Decision Framework
Enterprise AI Vendor Shortlist Scorecard 2026
Move beyond demo-day excitement. Use this weighted scoring sheet to rank your final candidates based on evidence, security, and business ROI.
How to use this scorecard
Assign a score from 1-5 for each dimension based on vendor evidence (not promises). Apply weights to calculate the final weighted score. A score below 3.5 usually indicates significant remediation is required before a production rollout.
1. Strategic Fit
Weight: 15%- Alignment with business goals
- Industry-specific expertise
- Long-term roadmap stability
2. Technical Architecture
Weight: 15%- Scalability & latency
- Integration complexity
- Model performance benchmarks
3. Data Governance
Weight: 20%- Training data usage policies
- Data residency & encryption
- Redaction/masking controls
4. Security & Trust
Weight: 15%- Identity (SSO/RBAC)
- Audit logging & monitoring
- Vulnerability management
5. Commercial Model
Weight: 10%- Pricing transparency
- Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
- SLA & service credits
6. Implementation Speed
Weight: 10%- Time-to-value
- Resource requirements
- Training/support availability
7. Regulatory Compliance
Weight: 10%- Privacy (GDPR/CCPA)
- AI-specific regulation readiness
- Auditability
8. Risk Profile
Weight: 5%- Subprocessor transparency
- Exit/portability terms
- Lock-in risks