Start where pain is obvious
Pick one workflow with measurable waste: intake triage, scheduling coordination, customer follow-up, or recurring reporting.
Measure before automating
Track baseline metrics for 2-4 weeks:
Build with staged risk
McKinsey reports strong intent to invest in AI, but enterprise maturity is still low. That gap is exactly why pilots should be narrow, measurable, and reversible.
Pilot sequence:
Tie outcomes to budget decisions
PwC reports that organizations adopting AI agents often cite productivity gains and cost savings. Use those dimensions in your pilot scorecard so expansion decisions are tied to business outcomes, not novelty.
Sources
- Cycle time (request to completion)
- Staff hours consumed
- Rework rate or error rate
- Revenue impact (if applicable)
- Week 1: map process and define success thresholds.
- Week 2-3: implement controlled automation with audit logs.
- Week 4+: evaluate results, decide whether to expand scope.
- [McKinsey: Superagency in the Workplace (Jan 2025)](https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/superagency-in-the-workplace-empowering-people-to-unlock-ais-full-potential-at-work)
- [PwC AI Agent Survey](https://www.pwc.com/us/en/tech-effect/ai-analytics/ai-agent-survey.html)