Ethosby Alyve.

The process

What actually happens in an Ethos session.

Five stages, thirty minutes per leader, one alignment reveal. Run it asynchronously across a week, or condense it into a single facilitated workshop. Either way, the room ends with the same artefacts and — more importantly — the same clarity.

Mode 01

Async study

3–5 days end-to-end · 30 min per leader

Each leader receives a magic link and works through the five stages at their own pace. They can think out loud with voice input, brainstorm privately per stage, and pause whenever they need. When enough voices are in, the facilitator synthesises the draft constitution and shares it back.

  1. 01Facilitator sets the organisational context (values, strategy, current AI use).
  2. 02Leaders receive magic-link invitations by email.
  3. 03Each leader completes the 5 stages privately over 3–5 days.
  4. 04Facilitator synthesises the group's draft AI constitution.
  5. 05Leaders review, refine, and ratify the constitution online.

Best for Distributed teams, senior leaders with unpredictable calendars, or organisations wanting evidence before convening the room.

Mode 02

Facilitated workshop

1 week pre-work · 90-min live session

Participants complete Stages 1–5 asynchronously as pre-work. The team then convenes for a single 90-minute session where the facilitator opens the alignment reveal, walks through disagreement, and leads the room to ratification live.

  1. 01Facilitator sets the organisational context and invites the team.
  2. 02Leaders complete pre-work over 3–5 days.
  3. 03Live session: facilitator opens the alignment reveal.
  4. 04The room debates high-tension principles together.
  5. 05Constitution is ratified in the room and adopted the same day.

Best for Executive teams who want to feel the disagreement together, or organisations formalising AI governance in front of a board.

The five stages

What every leader walks through.

The same five stages run in both modes. Ethos asks for reasoning, not just positions, and gently interrogates weak arguments before the room sees them.

  1. 01

    Stakeholder lens

    Who are we optimising AI for — customers, staff, shareholders, society? Rank and reason.

  2. 02

    Core tensions

    Speed vs. deliberation. Volume vs. quality. Automation vs. augmentation. Pick sides, with reasoning.

  3. 03

    Cultural dials

    How assertive should the AI be? How cautious? How willing to challenge a user? Calibrate.

  4. 04

    Principle hierarchy

    When two principles collide, which wins? This is the hardest question and the one nobody has answered.

  5. 05

    Non-negotiables

    The lines you never cross, whatever the productivity gain. Named, reasoned, and signed off.

What you leave with

Four artefacts. Same day.

Nothing here is a slide deck. Every artefact is meant to be deployed, referenced, or tabled the week after the session.

Artefact 01

AI Constitution

A short, plain-language document — every principle carries its reasoning, its dissenting view, and the decision rule that resolves conflict.

Artefact 02

Deployable system prompt

The constitution translated into a production-ready system prompt for Claude, Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise, or any AI tool your organisation runs.

Artefact 03

Divergence report

Where the room started, where it moved, and where meaningful disagreement remains. Named voices, minority arguments, and Round 2 shifts.

Artefact 04

One-page governance summary

Board-ready evidence of real AI oversight: who was in the room, what was decided, and what the organisation now stands for.

Facilitator playbook

How to run the workshop.

This is the working guide for facilitators. It assumes the leadership team has completed pre-work and you're convening a 90-minute live session.

Before the session (1 week out)

  • · Confirm 6–12 leaders. Include at least one voice you expect to dissent.
  • · Upload your values statement, strategy summary, and any existing AI guidance in the session setup.
  • · Send magic-link invitations at least 5 working days ahead.
  • · Monitor the roster daily. Nudge stragglers privately at day 3.
  • · Aim for ≥80% pre-work completion before opening the live session.

Setting the room (first 10 min)

  • · Open with the question, not the tool: “What is AI actually for, here?”
  • · Remind the room: individual answers stayed private until now.
  • · Frame disagreement as the point, not the problem.
  • · Walk through the four artefacts they will leave with today.
  • · State the decision rule: majority ratifies, dissent is recorded.

The alignment reveal (20 min)

  • · Open the Present view. Do not narrate every chart.
  • · Anchor on the two or three stages with the highest divergence.
  • · Ask the outliers to speak first — never call them out by name.
  • · Read one strong minority argument out loud before any vote.
  • · Move on once the room has heard the disagreement, not resolved it.

Round 2 & ratification (50 min)

  • · Open Round 2 for any stage where alignment is below 60%.
  • · Give leaders 10 minutes to revise, then close the round.
  • · Walk the room through the draft constitution article by article.
  • · Take ratification live — everyone signs in the room.
  • · Adopt the constitution before the meeting ends. Momentum matters.

After the session (same week)

  • · Export the constitution PDF and the deployable system prompt.
  • · Circulate the divergence report to the exec within 48 hours.
  • · Table the one-page governance summary at the next board meeting.
  • · Book a 30-day check-in to review how the principles held up in practice.

Facilitator hygiene

  • · You are not the expert on their principles. You are the referee.
  • · Never argue a position. Argue for clarity of reasoning.
  • · Protect the minority voice. The instrument already does this — reinforce it verbally.
  • · If the room stalls, name the tension out loud and force a decision rule.
  • · End on adoption, not on debate. A constitution nobody signed is a memo.

Common pitfalls

  • · Opening the live session before pre-work is complete — the reveal loses its weight.
  • · Letting the loudest voice speak first in the reveal — anchor on the data instead.
  • · Reopening Round 2 more than once per stage — it becomes negotiation, not conviction.
  • · Postponing ratification “to think about it.” The constitution loses 40% of its authority every week it sits unsigned.

FAQ

Questions facilitators and leadership teams ask.

How the two modes differ, what to expect, and how to get the most from each format.

Which mode should we choose — async or facilitated?↓
Choose async when calendars are hard to align or you want leaders to reflect privately before any group discussion. Choose facilitated when the team needs to feel the disagreement together and ratify in one room. Many teams run async first, then convene a shorter facilitated session to ratify.
How much time does each leader actually need?↓
Most leaders complete the five stages in 25–35 minutes. The voice-input scratchpad lets them think out loud, so even busy executives can finish in short windows across a few days.
Can we switch from async to facilitated halfway through?↓
Yes. Run the async study to collect individual input, then open a facilitated session for the alignment reveal, Round 2, and ratification. The tool carries the pre-work into the live room.
What if some leaders skip the pre-work?↓
The facilitator dashboard shows completion rates and flags stuck participants. We recommend nudging privately at day three and only opening the live session once at least 80% of leaders have completed the stages.
Is individual input visible to others?↓
No. Stage responses and brainstorm transcripts are private to each leader until the facilitator synthesises the group draft. The synthesis only shows aggregated patterns and selected anonymous quotes — never who said what.
How does ratification work in async mode?↓
After synthesis, the facilitator opens the ratification phase. Each leader receives a link to review the draft constitution and record their vote. The constitution is adopted once the majority ratifies it.
What artefacts do we get at the end?↓
Four artefacts: an AI Constitution, a deployable system prompt, a Divergence report, and a one-page governance summary. Everything is designed to be circulated, tabled, or deployed the week after the session.
Do we need an AI expert in the room?↓
No. Ethos is built for leadership teams, not engineers. The facilitator guides the conversation about values, tensions, and decision rules — the tool translates the output into a production-ready system prompt.
How should we prepare as a leadership team?↓
Send the invitations early, block 30 minutes of focused time, and encourage leaders to answer from their real context rather than what they think the group wants. The best sessions include at least one expected dissenter.
What makes a facilitated session successful?↓
Complete pre-work, a strong opening question, anchoring on the data during the reveal, protecting minority voices, and closing on adoption. The facilitator is a referee for clarity, not an advocate for any position.

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