1 min lesson
Deliverable 3: the Executive Business Review
Show why this lesson detail matters. "Build the EBR you'd run with the VP Eng at the six-month mark."
Step 1 of 3
Build the EBR you'd run with the VP Eng at the six-month mark. It opens with their goals, pairs data with real developer stories and surfaces the renewal before they ask.
An EBR is a story about the sponsor's goals, with usage data as the evidence. The sponsor is skeptical of AI ROIReturn on Investment. The value gained versus what it cost, the language an economic buyer funds deals in. Press Enter for the full definition., so the structure matters more than the slides. Open in their language, prove value with paired data and stories, and make the renewal the next step of a program that already works.
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Full explanation
The ebr arc
The EBR arcSix moves, in order
- 1Open with their goals. Restate the outcomes the VP Eng named at kickoff, in their words. A line like "you wanted faster onboarding for new hires and less time lost on boilerplate review" works, but those two goals are invented for practice; the brief never gave any. You're graded on their scoreboard.
- 2Show progress in their metrics. Map your telemetry onto those goals. Activation and depth of use are your proof, framed in a sentence like "three quarters of the pilot org now uses Agent on real tasks weekly." That figure is an invented example; use your own telemetry.
- 3Pair each number with a story. For every metric, bring one concrete, named workflow win. The data proves scale; the story makes it real and memorable to a CTO.
- 4State value honestly. Talk about time reclaimed and friction removed without claiming a fabricated productivity multiplier. Credibility with a skeptical sponsor is worth more than a big number you can't defend.
- 5Bring the forward plan. Show the next two quarters: the wave to new BUs, the depth targets and where you see expansion. The sponsor should see momentum, not a victory lap.
- 6Surface the renewal early. Name the renewal timeline now and tie it to the realized value, so it arrives as a continuation of a working program with no year-end surprise.
"Six months ago you sponsored a 600-seat agreement and named the goals you wanted this program to hit. I'll take those goals one at a time and show where we stand against each. The security review is closed, so the pilot's results stand on their own, and we ran Copilot beside Cursor so you can see the comparison instead of taking my word for it. Then I'll show the next two quarters, renewal included, as the continuation of what is already working."
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Advanced table
Pairing data with workflow stories
QYou open the six-month EBR with the VP Eng. Which opening fits what the sponsor cares about?
Pairing data with workflow storiesThe credible-evidence pattern
- The number
- Agent acceptance up across the pilot org
- Example story that makes it land
- A senior engineer cleared a multi-file refactor in an afternoon that used to eat two days
- The number
- WAU/MAU stickiness holding at six months
- Example story that makes it land
- A platform team encoded their conventions in
.cursor/rules/so new hires ship correct code in week one
- The number
- Depth-of-use climbing past autocomplete
- Example story that makes it land
- A squad used Agent to drain a flaky-test backlog that had stalled their release for a quarter
| The number | Example story that makes it land |
|---|---|
| Agent acceptance up across the pilot org | A senior engineer cleared a multi-file refactor in an afternoon that used to eat two days |
| WAU/MAU stickiness holding at six months | A platform team encoded their conventions in .cursor/rules/ so new hires ship correct code in week one |
| Depth-of-use climbing past autocomplete | A squad used Agent to drain a flaky-test backlog that had stalled their release for a quarter |
These stories are invented examples; yours must be real and named. Numbers without stories feel like a sales deck, and stories without numbers feel anecdotal, so the EBR needs both, paired.