Most stalled AI programs fail the same intake test. Run this checklist with the person who owns the workflow—not only the person who owns the innovation budget.
- One metric. Cost, cycle time, exception rate, labor hours, or dollars recovered. If you can’t name it, you’re not ready to automate it.
- Workflow owner. A named human who lives in the queue on Tuesday. No owner, no adoption.
- Systems list. Where work actually lives: ERP, EHR, WMS, shared drives, email, portals.
- Data slice. A thin, real sample—not a cleaned demo set. Messy is expected.
- Risk flags. PHI, OT, safety, quality, payment authority, customer-facing disputes.
- Control stance. Where human-in-the-loop is mandatory. Write it down before a vendor demo.
- Kill criteria. What “stop” looks like at day 30 / 60 / 90. See kill criteria in an AI SOW.
- Non-goals. What you will not boil the ocean on in phase one.
If more than two boxes are empty, start with a 2–4 week assessment—not a platform bake-off.