VALUE quality gate

Executive summary

Apply VALUE (Valuable, Actionable, Logical, Understandable, Executable) to every artefact before you advance an 8D stage or send material to an executive. Score Trust on a separate axis—privacy, security, fairness, transparency, oversight, auditability and reliability.

When to use this page

• Use before every stage advance and every executive send.
• Use when rewriting slides or memos that fail U or E.
• Pair with 8D framework gates and evidence labels on discovery/diagnosis.

Executive view

Reject artefacts that fail any VALUE letter—especially Understandable and Executable—regardless of how polished the deck looks.

Decision required: Does this artefact pass VALUE and Trust, or must it be improved first?

Technical view

Label claims as Fact, Assumption, Hypothesis or Unknown; do not invent unknowns.

A clear plan can still fail Trust if it ignores residency, oversight or auditability.

Owners

Owner · Author of the artefact (reviewed by engagement lead)

Contributors · Sponsor audience, risk/trust reviewers, SMEs for evidence

Apply VALUE to every artefact before you advance an 8D stage or send material to an executive.

The five checks

Letter	Meaning	Question
V	Valuable	Is there a material business need?
A	Actionable	Is it specific enough to execute?
L	Logical	Is it structured and evidence-backed?
U	Understandable	Can the audience grasp it without unnecessary effort?
E	Executable	Are ownership, constraints, risks, and next steps clear?

If any letter fails, improve the artefact—do not advance the gate.

Decision required

If any VALUE letter fails, improve the artefact—do not advance the stage or send to executives.

Trust score (separate)

VALUE is about communication quality and executability. Trust is scored on its own axis:

• Privacy
• Security
• Fairness
• Transparency
• Human oversight
• Auditability
• Reliability

An artefact can pass VALUE and still fail trust (for example, a clear plan that ignores data residency).

Risk

Passing VALUE while ignoring residency, fairness or auditability creates false confidence at stage gates.

Control

Score Trust separately; do not treat a clear narrative as proof of privacy, security or oversight.

Evidence labels

On discovery and diagnosis surfaces, label claims:

Label	Use when
Fact	Verified with a source
Assumption	Needed for progress; must be tested
Hypothesis	Proposed cause or solution under evaluation
Unknown	Explicit gap—do not invent

Practice

1. Pick one recent slide or memo from an AI initiative.
2. Score each VALUE letter pass/fail in one sentence.
3. Rewrite the bottom line so U and E pass before you touch tooling.

Output

Pass/fail score per VALUE letter, separate Trust review, evidence labels on claims, and a rewritten bottom line that clears U and E.

VALUE gate checklist

• V — material business need stated
• A — specific enough to execute
• L — structured and evidence-backed
• U — audience can grasp without unnecessary effort
• E — ownership, constraints, risks and next steps clear
• Trust scored separately (privacy, security, fairness, transparency, oversight, auditability, reliability)

Related

• 8D framework
• Article: What is AI Solution Engineering?
• Live workshops: ConsultAI OS

Key takeaways

• VALUE gates communication and executability before stage advance or exec send.
• Trust is a separate score—do not conflate clarity with control.
• Label Fact / Assumption / Hypothesis / Unknown; never invent gaps.
• Fix U and E before tooling polish.

What to do next

1. Return to 8D framework and check the current stage gate.
2. Apply VALUE to the next executive artefact before send.
3. Continue the guide at AI Solution Engineering Overview.