Where to start with AI automation: choosing processes that pay off
Short answer
Start with processes that handle a lot of text, occur often, have a clear outcome and where a mistake is easy to fix: summarising documents, sorting email or extracting data from forms. Measure beforehand how much time it takes now, start with a version in which AI prepares and a person completes, and only expand once quality is proven. A process analysis up front stops you automating the wrong thing.
Five traits of a good candidate
- Lots of text. Language models are strong at reading, summarising, rewriting and structuring. Processes around documents, email and forms are the natural place to start.
- High volume. A task that occurs a hundred times a week yields more than one that comes up twice a year.
- A clear outcome. You can say when the result is good: the right category, the right fields, a summary that captures the essence.
- Recoverable mistakes. Start where a mistake is noticed and fixed before it does harm, not with payments or decisions about people.
- Available data. The information needed is digital, reachable and may be used for this purpose.
Examples that often pay off
| Process | What AI does | What the person does |
|---|---|---|
| Incoming email and tickets | Classify, summarise, draft a reply | Check and send |
| Case files and reports | Find relevant passages, first draft | Review and sign off |
| Forms and invoices | Extract and structure data | Assess exceptions |
| Internal questions | Answer from policy and handbooks, with source | Refer on when in doubt |
| Meetings | Minutes and action items | Complete and record |
A four-step approach
- Analyse first. Map where time is lost and which processes are suitable. The TIMA Scan by TIMA Labs does this in fourteen days and delivers the list of candidates that werqly automations come from.
- Measure the baseline. How much time does it take now, how many errors, what is the lead time? Without a baseline you cannot show what it delivers.
- Start with preparing, not executing. AI makes the draft, an employee completes it. Measure how often the draft is changed.
- Expand step by step. Only once quality is proven do you let AI do more. See AI agents under control.
Pitfalls
- Starting with the hardest case. A complex process with many exceptions makes a poor first pilot.
- No owner. Automation without a process owner who assesses the result dies after the pilot.
- Sending out data that must stay in. Many of the processes that pay off most revolve around sensitive data. That data in particular does not belong at an external AI service. See What is private AI?
- No place in policy. Include every automation in your AI register.
With werqly, all automations run on a dedicated node in your server room. They are built per customer, by werqly or another party, usually based on the TIMA Scan. In werqly AI Control your IT department decides who may start which automation.
Frequently asked questions
Questions on this topic
Which processes are best suited to AI automation?
Processes with a lot of text, high volume, a clear outcome and recoverable mistakes: sorting incoming email, summarising documents, extracting data from forms and answering questions from policy.
How do I measure whether AI automation pays off?
Measure the time, number of errors and lead time of the current process beforehand. Afterwards, measure the same, plus how often employees change the AI result. The difference is the return.
Should AI work on its own straight away?
No. Start with AI that prepares and an employee who completes. Only once quality is proven do you let AI do more steps itself, and irreversible actions preferably stay with a person.
What is the TIMA Scan?
An analysis by TIMA Labs that maps in fourteen days where growth in an organisation gets stuck and which processes are suitable for AI automation. The outcome is the starting point for what will run on a werqly node.
Sources
This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules and guidance change; check the sources listed or ask your lawyer or DPO if in doubt.