Digital maturity in the SME

Digital maturity is not “we have cloud” or “we ran an AI workshop”. It is whether daily work leaves a trail, whether someone owns the process, and whether a holiday does not wipe the know-how.

In firms of 8 to 80 people the committee thinks it is at level 4 while the warehouse still runs on WhatsApp. The scale below fits on one page and survives a morning visit.

We use it before talking about copilots. AI does not raise your level; it accelerates the level you already run. Ignore that and you pay for a tool that makes the office hero more fragile.

Five levels (with evidence)

• 1. Hero. Knowledge lives in one person. If they are out, work stops. Evidence: nothing written, no copy. Their phone is the system.
• 2. Folders. Shared drive, chaotic names. Evidence: two Excels and “María has the real one”.
• 3. Process. Owner, steps, tool. Someone can cover a week without a night call.
• 4. Usable data. The flow leaves records you can query. Evidence: a metric nobody invents on Friday.
• 5. Cyclic improvement. Monthly review, unused steps cut. Evidence: a recent documented change, not a 2019 manual.

Where AI helps (and where it hurts)

At level 1 a copilot makes the hero more fragile: knowledge now lives in one person and in prompts nobody else understands. At 2, an extractor multiplies versions. At 3–4 an internal FAQ or invoice extraction pays, because there is somewhere to land the output.

If the data inventory does not exist, any model will improvise. That is not maturity. That is risk with a friendly UI.

Audit it in one morning

• Pick three painful processes (collections, orders, support).
• For each: owner, tool, input, output, failure mode.
• Look at last week’s work, not the manual.
• Your real level is the lowest of the three, not the average on the slide.
• Ask what happens if that person is off for two weeks. The answer usually drops a full level.

Self-score mistakes

Counting licences, a mis-set ERP, an unmeasured website bot, or generic training as maturity. Counting “we are in the cloud” while the warehouse still runs on chat.

Honest test: can a newcomer run the flow from what is written? If no, you are at 1 or 2. That is not a moral judgement. It is the map that stops you spending in the wrong place.

What to do with the score

Levels 1–2: write and name owners before automating. One page per flow is enough. 3: one AI pilot with a human check. 4: metrics and a second flow. 5: only then orchestrate several copilots.

This map should open a Kit Consulting file — not a colour traffic-light with no evidence. If a supplier scores you “high” on the first call without seeing last week’s work, they are selling, not diagnosing.

Maturity and the public programmes

Kit Consulting fits when you must write the map, prioritise and train. Kit Digital fits when a flow is ready to implement (site, management, processes). Jumping to the second without the first is the fastest way to justify a tool nobody opens.

A site-visit example (distribution, 18 people)

The committee shows the ERP and a dashboard. In the warehouse, orders leave through a WhatsApp group and a spreadsheet with three names. Billing is at 3: there is an owner and steps. The warehouse is at 1. Company level, for priority, is 1. The first job is not a copilot: it is writing how an order is confirmed and who covers August.

Two weeks later there is a page and a deputy. Then you look at an alert when an order sits four hours unconfirmed. AI arrives at level 3, not at the committee speech.

What we write down after the visit

One page: the three flows, the level of each, the evidence (not a feeling), and the first move. We do not average the levels. We do not put “cloud” in the evidence column. If the firm wants a second opinion, they can walk the same three flows with someone else and compare pages. That is what an auditable scale is for.

Frequently asked questions

Do we need a consultancy maturity model?

No. Five levels and a site visit are enough to pick the first pilot.

Does an ERP mean we are at level 4?

Only if it leaves queryable data and an owner. Many ERPs are an expensive level 2.

Will AI raise the level by itself?

No. It raises the speed of the level you already run.

Can we be 4 in billing and 1 in the warehouse?

Yes, and that is normal. Company level is the lowest of the processes that hurt, not the showcase.

Next: data inventory or prioritising use cases. For a contrast, request an assessment.