What to decide before adopting AI or changing a process
A tool may be useful and still arrive before the company has agreed what problem it must solve and who will own the change.
Use the free worksheetThe first decision is not which technology to buy. Define the desired outcome, available evidence, alternatives and the person able to approve and sustain the change.
Three steps before deciding.
Describe the current work
Identify where time is lost, errors occur or one person becomes a bottleneck. Separate an observed fact from an interpretation: ‘three deliveries were late’ is not the same as ‘the team resists change’.
Compare real options
Include waiting, simplifying the process, trying a manual change, training the team and using technology. For each option, ask what it requires, what risk it adds and how you would know it improved things.
Agree ownership and a test
Name who approves, who will operate the change and who will review data, quality and risks. If a pilot makes sense, limit its process, duration, success criterion and stop condition.
See the question behind the decision.
If customer responses are slow, leadership could first identify where the queue forms: intake, allocation, missing information or approval. The appropriate response differs with the real bottleneck.
One-page decision matrix
Complete these prompts with people who know the process and with available facts. You need not enter company information on this website.
- 01
Decision and date
What exactly must be decided, and by when?
- 02
Facts and gaps
What do we know, from which source, and what remains an assumption?
- 03
Alternatives
What options exist, including improvement without a new tool?
- 04
Owners and limits
Who approves, who executes and which risk or data needs attention?
- 05
Test and review
What small change could we try, and what would justify expanding it?
What this matrix does not replace
It is not a technology audit, legal data assessment or implementation plan. A change involving sensitive information, specific obligations or several departments may also need specialist review and the relevant authorisations.