What to Automate First With AI
A simple decision tree for picking your first AI automation: highest ROI, lowest risk, fastest to ship.
SMBs and mid-market teams deciding their first AI automation, before they pick a tool or vendor.
The 5-step process
Follow the steps in order. Skipping is how engagements go sideways.
- 1
List every repetitive workflow on a single page
Every recurring task: email triage, invoice processing, scheduling, follow-ups, reports, data entry, content production, document review. Aim for 10-20 candidate workflows in one place.
- 2
Score each workflow on volume
How many times per week does this happen? Workflows that happen 50+ times/week have ~10x the payback of workflows that happen 5 times/week. Volume is the single biggest predictor of ROI.
- 3
Score each on rule-based vs judgement-heavy
AI handles rule-based work reliably; judgement-heavy work needs human review. Start with workflows that are 80%+ rule-based with clear edge cases (invoice extraction, appointment booking, FAQ responses).
- 4
Score each on cost of failure
Sending a wrong invoice number to a customer is cheap and fixable; sending the wrong drug dosage is catastrophic. Start with low-cost-of-failure workflows so AI mistakes are forgivable while you are learning.
- 5
Pick the workflow that scores high on all three
The intersection of high volume, mostly rule-based, and low cost of failure is where you ship your first automation. The 3-4 workflows that meet all three are your candidate list; pick the one most painful to the team today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is customer support the right first automation?
Often yes, for businesses with 50+ inbound inquiries per week. Triage and FAQ chatbots have high volume, are mostly rule-based, and have low cost-of-failure (a wrong answer is recoverable with a quick human follow-up). For lower-volume businesses, lead follow-up or invoice processing usually beats it.
Should I automate email triage first?
For most knowledge workers, email triage is the most painful daily friction, but AI triage requires careful setup (otherwise you miss the important ones). Pilot it in the office or for one role first; do not roll it out to everyone in week one.
What is the worst thing to automate first?
Anything where: (a) the cost of an AI mistake is high (medical, legal, financial advice), (b) the workflow involves a lot of judgement, or (c) the workflow only happens 1-2x per month. These can all be automated eventually; they should not be project number one.
How long should the first automation take to ship?
1-3 weeks for a focused single-workflow automation. Anything that takes longer is over-scoped. Our Automation Starter package is built specifically around shipping one high-impact automation in 2-4 weeks.
Do I need to pick the tool first?
No, and you should not. Pick the workflow first, then pick the tool that fits. Most bad automation decisions start with someone falling in love with Make or Zapier and then going looking for problems.
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