How to scope an enterprise AI pilot

How to scope an enterprise AI pilot

Advice: start with one small workflow whose inputs are recognizable and whose result someone can check. Define its source material, access boundaries, output and acceptance test before expanding.

Possible first tasks include preparing approved product information, drafting replies from a knowledge base or organizing customer feedback. Narrow an ambition such as “automate sales” to a smaller first deliverable.

Scope and acceptance checklist

Advice: use this checklist to make the proposed workflow and its acceptance boundaries concrete.

• Identify who needs the output and what triggers the task.
• Provide representative source material you are allowed to use.
• Show both an acceptable result and a result that must be rejected.
• List the systems the workflow may read or change.
• Agree which actions require approval and how errors are handed back.

What a demo establishes

A demo explains the workflow; it does not establish integration with a customer system or guarantee a specific outcome. The pilot scope, implementation and acceptance criteria are agreed for the project.

Measure the same task before and during the pilot

Advice: compare review time, correction effort, failed cases and whether the output was used for the same task before and during the pilot. Record missing business results separately from a measured zero.