APEP Professional Resource · Technology Evaluation
AI Tool Due Diligence Framework
A procurement-grade evaluation structure for comparing AI products before committing budget, sensitive data, operational dependency or workflow ownership.
Evaluation domains
- Business fit: defined job, target user, measurable outcome and alternatives.
- Capability: demonstrated performance on representative tasks.
- Reliability: consistency, failure modes, limits and recovery options.
- Security & privacy: data handling, permissions, retention, access controls and organisational policy fit.
- Integration: APIs, exports, interoperability and portability.
- Commercial: pricing model, usage limits, switching cost and total cost of ownership.
- Governance: ownership, auditability, human review and acceptable-use constraints.
Decision matrix
Tool: ____________________ Review date: ____________________
Capability evidence: ____________________
Security/privacy evidence: ____________________
Workflow fit: Poor / Fair / Good / Strong
Operational risk: Low / Moderate / High / Critical
Decision: Adopt / Pilot / Monitor / Reject
Conditions: ____________________
Evidence rule
Do not treat popularity, screenshots, affiliate claims or vendor marketing language as sufficient evidence. Test the product against the actual job and retain the evidence supporting the decision.