Frequently Asked Questions
Everything organizations want to know before joining the Collective.
Pricing
How much does each service cost?
The AI Strategy Accelerator:The AI Navigator Collective offers a 3-month AI Strategy Accelerator, where you get a full assessment, understanding of what is possible, and a customized AI Strategy and roadmap for your organization. The cost for the AI Strategy Accelerator is $15,000.
For the AI Leadership Development program (12-months), pricing is based on how many staff members you designate as AI Navigators. Navigators are the internal leaders who actively participate in the Collective, collaborate with peers, and guide AI capability-building inside your organization.
You can start small—or build a cross-functional Navigator team—depending on your size, structure, and ambitions.
All memberships include full access to the Collective, Navigator programming, tools, peer learning, and ongoing updates.
Fractional Chief AI Officer Services: The AI Navigator Collective offers fractional AI Navigator services, where one of our coaches will lead your team through a 5-phase process bringing you from where you are today to a full plan and implementation of where you want to be during the course of 9-12 months. Pricing for these services is customized based on each customers’ needs.
AI Momentum Coaching: AI Momentum Coaching provides ongoing executive coaching and strategic guidance to help your organization confidently navigate AI as technology and business needs evolve. Coaching engagements are tailored to your organization’s goals and include two, three, or four coaching sessions per month based on the level of support needed. Pricing is customized according to the frequency of coaching, organizational priorities, and the scope of advisory services provided.
How Many Navigators Should You Designate?
Organizations participating in the AI Leadership Development Program designate up to five AI Navigators from their team to work alongside the AI Navigator Collective throughout the program. These individuals become your organization’s internal AI leaders, building the knowledge, leadership, and practical experience needed to guide AI adoption long after the program ends.
There’s no single “right” number of Navigators. The best approach depends on the size and complexity of your organization.
- Smaller organizations often designate 1–2 Navigators who can coordinate AI efforts across teams.
- Mid-size organizations typically benefit from 2–3 Navigators representing strategy, operations, or people functions.
- Larger organizations often designate 4–5 Navigators to represent multiple functions, such as strategy, operations, HR, IT, and data.
The goal isn’t simply to involve more people—it’s to build cross-functional leadership, shared ownership, and the internal capability to successfully lead AI across your organization.
If you’re unsure how many Navigators are right for your organization, we’ll help you determine the best structure during your discovery conversation.
Enrollment, Cohorts & Payment
When can we start?
The AI Leadership Development Program enrolls participants in quarterly cohorts throughout the year. This cohort-based model creates a collaborative learning experience, allowing leaders from different organizations to progress through the Navigator Pathway™ together while benefiting from shared insights, structured coaching, and peer discussion.
Our other services are designed to begin whenever your organization is ready. The AI Strategy Accelerator, Fractional Chief AI Officer, and AI Momentum Coaching engagements can start at any time and are scheduled around your organization’s priorities and timeline.
If you’re unsure which service is the best fit for your organization, we’ll help you determine the right starting point during your discovery conversation.
What is the payment schedule?
A 50% deposit is due after you select your service, sign a service agreement, and choose a start date. The remaining 50% is due at the start of your services. Quarterly payment plans are available for the AI Leadership Development program and the Fractional AI Officer services.
All payments are made via an electronic payment link. We will cover payment details and timelines during our initial conversation.
Selecting the Right People
How many Navigators should we designate?
Organizations participating in the AI Leadership Development Program designate up to five AI Navigators from their team to work alongside the AI Navigator Collective throughout the program. These individuals become your organization’s internal AI leaders, building the knowledge, leadership, and practical experience needed to guide AI adoption long after the program ends.
There’s no single “right” number of Navigators. The best approach depends on the size and complexity of your organization.
- Smaller organizations often designate 1–2 Navigators who can coordinate AI efforts across teams.
- Mid-size organizations typically benefit from 2–3 Navigators representing strategy, operations, or people functions.
- Larger organizations often designate 4–5 Navigators to represent multiple functions, such as strategy, operations, HR, IT, and data.
The goal isn’t simply to involve more people—it’s to build cross-functional leadership, shared ownership, and the internal capability to successfully lead AI across your organization.
If you’re unsure how many Navigators are right for your organization, we’ll help you determine the best structure during your discovery conversation.
Who makes the best Navigators?
The strongest Navigators tend to be people who sit at the intersection of goals, workflows, and cross-functional decision-making. Ideal candidates often come from:
- Strategy roles (visibility into organization-wide priorities)
- Operations roles (deep understanding of workflows and bottlenecks)
- HR or People roles (insight into skills, culture, and change management)
- IT roles (for larger companies, or where technical alignment matters)
Strong Navigators are: curious, systems thinkers, collaborative, trusted, good communicators, comfortable with technology, and skilled at navigating internal dynamics. They do not need technical backgrounds—just the ability to lead structured work and build alignment across teams.
What if we're not sure who should be our Navigators?
That’s completely normal. During your follow-up call, we’ll talk through potential candidates and help you evaluate fit based on role alignment, influence, availability, and the workflows you want to strengthen.
Here’s a simple checklist to guide early thinking:
Navigator Selection Checklist
- Works in strategy, operations, HR/people, or IT
- Understands organizational priorities and how work gets done
- Has cross-functional trust and influence
- Comfortable with technology and learning new tools
- Curious, adaptive, reliable, communicative
- Can dedicate 4–8 hours per week available to lead capability-building
We'll refine your list together.
Do Navigators need a technical background?
No. Navigators do not need deep technical expertise. The Collective provides templates, frameworks, coaching, and step-by-step tools to guide them through the technical aspects at the right level.
What is the Chief Al Officer Certification Add-on?
For organizations participating in the 12-month AI leadership development program, you can elect to have one or more people from your company get certified as a chief AI officer. The Chief AI Officer (CAIO) Certification is an optional executive education add-on for organizations that want to provide formal, credentialed leadership development to one of their AI Navigators.
Through a partnership with Walsh University, the AI Navigator Collective offers a year-long Chief AI Officer executive education certification that runs in direct alignment with the AI Leadership Development Program.
As your leader moves through the Collective’s five-phase, 12-month Pathway, they can simultaneously participate in this official executive education program, applying what they’re learning in real time inside your organization while earning a recognized CAIO credential.
Key details:
Key details:
- Cost: $10,000
- Who it’s for: 1-2 designated Leaders per organization
- Time commitment: An additional 4-6 hours per month
- Format: Executive-level learning delivered virtually and/or in person through Walsh University
- Curriculum alignment: Fully integrated with the AI Navigator Pathway—no duplicate or disconnected coursework
This add-on is ideal for organizations that want to deepen internal AI leadership, formalize the Navigator role, and invest in long-term executive-level capability that stays with the company.
How do organizations manage retention after making this investment?
Many organizations use tuition reimbursement or professional development retention agreements for advanced Many organizations use tuition reimbursement or professional development retention agreements for advanced training investments. These agreements typically require employees to remain with the organization for a defined period (often 12–24 months) or repay a portion of the cost if they leave earlier. Your organization may already have a similar policy in place, and we’re happy to discuss how others structure this in practice.
Other Questions
Do you replace Al vendors?
No. The Collective strengthens your internal capability so you can evaluate, select, and work with technology partners more effectively.
Is this training-only?
No. Training is just one component. The Collective provides assessments, implementation guidance, governance support, workflow redesign, coaching, and structured tools that help you build capability—not just knowledge.