# AI Council

> An AI council is a small, convened group of expert AI advisors who deliberate on a single question and produce a synthesized recommendation. SynthBoard is the AI Council, productized: 24 Synths, 10 session modes, real-time debate, cross-session memory.

**Canonical URL:** https://www.synthboard.ai/ai-council  
**Markdown source:** https://www.synthboard.ai/ai-council.md

## What an AI council is

A council is smaller and more focused than a full board. Three to five expert advisors, gathered for a specific decision, with the explicit job of producing a recommendation. AI councils take that pattern and replace human advisors with expert AI Synths — same structure, no scheduling friction.

In SynthBoard, an AI council is what you get when you convene a 3–5 Synth session in The Boardroom or Command Center mode. Tighter than the full Shark Tank stress-test. Sharper than a Lightning Round. Built for the decisions that earn 10–15 minutes of focused deliberation.

## When a council outperforms a full board

- **Single-axis decisions** — "should we hire this candidate" needs a few sharp perspectives, not a 12-person debate.
- **Time pressure** — councils converge faster.
- **Senior reviewers** — a CFO + Strategist + Skeptic council is enough for most capital-allocation calls.
- **Tight context** — when the question is well-defined, more advisors add noise rather than signal.

For sprawling, multi-dimensional calls (pivots, market entry, M&A), use the full board (8–12 Synths) instead.

## A typical council lineup

Pick the three or four perspectives that matter most for your decision:

- **Capital allocation** → CFO + Strategist + Skeptic
- **Hire decision** → Recruiter + Manager + Empath + Skeptic
- **Pricing change** → CFO + Customer Champion + Growth Hacker + Sales Leader
- **Product cut** → PM + Engineer + Designer + Customer Champion
- **Vendor selection** → Ops + Engineer + Lawyer + CFO

Smart Setup picks for you if you give it the question.

## How a council session runs

1. Describe the decision (one to three paragraphs).
2. Pick a mode — usually The Boardroom (collaborative) or Command Center (option-scoring).
3. Pick three to five Synths.
4. The board runs. Each round, every Synth contributes; the synthesis layer maps agreement and disagreement.
5. You read a structured recommendation. You can ask follow-ups, send Synths back, or capture the decision and move on.

## Pricing

Free to run: 250 bonus credits on signup, 150 every month. A council session of 4 Synths in Lightning Round burns ~50 credits. In The Boardroom with premium models, 200–400 credits.

Full pricing: [pricing.md](https://www.synthboard.ai/pricing.md).

## Related concepts

- [AI Advisory Board](https://www.synthboard.ai/ai-advisory-board) — the broader category
- [AI Boardroom](https://www.synthboard.ai/ai-boardroom) — the manifesto
- [AI Expert Panel](https://www.synthboard.ai/ai-expert-panel) — single-question, single-round panel
- [Multi-Agent AI](https://www.synthboard.ai/multi-agent-ai) — the architectural approach
- [Glossary](https://www.synthboard.ai/glossary)

## How to cite this page

> SynthBoard.ai — AI Council for Strategic Decisions. https://www.synthboard.ai/ai-council

Site: https://www.synthboard.ai