How we work

Always our sources

The rule that comes before every other. You can check everything we say.

• Every story shows its sources, the original first, then the others that reported it.
• Nothing is stated as fact without a source. If we can't source it, we say it's our view.
• When a step back leans on the AFD book or the AFD Institute, or on our own experience, it says so.
• Every source the radar reads is listed publicly on What we read.

Our bias, stated up front

• The step back. We look at the big picture, and that's where our criticism comes from: short-sighted, local views and hype. Not vendors.
• Biased in the take, straight on the facts.
• Challenge, don't accept. Ideas everyone repeats get tested, not passed on. The verdict is Holds, Depends or Fails, and sometimes the idea holds.
• Open about who we are. See About.

What we cover

AI technology: what's possible today, what it costs, where it breaks. The human factor: roles, skills, adoption, accountability. Joint decision making: budgets, ownership, governance, procurement, the board. And the big picture: markets, incentives, regulation, and the consequences that show up later.

We leave out model leaderboards for their own sake, funding rounds unless they change a CIO's options, consumer features unless they reach the enterprise, doom, hype, and gossip about people.

Vendors and money

• Vendors are named factually when they're the news.
• No vendor money, ever: no sponsored slots, no affiliate links, no paid placement.
• Submitted news is scored like everything else, with no head start. If we use it, its sources say who sent it. Embargoes are honoured for timing, never for the take.

The boardroom test

Nothing is published unless a CIO could use it in their next board meeting.

What we measure, and what we don't

We measure issues, never readers. Page counts are cookieless. A link may say which issue it came from, never who clicked. There are no tracking pixels in the email, and what we know about you is only what you chose to tell us.

Once a year we publish our record: every Challenged verdict and step back from twelve months earlier, and whether it held, misses first.