Phase 02
Build. Every Rubix consultant pairs with a client counterpart. The client engineer is in the room for every architecture decision, not handed the result.
Methodology
70-20-10 Adoption Model.
Capability-building pattern.
Category
MethodologyWhen we recommend it
Every Phase 03 engagement. The model is the discipline that produces client capability rather than client dependence.
What it is
The framework, what it covers, and the problem it addresses.
A capability-building pattern from the L&D literature: 70% of capability is built through on-the-job application, 20% through peer learning and mentoring, 10% through formal training. Applied to AI capability building, this means: most learning happens in the work, with a Rubix consultant and a client counterpart pairing on real engagements.
Why it matters
The reason this framework exists in the Rubix toolkit, and why omitting it is the wrong shortcut.
Most AI capability programs invert this ratio. They run formal training (10% in the model) as if it were 90%, send people to a workshop, and expect competence. It does not work. People learn by doing AI work next to people who already know how to do AI work. The 70-20-10 pattern is what produces an internal team capable of running the platform without us, not a team with certificates.
In the Kingdom and the GCC
Regional context. PDPL, SDAIA, Vision 2030, Saudization, and the operating realities that shape how this framework lands here.
Saudization has a capability-building dimension that is not just about hiring. Building a capable Saudi AI workforce inside an enterprise requires the on-the-job pairing model, because formal training alone produces certificates without competence. The 70-20-10 pattern is what makes Saudization authentic.
How Rubix applies it
The phases of the Rubix Way where this framework is operationalized, and what we do with it there.
Phase 03
Scale. The model is operationalized. Formal training (10%) is brand-internal certifications and external standards courses. Peer learning (20%) is the platform community of practice. On-the-job (70%) is wave-based use case delivery, where new client team members lead increasingly large parts of each wave.
Common pitfalls
The failure modes we have seen up close, written so the next engagement avoids them.
- 01
Treating the model as just a slogan. The 70-20-10 split is a budget allocation: how much consultant time is spent pairing vs. teaching vs. lecturing.
- 02
Pairing with junior client people only. Senior client team members need to pair too; otherwise the platform never has client-side senior ownership.
- 03
Skipping the 20% (peer learning) because it's hardest to schedule. The peer-learning layer is what produces a community of practice; without it, the team disperses when Rubix leaves.
Related frameworks