and strategic demands while advancing its digital transformation and adopting rapidly evolving AI technologies to address these challenges. In this landscape, leaders like Christan truly stand out. His deep understanding of digital and AI technologies, coupled with his ability to translate business needs into practical solutions, is invaluable. I had the pleasure of working with him on PWN’s digital transformation journey, and our collaboration was consistently energetic, smooth, and highly productive!
Siddharth Seshan
Porftolio Manager - Digital Water
Working with Christan has been outstanding. He brings deep AI expertise, thinks critically at every step, and consistently delivers solution-focused results that exceed expectations. The collaboration was seamless, and when challenges arose, we always found a solution together. I highly recommend Christan.
René Raaphorst
Entrepreneur
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If your AI decisions were reviewed tomorrow, would they hold up?
Ready to make your GenAI investments
board-defensible?
If not, let’s make the gaps visible and decide what to do next.
If not, let’s make the gaps visible and decide what to do next.
Dornovo Copyright 2025
christan@dornovo.com
Dornovo Copyright 2025
christan@dornovo.com
Dornovo Copyright 2025
christan@dornovo.com