AI governance · Implementation planning · Program recovery
Turn AI ambition into accountable execution. Independent advice to select the right use cases, establish practical governance, and recover technology programs at risk. Fractional leadership and board advisory help carry the work forward.
Led by Donald MarzulloFederal modernization, IV&V, and global operations experience.
What decision or task should AI improve?
A bounded use case, intended users, affected people, and a measurable business outcome.COGNV’s illustrative engagement model. Actual roles and gates are tailored to the organization.
How we help
Start with AI governance, implementation planning, or program recovery. Add executive leadership or board advisory when you need ongoing capacity and judgment.
Know where AI is being used, what risks need attention, and who is responsible for approval and oversight.
Initial assessment · typically 2–3 weeks
Explore AI governanceDefine a valuable AI use case and its human workflow, data needs, evaluation criteria, and practical route to a pilot.
One agreed use case · typically 2–4 weeks
Explore implementation planningRestore a reliable picture of a troubled technology program or stalled AI initiative, and agree on the decisions needed to move forward.
Initial assessment · typically 2–3 weeks
Explore program recoveryAdvisory and implementation planning are led directly by Donald. Engineering and specialized technical validation are scoped separately with qualified delivery resources.
Executive leadership & board advisory
Engage Donald directly for a defined leadership mandate, a board-level review, or an ongoing advisory relationship. Match the role to the responsibility your organization needs.
Operations executive, COO, and CIO mandates for organizations that need senior capacity during a transition or sustained part-time leadership.
Recurring capacity or a time-bound assignment
Explore executive leadershipPractical perspective on AI oversight, technology investment, operational resilience, and transformation for boards, owners, and executive teams.
A focused engagement or ongoing advisory cadence
Explore board advisoryCapacity, term, on-site expectations, travel, and fees are agreed for each assignment. Donald is open to travel and relocation.
The engagement
From the first conversation to the executive briefing, the work connects findings to decisions and decisions to an executable plan.
Evidence → decisions → execution
An illustrative workflow for an assessment. Deliverables are tailored to the agreed service and scope.
Documents, stakeholder interviews, and available operating data.
Record sources, findings, assumptions, and information gaps.
Identify implications, action owners, and choices requiring leadership.
Present the findings, tradeoffs, and recommended next steps.
Sequence actions with owners, milestones, dependencies, and measures.
Optional advisory, progress review, and reassessment as conditions change.
Initial assessments typically take 2–3 weeks; a single-use-case blueprint typically takes 2–4 weeks. Timing depends on scope and access to evidence. A 90-day plan describes the execution horizon after assessment.
AI in a real operating context
Consider AI-assisted document summarization. The technology is only one part of the decision.
Help staff prepare first-pass summaries of approved business documents.
Which documents are permitted? Who reviews outputs? What errors are unacceptable? When should use stop?
A bounded use case, workflow and review points, risk register, pilot criteria, and named approval responsibilities.
Experience behind the advice
Selected areas of Donald Marzullo’s prior experience, brought to COGNV’s advisory practice.
HUD/Treasury program oversight and IV&V experience, with attention to program health, risks, corrective action, and executive reporting.
Operations leadership spanning technology services, vendors, organizational change, and continuity across international environments.
Needs assessment, stakeholder engagement, evidence review, strategic roadmaps, and recommendations designed to support implementation.
Experience described is the principal’s prior work, including engagements through other organizations. References to agencies do not imply endorsement.
The person behind the work
Donald M. Marzullo
Donald brings more than three decades of consulting and operating experience to complex technology programs, organizational change, and executive decisions. His background combines global operations leadership with independent program assurance and public-sector transformation.
As a global operations executive, he led more than 600 employees and contractors delivering mission-critical services in over 100 countries. His consulting experience includes federal financial modernization, program recovery, independent verification and validation, risk, controls, and executive reporting.
At COGNV, he applies that operating discipline to AI governance, implementation planning, program recovery, fractional leadership, and board advisory. You work directly with the principal responsible for the engagement.
Experience reflects Donald’s career, including work through other organizations.
A clear next step
Discuss AI governance, an implementation idea, program recovery, a fractional executive mandate, board advisory, or a board appointment opportunity. Start with a 30-minute conversation to establish fit.
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