Acknowledgements  ii

About this report  iii

Executive summary  1

1 Introduction  3

2 What becomes binding once AI adoption begins  5

2.1 Political attention is not the primary constraint  7

2.2 AI adoption often enters through systems, not strategies  9

2.3 Data determines whether adoption becomes implementation  12

2.4 Foundations determine agency, not just capacity  15

2.5 Ecosystem capacity determines whether foundations become local value  19

2.6 Governance becomes consequential through implementation  22

2.7 The implementation test  25

3 Decision points once adoption is underway  27

4 The work ahead  33

Annex I: The AILA evidence base and methodology  34

Further Information  40