Sunk cost
Money or effort already spent that cannot be recovered regardless of future decisions. A common judgment failure is letting sunk cost (such as prior research investment) justify continuing a project rather than evaluating the project on its future dollar-denominated merits alone, as discussed in Question 4 of Section 10's knowledge check.
Defined in 3 GAGE programs, which carry 5 distinct definitions of it. The wording above is taught in Engineering Judgment and Professional Formation.
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.
Money or effort already spent that cannot be recovered regardless of future decisions. A common judgment failure is letting sunk cost (such as prior research investment) justify continuing a project rather than evaluating the project on its future dollar-denominated merits alone, as discussed in Question 4 of Section 10's knowledge check.
Money already spent that cannot be recovered whether you continue or stop. Sunk cost is a fact to learn from, not a reason to keep a value-destroying system alive; a forward-looking keep-or-kill decision counts only future benefits against future costs.
Money and effort already spent, which is gone regardless of what you do next and must therefore not influence a forward stop-or-continue decision. The correct question is always the best use of the next dollar, not what has already been committed.
Money, time, or effort already spent that cannot be recovered regardless of what you decide next. Because it is identical whether you continue or stop, it is irrelevant to any live decision; treating it as a reason to continue is the sunk cost fallacy.
Money and effort already spent, which is gone whether you continue or stop and therefore must not drive a forward decision; the adaptive-planning discipline is to weigh the next dollar's best use, not what is already spent.
Where it is taught
The exact lessons this term appears in. The first module of every program is free with a free account.
- The honest ROI: measuring what the AI actually changed at your organization, not what the vendor promised · The Money: Budgets, ROI, and Risk, Certified AI Governance Professional (CAIGP)
- Build, buy, or kill: the quarterly portfolio review with real numbers · The Money: Budgets, ROI, and Risk, Certified AI Governance Professional (CAIGP)
- Agile Transformation Management · Implementation from Pilot to Scale, Certified AI Transformation Professional (CATP)
- The AI Value Office and Experimentation Discipline · Implementation from Pilot to Scale, Certified AI Transformation Professional (CATP)
- Scope a robot to a dollar-denominated problem, or do not build it · The Economics of Robots, the Business Case, Engineering Judgment and Professional Formation
Where it shows up at work
A definition is where Sunk cost 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.
Builds an honest value model: baseline, measured change, cost, risk, and the projects that should be stopped.
3 lessons on this page teach it as a primary outcome.
Decides where AI should be used, where it should not, and which use cases create measurable value, tied to the organization's priorities.
One lesson on this page teach it as a primary outcome.
Runs stage gates, intake, decision logs and evidence repositories so a pilot cannot reach production without the required approvals.
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.
- Chief AI Officerneeds it at depth
- Chief Information Officer, technology leadership editionneeds it at depth
- AI Program Managerneeds it at depth · 11 open postings this week
- AI Adoption and Enablement Leadneeds working knowledge
- Operations Manager, AI-readyneeds working knowledge
- Chief Technology Officer, AI engineering editionneeds working knowledge
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: PMBOK.
One interview question about it
How would you measure the return on an AI deployment honestly, including the costs people prefer to leave out?
Asked of candidates for roi and value measurement for ai. 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.
- A business, MBA or technology management degree carries it as a claim to back up: Value and return measurement are a course you passed.
- Project and program management carries it as work you can show: Plans, RAID logs and status reports are your artifacts.
Terms it appears with
Not an alphabetical neighbourhood: these are the terms taught in the same lessons, ranked by how often they appear together.