CPMAI’s Phase I – Business Understanding focuses on clearly defining the business problem, aligning AI efforts with organizational goals, and establishing measurable success criteria including ROI expectations. PMI’s own overview of CPMAI notes that in this phase, teams should “set success criteria” and define both KPIs and ROI expectations so that everyone understands what success and failure look like before moving on

Other CPMAI-oriented resources describe Phase I artefacts such as a problem statement, AI pattern fit, stakeholder analysis, and a preliminary ROI sheet that quantifies expected benefits and costs. In the scenario, the hospital has already identified where the cognitive solution will be applied, quantified business objectives, and defined KPIs. What is still missing from the core Phase I deliverables is a clear view of the project’s expected ROI, linking reduced paper records and process improvements to financial and operational value.

Beginning prototype development (B) belongs to later modeling phases, exploring external data sources (D) is part of Data Understanding, and interdepartmental strategies (C) are broader organizational actions rather than a specific Phase I gating item. To progress to the next CPMAI phase in a way that matches the methodology, the team must determine the project ROI, making option A the correct answer.