National AI Strategy Test
Last updated: 2026-08-14
The national AI strategy test is ten questions applied to any draft strategy. A draft that fails more than three is not ready for cabinet. The first two ask whether the strategy states which sovereignty layers are held, shared and accepted, and whether it carries a five-year operating cost rather than only a capital announcement.
National AI strategies commonly announce capability without committing to the operating cost of keeping it, and without stating which dependencies are being accepted deliberately.
The template
Run any draft strategy against these ten questions. A draft that fails more than three is not ready for cabinet.
- Does it state which sovereignty layers are held, shared, and accepted?
- Does it carry a five-year operating cost, not only a capital figure?
- Does it name an accountable institution for each commitment, with an individual title?
- Does it identify the data estate work that precedes the AI work?
- Does it commit to procurement clause reform with a date?
- Does it state what the state will not do?
- Does it include an exit or alternative for each accepted external dependency?
- Does it define measurable outcomes reportable quarterly?
- Does it address who is accountable when a public sector system harms a citizen?
- Does it survive a change of minister, meaning are the commitments institutional rather than personal?
How to use it
- Run the test on the draft before it reaches cabinet, not after publication.
- Count failures rather than debating each one. More than three is a signal about the document as a whole.
- Pay particular attention to the operating cost question: capital is funded easily and year four is not.
This template comes from the Sovereign AI Strategy: A Practical Playbook, which sets out the reasoning behind it, the rules of thumb that govern its use, and the signals that tell you the approach is failing. The full playbook is also available as Markdown. See all AI governance templates.