Dipankar Sarkar

Tool

AI Leadership Mandate Scorecard

Most leadership roles that fail were incoherent before anyone was hired: accountability without authority, no clear sponsor, or a function with no budget. Score the role as drafted. The result is useful whoever you end up appointing.

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Authority

The role can make or veto the technical decisions it will be held accountable for.

The role decides, or co-decides, what is released to customers.

The role has hiring authority for its own team.

Scope

The outcomes the role is accountable for are written down.

Interfaces with product, data, security and other engineering leaders are defined.

The split between hands-on technical work and management is realistic for the team size.

Team

There is an existing team, or an approved plan and budget to build one.

The reporting lines into the role are agreed with the people affected.

Sponsor

One named executive sponsors the role and will resolve disputes about its remit.

The sponsor and the people the role works with agree on what success looks like at six months.

Economics

The function has a budget beyond the leader's own compensation (people, tooling, infrastructure).

Compensation, equity or day-rate basis is approved, not still being negotiated internally.

Result

Answer the statements above to see where the role is strong and where it is likely to break.

Related

Last reviewed 2026-10-07.