Decision Gates

Gate 0 — End of Week 0 (Phase 0 close)

Trigger: end of business Friday Week 0.
Decisions:

• Owner-of-record for RAIDT and RAIT confirmed (University / founder / spin-out)
• Supervisor sign-off on commercialisation plan obtained
• Sovereign AI £9m round (closes 5 June 2026): go / no-go (recommendation: no-go; wait for £160m larger programme)

Go criteria for proceeding to Phase 1:

• Tech Transfer engaged with explicit support
• Owner-of-record path clear (even if final paperwork pending)
• Supervisors aware and supportive

If criteria not met: delay Phase 1 by 1 week; escalate blockers via supervisors.

Gate 1 — End of Week 4 (Phase 1 close)

Trigger: end of Friday Week 4.
Decisions:

• UK trade-marks filed for RAIDT (5 classes) and RAIT (3 classes)
• ICURe Explore application submitted to current round
• At least 6 KTP outreach emails sent with tracking
• NDA template approved by Tech Transfer

Go criteria for proceeding to Phase 2:

• TMs filed (or RAIT rebranded if clearance failed)
• ICURe submitted (success/fail will be known later, but submitted before week 5)
• Outreach pipeline open
• NDA available for any partner conversation

If criteria not met:

• TM clearance fails → rebrand RAIT this week, file revised mark next week
• ICURe round closed → identify next round; prepare leaner self-funded discovery in interim
• Outreach silent → reduce email count, double down on personalisation

Gate 2 — End of Week 12 (Phase 2 close)

Trigger: end of Week 12.
Decisions:

• Customer-discovery findings synthesised (≥30 interviews)
• Primary commercialisation route hypothesis confirmed
• At least 1 KTP partner advancing to formal application
• At least 1 Big-4 firm advancing to pilot conversation OR explicitly de-prioritised

Go criteria for proceeding to Phase 3:

• Discovery findings show at least one segment with credible willingness-to-pay
• At least one partnership conversation reached "pilot scoping" or "KTP application drafting" stage
• TMs in examination, no major rebrand required

If criteria not met:

• No willing-to-pay segment → reformulate value proposition; consider pivot to open-core
• No advancing partnerships → root-cause review with supervisors; maybe reposition as research-first
• TM rebrand required mid-stream → re-time outreach to align with new mark

Gate 3 — End of Month 9 (Phase 3 close)

Trigger: end of Month 9.
Decisions:

• Primary commercial vehicle decided:
  • A: Portsmouth spin-out incorporated
  • B: Exclusive or non-exclusive licence executed with at least one audit firm
  • C: Open-core model with hosted RAIT service launched
• At least one KTP project active or recruiting Associate
• At least one revenue-generating engagement (pilot or licence)
• Standards-track engagement visible

Go criteria for proceeding to Phase 4:

• One concrete commercial route is operational, not just chosen
• Revenue or committed pipeline of ≥£100k
• Active KTP

If criteria not met:

• Revenue stalls → extend Phase 3 by 3 months rather than over-scoping Phase 4
• Vehicle decision unclear → step back; choose a single best-evidence route even if imperfect

Gate 4 — End of Month 18 (Phase 4 close)

Trigger: end of Month 18.
Decisions:

• ARR ≥ £200k OR pre-seed raised ≥ £500k OR licence-out producing £150k+/yr
• At least one KTP delivered or in mid-delivery
• PhD submitted or near submission
• Commercial vehicle stable; founder package finalised
• Standards-track milestone reached (RAIDT cited in BSI/ISO/AISI/NIST output)

Go criteria for the next 24 months:

• Sustainable revenue
• Team plan and product roadmap
• Public profile generating inbound

Replan triggers (any time)

If any of these occur outside the gate schedule, stop and replan within one week:

• Tech Transfer cannot confirm owner-of-record within 4 weeks
• Three consecutive months of outreach with zero meetings booked
• Customer discovery shows no willingness-to-pay above £20k/yr in any segment
• Two KTP applications fail at Innovate UK assessment
• Competitor framework gets cited in BSI / ISO / AISI before RAIDT
• Sovereign AI larger programme opens with relevant asset class for RAIDT
• Senior Big-4 partner shows strong interest but asks for terms outside what Tech Transfer can authorise
• Personal capacity drops (illness, job change, supervision change)

Logging decisions

Every gate decision and replan should be logged in Decisions-Log with:

• Date
• Decision
• Evidence considered
• Alternatives rejected and why
• Owner

This becomes the audit trail when you, your supervisors, or future investors ask "why did you do X?"