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What to automate first: a 4-question test for SMEs
A simple scoring method to pick the first AI automation project: frequency, clarity, cost of the manual work and cost of a mistake.
Published: 6 min read
Written by: The Automata AI Cégeknek teamWhy the first project matters more than the tenth
The first automation sets the team's expectations. If it saves ten hours a week and never breaks, the second one is easy to approve. If it is a clever demo that nobody uses, the topic is closed for a year. So the first project should be boring, frequent and measurable.
The four questions
Score each candidate process from 1 to 5 on each question and add them up.
- 01Frequency: how many times a week does it run? 1 is monthly, 5 is dozens of times a day.
- 02Clarity: could you write the steps on one page? 1 is 'it depends', 5 is 'anyone could follow it'.
- 03Manual cost: hours per week times the hourly cost of the people doing it.
- 04Error cost: what happens when it is done late or wrong? 1 is nothing, 5 is a lost customer.
Typical winners
In our scoping calls the same four processes score highest again and again: missed inbound calls, invoice data entry, first reply to web leads, and support questions that have a documented answer. Each runs daily, is easy to describe and has a visible cost.
What to measure before you start
Write down the baseline for one week: how many times the process ran, how long it took, how many mistakes. Without it you cannot prove the automation worked, and proof is what unlocks the next project.
Frequently asked questions
Should the first project be the biggest pain point?
Only if it also scores high on frequency and clarity. A painful but vague process is a bad first project; fix an easy, frequent one first and return to the painful one with credibility.
How much should a first AI automation cost?
A fixed price that pays back within roughly three months from the measured manual cost. If the numbers do not support that, the scope is wrong, not the price.
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