# What should you automate first? | Working Pace

Canonical: https://workingpace.com/guides/workflow-automation-guide
Updated: 2026-10-22

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# What should you automate first?

Choose a frequent, well-understood process with a clear completion condition and manageable exceptions. The best first project reduces a real operational burden and gives the team a result it can verify.

By [Working Pace](https://workingpace.com/about)Updated 22 October 2026

Image: One complete repeatable process selected from three workflow candidates.

Choose a complete, repeatable process whose result you can check.

On this page

- [Follow one real example.](#chapter-1)
- [Score the opportunity before choosing the technology.](#chapter-2)
- [Separate rules, AI interpretation and human decisions.](#chapter-3)
- [Agree on a baseline and a pilot boundary.](#chapter-4)
- [A practical first-project brief.](#chapter-5)

## Follow one real example.

Ask someone who does the work to walk through the last completed request. Where did it start? What did they copy? Which system was trusted? When did they wait, and how did they know the work was done?

Watch for the activity between systems. Copying a record, checking an attachment and chasing an update may not appear on a formal process chart, but they often account for much of the effort. Record both time spent and time waiting.

## Score the opportunity before choosing the technology.

Use a simple relative score to compare candidates. High frequency is useful, but only when the result is valuable and the error consequences are understood.

Question | Stronger first candidate | Reason to investigate further |
Can we define done? | An observable complete record or handoff | A vague goal such as improve productivity |
Are inputs accessible? | Supported systems and clear permissions | Unknown access, ownership or data quality |
Can we detect errors? | Validation and a recoverable exception path | Silent errors with consequential effects |
Will the team use it? | A named owner and a recurring burden | No sponsor for the operating change |

## Separate rules, AI interpretation and human decisions.

A fixed approval rule does not need a language model. Reading an unstructured email may benefit from one. A consequential judgment may belong with a person even when the surrounding administration is automated.

Draw these as different responsibilities. This makes a project easier to test and helps the team understand why the system acted. Avoid making an entire workflow autonomous merely because one step uses AI.

## Agree on a baseline and a pilot boundary.

Pick a measure that represents the problem: completion within a time window, manual touches per request, exception age or staff time spent collecting information. Record the current process before changing it.

Pilot on a limited workflow, team or account group with a recovery plan. Compare representative periods and note changes in volume, staffing and data quality. Do not call every difference an automation effect.

## A practical first-project brief.

Write a one-page brief before a feature specification. It should let someone outside the process understand what needs to improve and what is not yet known.

- Trigger, inputs, owner and completion condition
- Current tools and the most common exceptions
- Baseline measure and desired direction of improvement
- Actions requiring approval
- Pilot boundary, recovery plan and operating owner

Keep exploring

## Continue reading.

[Workflow automation consulting](https://workingpace.com/services/workflow-automation)[AI agents vs workflow automation](https://workingpace.com/guides/ai-agents-vs-workflow-automation)[Document intake automation](https://workingpace.com/solutions/document-intake-automation)[Carrier-request AI agent](https://workingpace.com/work/carrier-request-agent)

Start where you are

## Put this into context for your business.

Bring the workflow, question or decision you are weighing. We can talk through a practical next step.

[Talk through your situation](https://workingpace.com/book)

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