Buyer template · Decision memo · Updated 2026-09-13
AI Stack Decision Memo Template
A short decision-memo template for recording an AI stack choice and handing the approved decision to the people who must implement, govern, and revisit it.
When to use it: Use this after the stack quiz or an alternatives review, before the decision is handed to procurement, security, administrators, and the teams adopting the stack.
Decision inputs
- State the workflow, team size, budget, and privacy/security bar this decision is for.
- List the options considered, including "do nothing" or "wait," and link the evidence or pilot notes used.
- Name the decision owner and the people who supplied security, procurement, technical, or workflow input.
Decision and approval
- State the approved stack: must-have tools, optional tools, and what to avoid for now.
- State the decisive reason, the main tradeoff or risk being accepted, and any condition that would reverse the choice.
- Record who approved the decision, the approval date, budget or seat boundary, and any unresolved exception.
Handoff and follow-through
- Assign an implementation owner for each tool or workflow and name the first rollout step.
- Link the procurement request, security review, admin setup, migration plan, policy, and training material that recipients need; use "not required" where a handoff does not apply.
- List the teams or individuals who must receive the decision and the date the handoff is complete.
- When a later stack decision replaces this one, mark this memo superseded, link the replacement decision, record the replacement trigger or reason plus the material scope, risk, cost, owner, or workflow change behind it, and tell downstream owners to stop using the old approval as rollout authority.
- Define the success evidence, rollout stop condition, and review date for pricing, security posture, adoption, and stack fit.
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Not sure which stack fits first?
Take the stack quiz for a recommended starting point.
The deterministic quiz returns a recommended stack, avoid-for-now guidance, and a rollout note you can carry into this checklist.