Start with workflow pain
The best first AI project is usually not the most futuristic. It is a repetitive workflow where quality, speed, consistency, or visibility can improve.
Good use-case criteria
- High repetition or high information load.
- Clear input and output.
- Enough examples or documents.
- Human review is possible.
- Value can be measured.
- Risk is acceptable for a pilot.
Bad first projects
- Ambiguous goals.
- No data or inaccessible data.
- High legal, safety, or reputation risk.
- Projects that require perfect accuracy on day one.
- Automation that no team is ready to adopt.
Pilot structure
A good pilot has narrow scope, defined users, sample data, clear success metrics, safety boundaries, budget cap, and a decision date. At the end, decide to scale, iterate, or stop.
Business metrics
Track time saved, error reduction, customer response speed, manual workload, revenue support, adoption rate, and cost per completed task.