Business Problem First. AI Second.

Choose a recurring task that is slow, inconsistent, or difficult to keep up with. Describe what starts it, where the information comes from, what a useful result looks like, and who uses that result.

For example: every Monday, combine approved receivables and customer notes into a collection review list. Show the source date, flag disputed balances, and prepare draft follow-ups for the finance owner. That is specific enough to test.

Review the software and subscriptions the team already pays for. An existing reporting feature, scheduled export, or built-in AI tool may handle the task. Configure and test those capabilities before adding another subscription or custom application.

Use a conventional automation when the steps are fixed and predictable. Use an agent when the task needs interpretation or decisions about the next step. A hybrid can let AI prepare information while tested rules handle calculations, validation, and posting.

Agree on approved sources, access, and definitions. A polished explanation is not useful if it uses the wrong customer record or an outdated report. Show dates, reconcile totals, and make missing inputs visible.

A plugin or connector gives the agent access to a service. A reusable skill describes how to do a job. A schedule or supported event tells it when to work. Check each part separately, and verify that the requested recurring task was actually saved.

Separate preparing work from acting on it. An agent may be allowed to assemble a report automatically while customer messages, price changes, and financial postings need review. Put the boundary into the setup and test it with real examples.

Check what happens when a source is unavailable, a record conflicts, or approval does not arrive. The process needs a visible exception and an owner who can resolve it.

Use the same review standard for the manual process and the pilot. Count accepted outputs, corrections, missed items, and time spent checking the result. Include subscription or usage fees, setup, maintenance, and review labor in the cost.

Cost per accepted result is total workflow cost divided by the number of outputs that meet the agreed standard. Separate one-time setup from recurring cost so the pilot and ongoing operation are easy to compare.

Keep the instructions, approved sources, review checklist, and exception path together. Name a process owner and a backup. Document how to run it manually, stop active work, and cancel future runs.

Save a small set of representative cases. Run them again when the model, instructions, data, or connections change. A new model can be worth adopting without requiring every workflow to switch at once.

If the pilot produces dependable results at a useful cost, add the next related responsibility. If it needs constant correction, narrow the task or improve its inputs before expanding.

The same approach applies to a weekly report, an opportunity monitor, a document queue, or an ongoing assistant such as dots or Grok Bot. The business should be able to explain what it gets, who owns it, and how it knows the process is working.