Your EOS is running. Your AI isn't in it.
AI is a people and process problem, and people and process are what your EOS already runs. The AI Leadership Cohort prepares the person who will own it.
Most companies your size haven't made AI part of how they run. The ones that give it an owner and a cadence first will pull ahead.
Online · 10 weeks · Starts January 11, 2027 · 40 founding seats at $1,495 per session
5 min · Instant results · No credit card
Your EOS runs the company. AI never got a seat.
These patterns show up in EOS companies that are strong everywhere except AI.
The Orphan Rock
An AI Rock went on the list. It was never assigned, no milestones were set, and no Scorecard metrics were defined. It rolled over twice. The team has stopped believing the next one will be different.
Shadow AI, No Seat
People are already using AI, often outside your policies. Nobody is accountable for setting the rules or managing the risk, so it grows unmanaged.
In a survey of US employees at large companies, 68% use AI tools through personal accounts and 57% have entered sensitive information.
The L10 That Never Gets There
AI lands on the Issues List every week and loses the IDS vote to something more urgent. It's always an issue, never a decision, while the work quietly changes around you.
You need someone ready to hold the AI seat, and a leadership team ready to make room for it.
AI is a people and process problem, not a tech problem.
BCG's research on companies that get real value from AI points to a simple rule of thumb for leaders: about 10% of the effort on algorithms, 20% on technology and data, and 70% on people and processes. Most EOS companies already run on that 70%: your Accountability Chart, Rocks, Scorecard, and Level 10.
BCG's rule for AI leaders: algorithms, technology and data, people and process.
of U.S. companies with 100 to 249 employees (36.4%) use AI in at least one business function. Most still haven't made it part of how they run.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey, two weeks ending October 4, 2026.
of middle-market executives say leadership is more enthusiastic about AI than employees are. The gap is a people problem.
Source: RSM Middle Market AI Survey 2026 (1,030 executives, companies with $30M to $10B in revenue).
The window is open. The companies that give AI an owner and a cadence first will pull ahead.
Every AI vendor, consultant, and platform will help you with the technology. UpShift HQ is built for the people and process, and for an EOS company that means running AI through the six EOS Key Components you already use: Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction.
Fill the AI seat in your Accountability Chart.
A 10-week working program for EOS leaders. Every week you build an AI plan for your own company, and you leave ready to hold the AI seat.
Who holds the seat: A member of your leadership team adding it to the seat they already hold, or a rising leader stepping up.
What you leave with
Eight working documents. Together, they're the job description of the AI seat, and you build every one for your own company.
Set direction
- AI Readiness Scorecard. Your company scored across strategy, data, technology, governance, and people.
- Personal AI leadership statement. Where AI belongs in your company, and where it doesn't.
Govern and manage risk
- Draft AI use policy. Ready to bring to your leadership team.
- Blocker map, ready for your L10. What will stall AI at your company and who owns each fix, written so your team can work it through IDS.
Find the leverage
- One workflow, mapped. With the AI insertion points marked.
- A build, buy, or partner decision. Made and written down for one real AI decision.
Measure
- One AI measurable on your Scorecard. With an owner and a weekly number.
Drive traction
- A 90-day AI plan. Three to five Rocks, each with an owner and a measurable result.
Plus every template, a recording of every meeting, and the forum.
| Measurable | Owner | Goal | This week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frontline staff using AI their manager does not know about | Integrator | Under 10% | 41% (baseline from the Diagnostic) |
Draft and ratify the AI Use Policy within 30 days (default-permissive, tiered by risk).
Owner: Integrator. Due: end of the quarter's first 30 days.
Why it's first: the Diagnostic flagged Issues as the weakest component (1.72 out of 4.00), and the AI Use Policy is the first priority.
Done means: the policy is ratified by the leadership team and an approved-tools list is published.
Then take it to your team
In Week 10 you present your 90-day plan to the cohort. Then you take it, and your first Rocks, to your own leadership team to get their buy-in. The AI seat drives it. Your leadership team makes the company ready for it.
How a session works
Ten weekly live meetings of 90 minutes, led by Dustin. Each week has the same rhythm: 1 to 3 hours of pre-work applied to your own company, a short teaching block, then breakout rooms where a small group of EOS leaders works a prompt from your pre-work. Each meeting ends with share-back and open Q&A.
You stay in the same group of 4 to 5 people for the whole session. Every session is a new cohort, so you meet new peers each time.
Winter 2027: starts Monday, January 11 and runs 10 weeks to March 19. Live meetings are Wednesdays at 7:00 PM ET (first meeting January 13, last meeting March 17). Spring 2027: April 12 to June 18. Fall 2027: September 13 to November 19.
The session at a glance
Diagnose
- 1 Kickoff
- 2 Strategy and alignment
- 3 Data
- 4 Governance and risk
- 5 People and culture
Decide
- 6 Your AI vision
Design
- 7 Map a workflow
- 8 Build, buy, or partner
- 9 Find your blockers
Commit
- 10 Your 90-day plan, presented to the cohort, then to your leadership team
It's for
Leaders at companies that run EOS who will hold the AI seat: a leadership-team member adding it to the seat they already hold, or a rising leader stepping up. Integrators, Visionaries, and department heads are all welcome. Companies implementing EOS now are welcome too.
It's not for
Anyone looking for a tool demo, a technical build, or ready-made automations. The Cohort is built around EOS. If you don't run EOS, submit the form or book a 20-minute call and Dustin will tell you honestly what fits.
Why a cohort
You don't need a tech team to stay ahead. You need someone in the seat, a cadence, and a plan. AI stalls when nobody holds the seat and nothing is on a cadence.
The Cohort gives you a deadline every week and a group of peers who run EOS in other industries and are doing the same job you are. The live work is the point: the breakouts, the questions, and the people who've been where you're going. If you miss a meeting, you get the recording.
Led by Dustin Parham
20+ years in growth-stage tech organizations, as a CTO and fractional leader, and 5+ years working inside EOS. More about Dustin
Founding members
Join in the first session and lock in your rate for life, on any plan, even if you take a session off and come back.
Founding session: $1,495 per seat (list $2,995) · 40 seats
Next session: Winter 2027, starts January 11, 2027.
Pay by the session, or stay in the room all year.
Online, by the session, no retainers. Founding members lock their rate for life.
Live seat
per seat per session (list price $2,995). Founding rate, yours for life.
40 founding seats (Winter 2027 only).
10 weeks. Live online. Built around your own company.
By the end you'll have
- A scored AI Readiness Scorecard for your company
- A personal AI leadership statement and a draft AI use policy
- One workflow mapped, one build, buy, or partner call, and a blocker map
- One AI measurable on your Scorecard and a 90-day AI plan with 3 to 5 Rocks
Includes the member portal: templates, meeting recordings, and the forum.
10 weekly 90-minute live meetings · 1 to 3 hours of pre-work a week
Request a seatAnnual pass
per person (list price $7,195). Founding rate, yours for life.
Stay in the room all year. Three sessions (Winter, Spring, and Fall) for 20% less than buying each one.
Everything in the Live seat, every session. Each session is a new cohort and a new group of peers, so you bring your next real problem to people who haven't heard the last one. Revisit your documents, review last quarter's Rocks, and set the next 90-day plan.
Bonus: 90 days of 1:1 coaching with Dustin (four 60-minute meetings, starting after you present your 90-day plan).
Paid upfront at the discounted price.
Request a seat- More from your company? Additional seats from the same company are $1,095 per person per session in the founding session ($2,195 list). We place colleagues in different groups so each of you builds your own network.
- Need to skip a session? Defer once, to the next session that runs, at no fee.
- Guarantee: Try the first two meetings. Tell us before meeting 3 begins and we'll refund your fee in full, for a Live seat or the Annual pass.
- Taking it further? Cohort members save 25% on the Diagnostic. See For your whole team below.
Take it to your leadership team.
The Cohort prepares one person to hold the AI seat. But AI is your company's strategy, not one person's job. When you're ready to look at the whole organization, there are two steps, and they build on each other.
Step 1: The AI Leadership Diagnostic
An independent, outside look at where your company stands on AI, built on what your leadership team and your frontline actually say. Because it comes from a neutral outside party, you get an honest read without the politics.
What you get:
- Surveys of your leadership team and your frontline, interviews, and a review of your key documents
- A scored AI Readiness Report across the six EOS components
- Where leaders and the frontline see AI differently, and where people are already using it unofficially
- A ranked view of where to start, and a preliminary 90-day action plan
- A live readout with your leadership team
It's for: a CEO or Integrator who wants outside help to see where the company stands and what it will take to get AI operating.
No Cohort required. Cohort graduates often bring the Diagnostic to their leadership team.
What we measure
- Vision: Does your leadership team share a written view of where AI fits? Roadmap, business case, budget, and build-versus-buy clarity.
- People: Are the right people ready? AI fluency of leaders and staff, change readiness, appetite for experimenting, and whether people feel safe using AI in the open.
- Data: Is your data good enough to use? Quality, accessibility, governance, and coverage.
- Process: Where does AI fit in how work gets done? Your core processes and the technology under them.
- Issues: What could go wrong, and who owns it? AI use policy, shadow AI controls, compliance, risk management, vendor management, and bias and ethics.
- Traction: Will it actually get done? Executive sponsorship today, with Rocks, owners, and an L10 cadence addressed on Day 3.
See what you'd get
Step 2: The AI Leadership Intensive™
Your whole leadership team in the room, working from your own Diagnostic findings. Your team leaves understanding how each of them makes the company receptive and ready for an AI pilot, including what the AI seat is and why your company needs one.
You finish with:
- AI seats defined on your Accountability Chart and AI measurables on your Scorecard
- AI Rocks for the quarter, each with an owner and a commitment
- 13 working documents your team can run
The three days:
Who needs to be in the room: your CEO or Visionary, your Integrator, and the rest of your leadership team. Executive attendance is a prerequisite, not a suggestion. Up to one site and about 10 attendees; larger teams are quoted. Travel is billed at cost.
It's for: EOS leadership teams that want AI owned, measured, and on a cadence, not another tool rollout.
It's not for: a vendor or tool selection, a technical build, or a team where the CEO won't attend.
The 13 working documents:
- AI Leader's Intent Statement
- AI-Integrated V/TO
- AI Core Values & Principles
- AI Accountability Chart
- Core Process Boards (AI-ready)
- AI Insertion Points Map + Scorecard Measurables
- 3-Year Picture AI Roadmap
- Personal AI Leadership Action Plans
- AI Issues List (IDS-ready Blocker Map)
- AI Use Policy
- AI Rocks for the Quarter (90-Day Plan)
- L10 Agenda + Quarterly Pulsing Calendar
- Individual Rock Commitment Cards
The path, in one line
Diagnostic + Intensive: $30,000. Cohort members save 25% on the Diagnostic. Both are paid upfront.
Not ready to commit? Start free.
Most EOS leaders start with the free assessment. It takes 5 minutes and shows where AI is missing from your EOS before you spend a dollar.
Free AI Readiness Assessment for EOS® companies
15 questions. 5 minutes. A scored read on how ready your leadership team is to run AI through EOS, across Vision, People, Data, Process, Issues, and Traction. You'll know exactly where to focus first.
- ✓ Instant scored results
- ✓ Personalized next-step recommendation
- ✓ No credit card
Free live workshop
A live workshop that teaches one real idea before it introduces the Cohort: how to give AI a seat on your Accountability Chart and put one AI measurable on your Scorecard. You leave with something to use at your next L10.
- ✓ One practical idea you can use this week
- ✓ A short introduction to the AI Leadership Cohort
- ✓ Free, no commitment
Free · Live · Dates announced soon
A 20-minute call
Not sure where you fit? Twenty minutes with Dustin. Bring your AI situation: where you've invested, which Rocks stalled, what your Visionary is asking for. He'll tell you honestly what makes sense. No pitch, no deck.
Book a 20-minute callAI Readiness Assessment for EOS® companies
15 questions, about 5 minutes.
He's seen what happens when AI never makes it into the operating rhythm.
Dustin Parham has spent 20+ years inside growth-stage tech organizations, as a CTO, as a fractional leader, and as the person who gets called in when an AI initiative has stalled. The pattern is almost always the same: strong technology, weak organizational design.
He's worked inside EOS for 5+ years and is fluent in the rhythm: Rocks, the Level 10, IDS, the Scorecard. So nothing here asks your team to learn a new system. Dustin teaches, facilitates, and challenges, and he leaves the work in your hands.
"I don't care what AI tool you've bought. The question is whether your operating system has a seat for it."
— Dustin ParhamFounder · Fractional CTO and AI leadership facilitator
Is technology the bigger gap? If your tech team is a black box, a fractional CTO works inside your EOS the same way, starting with a 2-week Tech Clarity Diagnostic. See Fractional CTO
Frequently asked questions
About the Cohort
Do I have to be running EOS to join?
Yes. The Cohort is built for leaders at companies that run EOS. Companies implementing EOS now are welcome too. If you don't run EOS, submit the form or book a 20-minute call and Dustin will tell you honestly what fits. Everyone in your group runs EOS too, so you share the same language (Accountability Chart, Rocks, Scorecard, L10) and can compare what works across industries.
My company doesn't run EOS. Can I still get help?
The Cohort is built around EOS. If you don't run EOS, submit the form or book a 20-minute call and Dustin will tell you honestly what fits.
Who should take the Cohort?
Someone who will hold the AI seat: a member of your leadership team adding it to the seat they already hold, or a rising leader stepping up. Integrators, Visionaries, and department heads are all welcome.
Does the AI seat own AI on its own?
No. The seat drives it, but AI is your company's strategy, and your whole leadership team has to make the organization ready. That's why you take your plan back to your team in Week 10, and why the Intensive exists.
How do sessions work, and when does the next one start?
The Cohort is online and runs in three sessions a year: Winter, Spring, and Fall. Each session is 10 weekly live meetings of 90 minutes with a capped number of seats. A session runs only if at least 12 seats are filled. Winter 2027 starts Monday, January 11, with live meetings on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM ET. Spring 2027 starts April 12 and Fall 2027 starts September 13.
How much time per week?
Plan on 1 to 3 hours per week of pre-work plus a 90-minute live meeting each week for 10 weeks.
What if I miss a live meeting?
Every meeting is recorded. Recordings are in the member portal with the course materials, templates, assignments, and the forum.
Can my Integrator or leadership team join too?
Yes. Each additional seat from the same company is $1,095 per person per session in the founding session ($2,195 list). We place colleagues in different groups so each of you builds your own network.
Can I take the Cohort more than once? Why would I, if the content is the same?
Yes. Each session is a new cohort with a new group of peers. The live breakouts and the people in the room are the value, and the same content often means something different once you've worked with it for a quarter.
Will I be in the same group each session?
No. Your group is whoever is in that session's cohort. You stay with the same 4 to 5 people for the whole session.
Pricing, founding members, and guarantees
What's the difference between a Live seat and the Annual pass?
A Live seat is one session: $1,495 in the founding session ($2,995 list). The Annual pass covers all three sessions (Winter, Spring, Fall) for 20% less than buying each one: $3,595 founding ($7,195 list), paid upfront, plus 90 days of 1:1 coaching as a bonus.
What does "founding member" mean?
Founding members are the people who join in our first session. You lock in your founding rate on any plan for life, even if you take a session off and come back. Returning founding members count toward each session's seat cap, so seats are first-come.
What's in the 90-day coaching?
Four 60-minute one-on-one meetings with Dustin over 90 days, starting after you present your 90-day plan, to help you put it into practice. It's included in the Annual pass.
What if it's not a fit?
Try the first two meetings. If the Cohort isn't a fit, tell us before meeting 3 begins and we'll refund your fee in full, for a Live seat or the Annual pass.
What if I can't attend a session I've paid for?
You can defer once, to the next session that runs, at no fee.
Can I transfer my seat to a colleague?
Not at this time. Your colleague can join by taking their own seat. If you're leaving the company, contact us.
How does signing up work?
Submit the Request a seat form. Dustin replies personally with next steps.
The Diagnostic and the Intensive
If I finish the Cohort, do I still need the Diagnostic?
The Cohort prepares you to hold the AI seat and to do some of this work yourself. The Diagnostic adds a neutral outside party and an honest read from across your organization, which is hard to get from inside.
Do Cohort members get a discount on the Diagnostic?
Yes: 25% off your company's Diagnostic, within 12 months of the session you joined. It doesn't apply to the Intensive.
Does the discount stack if several people from my company join?
No. One discounted Diagnostic per company.
Can I bring the discount to my CEO if I took the Cohort?
Yes. It applies to your company's Diagnostic.
What is the Diagnostic, and how long does it take?
A 3-week remote assessment of where your company stands on AI, scored across the six EOS components, with a live leadership readout at the end. It's $10,000 and doesn't require the Cohort.
Why is the Diagnostic required before the Intensive?
The Diagnostic collects what the on-site is built on: how your leadership team scores, where AI is missing from your EOS, and what's blocking it. You arrive on day one with your own data, not a generic workshop.
Can I do the Intensive without the Diagnostic?
No. They are separate steps with separate prices: the Diagnostic is $10,000, the Intensive is $20,000, and the full path is $30,000, and Cohort members save 25% on the Diagnostic.
How does payment work for the Diagnostic and the Intensive?
Both are paid upfront, before the work begins.
Is travel included?
Travel for the Intensive is billed at cost, with no markup.
Request a seat.
Tell Dustin about your company and he will reply personally. The AI Leadership Cohort is built for companies that run EOS. If you don't run EOS, you can still submit and Dustin will reach out individually.
Prefer to talk first? Book a 20-minute call with Dustin.
Give AI a seat in your EOS.
Fill it with someone ready. Bring the rest of your team along.