What Should You Automate First?

What makes a process a good candidate for automation?

Look for processes that are repetitive, rule based, time consuming, error prone or require people to repeatedly move information between systems.

Where should you start?

Start with processes that happen frequently, consume meaningful employee time and have clear inputs and outputs.

What about AI?

AI becomes especially useful when the process involves unstructured information such as documents, emails, images or natural language.

Traditional automation is often better when the process follows predictable rules.

What should you avoid automating?

Do not automate a broken process simply because technology makes it possible.

First understand why the process exists, where the friction occurs and whether the process itself should be simplified.

A simple automation checklist

Before automating a process, ask:

• →Does this happen frequently?
• →Is significant manual work involved?
• →Are people repeatedly copying or checking information?
• →Are the inputs and desired outputs reasonably clear?
• →Would reducing processing time or errors create meaningful value?
• →Can exceptions remain under human review?

Start with the problem

The right question is usually not: "Where can we use AI?"

It is: "What is taking too much time, creating unnecessary work or preventing us from moving faster?"

From there, determine whether the right solution is automation, AI, integration, a custom system or simply a better process.