Independent advisory · Idaho
Adopt AI across cloud and on-premises without losing control of identity and data.
Lencioni & Associates advises mid-market organizations of 500–3,000 users on hybrid AI adoption: which workloads belong in a vendor’s cloud, which belong on hardware you own, and how one identity-centric access model governs both. The security work is the strategy, not a review step at the end.
- Built for
- Mid-market organizations of 500–3,000 users
- Environment
- Hybrid cloud and on-premises
- Anchored in
- Identity-centric Zero Trust security
Who we help
Three people, usually in the same room.
At 500 to 3,000 users there is no dedicated AI function and rarely a standalone security org. The same small group carries the decision, so the work has to answer to all three of them at once.
IT and infrastructure leaders
You run a hybrid estate — a cloud productivity suite alongside systems that are not moving — with a team that is already fully committed. You need an AI plan that does not assume a platform team you do not have.
Security and compliance leads
You are being asked to approve AI tools faster than you can evaluate them. You need a repeatable review path, a defensible data boundary, and access controls that still hold when a model acts for a user.
Executives sponsoring an AI initiative
You have committed to an AI program and it needs to produce something durable. You want an independent read on sequencing, cost and risk before a vendor selection quietly narrows your options.
What we do
Four engagements, one throughline.
Each one can stand alone. Run in order they compound, because every later decision — where a model runs, which data it reaches, who may invoke it — resolves back to identity.
Hybrid AI Strategy & Reference Architecture
Decide which AI workloads belong in a vendor’s cloud and which belong on hardware you control, then document the architecture that joins them: data paths, model hosting, network boundaries, and the identity layer that governs both sides under one access model.
Leaves you withA reference architecture and a sequenced adoption roadmap.
Engagement detailAI Governance & Readiness Assessment
A structured read on where AI is already in use, what data it reaches, and which controls are missing. Covers acceptable use, data classification, vendor and model review, and the approval path a new tool has to clear before it touches production data.
Leaves you withA findings report with ranked gaps and an owner for each.
Engagement detailIdentity-Centric Zero Trust Design
Identity as the control plane: directory and joiner-mover-leaver hygiene, conditional access, privileged access, and segmentation derived from identity rather than from IP ranges. Built to hold when an AI system starts requesting data on a user’s behalf.
Leaves you withAn access model, policy set and phased rollout plan.
Engagement detailAI Tooling Adoption & Enablement
Getting from pilot to daily use: tool selection, rollout in waves, controls wired into the identity layer instead of bolted on after, and enablement for the teams who will actually use it — on the assumption that no one is being hired to run it full time.
Leaves you withA rollout plan, control configuration and enablement material.
Engagement detail
How an engagement runs
Four steps, and a defined end to each one.
No open-ended retainer. Every step has a written output your team can act on without us in the room.
Discover
Interviews and environment review: where data lives, how identity is managed today, and which AI tools are already in use — sanctioned or not.
Assess
Findings measured against a defined baseline. Gaps ranked by exposure and effort, with the ones actually blocking AI adoption called out.
Design
The target architecture and access model, written to be implemented by your team: reference architecture, policy set and a phased plan.
Enable
We stay through the first phase — configuration review, rollout support and handover documentation — and then step back out.
Selected work
Identity was the smallest change on the list, and the one that unblocked everything else.
Start with an assessment, not a tool selection.
The AI Readiness Assessment gives you a documented picture of your environment, your gaps and your sequencing, independent of any vendor. It is also the cleanest way to find out whether this practice is useful to you.