Your AI Maturity Score Is Probably Wrong

Your organization has AI coding tools. Your developers use them every day. You may have an AI strategy, a governance program, and a growing list of AI projects. Does this make your organization AI mature? Most organizations measure what is easy to count: licenses, adoption rates, generated code, and reported hours saved. These metrics show that developers use AI. They do not show that the organization builds better software with AI. This talk compares the major AI maturity models from CMU/SEI, DORA, NIST, and OWASP. We will show what each model measures, where the models overlap, and where they fail. Then we will discuss a practical framework that answers three questions: Adoption: Do we use AI? Capability: Do we have the engineering practices to use AI well? Outcomes: Can we prove that AI improves delivery speed, quality, security, or developer experience? You will see why high adoption often hides low maturity, why individual productivity metrics mislead leaders, and what to measure instead. The goal isn’t another five-level AI maturity staircase. It’s a way to gather evidence that an organization is actually getting better at building software in an AI-enabled world.

Laurie Lay

Laurie is a senior software engineer at Ippon Technologies, where she specializes in front-end development and software solutions that drive both user engagement and business success. With a master's degree in cognitive psychology, Laurie brings a unique perspective to software engineering, combining her understanding of human behavior with cutting-edge technology to create intuitive, user-friendly, and developer approved software applications. Her diverse career path spans a variety of fields, including professorship, owning a restaurant, motorcycle mechanics, and software engineering, each of which has contributed to her well-rounded skill set and innovative approach to problem-solving. This eclectic experience allows her to bridge the gap between technical complexity and real-world application, ensuring that the software she develops is both practical and accessible. In the software development world, Laurie is particularly passionate about the impact of emerging technologies and their potential to accelerate development cycles and improve productivity. She is an advocate for learning, both for herself and others, and enjoys helping her colleagues discover their own learning paths and growth opportunities. She is dedicated to mentoring and fostering a collaborative, inclusive learning environment within her teams. She believes in the power of shared knowledge and the importance of cultivating a growth mindset in any field, from software development to personal development. Outside of her technical role, Laurie is known for organizing internal workshops, knowledge-sharing sessions, and supporting new talent as they navigate their careers in tech. When she's not coding or mentoring, Laurie enjoys time spent outdoors, taking hikes with her dog in the mountains or at the ocean, and generally running around anywhere without a leash—metaphorically and literally. Her adventurous spirit is matched only by her dedication to continuous learning and improvement, both personally and professionally.