Your AI is impressive. Your demo is killer. The pilot went great.
And then the enterprise deal stalls.
Not because the AI isn't good. Because somewhere between the demo and the purchase order, someone asked questions you couldn't answer.
The data tells the story:
- **Only 15%** of IT application leaders are even *considering* fully autonomous AI agents (Gartner, 2025)
- **Only 13%** strongly agreed they had the right governance structures for AI
- **Only 31%** of organizations have a formal AI policy — despite 83% believing employees use AI (ISACA)
Here are the deal-killing questions and what buyers actually want to hear:
**"What happens when the AI is wrong?"**
Bad: "It rarely makes mistakes."
Good: "High-risk actions require human approval. Full audit trails. Error rates monitored in real-time."
**"Can you prove what the AI decided and why?"**
Bad: "Sophisticated machine learning algorithms."
Good: "Every action logged with input context, confidence, decision, and outcome. Exportable audit reports."
**"How do we control what the AI is allowed to do?"**
Bad: "The AI handles most situations well."
Good: "You define policies. Allowed, denied, or requires approval. Scoped by role, risk level, or time of day."
Most vendors prepare for the technical evaluation. Maybe security. They get blindsided by compliance, procurement, and legal — which are 80% of the purchase decision.
The EU AI Act carries penalties up to 35M euros. SOC 2 now includes AI-specific controls. Enterprise buyers aren't asking about governance because they're curious — their legal team made them ask.
**[Read the full article with the Enterprise Readiness Checklist and 6-phase trust model →]( https://aictrlnet.com/blog/2026/02/why-enterprises-wont-buy-your-ai/ )**
**Hashtags**: #AIGovernance #EnterpriseSales #B2BSaaS #AICompliance
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