AI software purchases follow the same arc in most companies: someone sees a good demo, a subscription is bought, it gets used for two weeks and then it stays on the invoice. The tool was not bad. There simply was no particular job for it to do.
What job do I do every week, the same way, that I could explain step by step?
I have an answer
Write the steps exactly as you do them
- The written steps are the specification
- Your first agent handles one of those steps
- You check it after a week, not after a quarter
I have no answer
No tool is going to save you
- The subscription sits untouched on the invoice
- The problem is an undefined process, not the tool
- Clarify the process first, with people
Why “step by step” is the important part
Almost anyone can name a repetitive activity. Few can describe it in order, with what gets checked at each step and what happens when something is missing. The moment the description stalls is exactly the moment you have found what needs clarifying — and it is usually something with no relation to technology at all. It is also where any automation project starts: from the written steps, not from the tool.
A process you cannot explain to a new colleague cannot be explained to an agent either.
Terms used here
- Specification
- A step-by-step description of a process with its inputs, checks and result. It is everything an agent needs in order to start.
- Repeatable process
- An activity that runs the same way every time. If every case differs, it is a decision, not a process.
Where to start
- 1Answer the question for one single activity, in no more than ten steps.
- 2Cut the steps that require a human decision and keep the rest.
- 3Automate exactly one of the remaining steps and measure it for a week.
