Pilot purgatory
The failure pattern in which a pilot persists indefinitely without resolving into scale or stop, for lack of pre-set success criteria and a go/no-go rule; the pattern behind McKinsey's two-thirds-stuck finding (2025).
Defined in 2 GAGE programs, which carry 3 distinct definitions of it. The wording above is taught in Certified AI Practitioner: Workplace Foundations.
How each discipline defines it
The same term does different work depending on who is using it. These are the definitions as each program teaches them, unedited.
The failure pattern in which a pilot persists indefinitely without resolving into scale or stop, for lack of pre-set success criteria and a go/no-go rule; the pattern behind McKinsey's two-thirds-stuck finding (2025).
The state of an initiative that neither ships nor dies but drifts indefinitely as "almost there" or an endless series of "phases," consuming resources without delivering value. The 90-day rule exists to prevent it.
The failure mode in which pilots run indefinitely without resolution because nobody will declare failure and criteria keep sliding; prevented by hard kill criteria and a maximum duration set in advance.
Where it is taught
The exact lessons this term appears in. The first module of every program is free with a free account.
- AI Change Management Frameworks · AI in the Workplace and Team Leadership, Certified AI Practitioner: Workplace Foundations
- Why Transformations Fail, and How Not To · AI Literacy for Decision Makers, Certified AI Transformation Professional (CATP)
- Pilot Strategy and Proof-of-Concept Design: Your Pilot Design Brief · Implementation from Pilot to Scale, Certified AI Transformation Professional (CATP)
Where it shows up at work
A definition is where Pilot purgatory starts. The lessons above teach it inside the competencies below, which are what job descriptions ask for and what the GAGE credential records. Every link here is drawn from the same careers map that builds a role's readiness check.
Knows why rollouts stall, separates a skills problem from a trust problem, builds champion networks, and measures adoption honestly.
One lesson on this page teach it as a primary outcome.
Redesigns roles as AI absorbs tasks, plans reskilling instead of replacement, and supports managers in honest conversations about how work changes.
One lesson on this page teach it as a primary outcome.
Designs role-based AI training that measures skill, not attendance, with approved-use guidance, office hours and communities of practice.
One lesson on this page teach it as a primary outcome.
Roles that hire for it
Each role page shows the full competency set, what the seat decides, and a readiness check against your own evidence.
- AI Adoption and Enablement Leadneeds it at depth
- Operations Manager, AI-readyneeds working knowledge
- Chief AI Officerneeds it at depth
- Chief Information Officer, technology leadership editionneeds working knowledge
- AI Program Managerneeds working knowledge · 11 open postings this week
- Data Governance Leadneeds working knowledge · 2 open postings this week
How job descriptions say it
Postings rarely use the textbook word. These are the phrases the careers map reads as asking for the competencies above.
Where the frameworks place it: EU AI Act Article 4; DOL AI Literacy Framework.
One interview question about it
How do you get a team that fears an AI tool to use it well, and how do you know adoption is real and not reported?
Asked of candidates for adoption and change management. Answering it in your own words is exactly how a GAGE topic is passed, and the credential records the pass where an employer can check it.
If you come from another field
Some backgrounds already carry this competency, and the readiness check gives credit for it.
- Human resources and people operations carries it as a claim to back up: Change programs run through HR.
- Project and program management carries it as a claim to back up: Rollout and adoption planning are usually included.
- A business, MBA or technology management degree carries it as a claim to back up: Change management was taught in cases, not yet led.
Terms it appears with
Not an alphabetical neighbourhood: these are the terms taught in the same lessons, ranked by how often they appear together.