AI for a small business: plan one useful, reviewable pilot

Start an AI project with one repetitive task, the information it needs and a person who can judge the output. A pilot should help you decide whether to continue, change direction or stop. Buying a tool is not the same as fixing the workflow.

Does the task need AI?

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These are planning examples, not claims about client systems The Strategy has delivered. A missing owner, outdated price sheet or contradictory policy needs attention before any automation is trusted with it.

Write a one-page pilot brief

• Task: what happens today, how often and who does it?
• Inputs: which approved files or records contain the answer?
• Output: a draft, summary or suggestion with a defined format.
• Reviewer: who checks facts and approves any action?
• Limits: what must the tool never promise, send or change?
• Fallback: what happens when information is missing or conflicting?
• Decision: which evidence would justify continuing?

For example: “Prepare a draft reply to a website enquiry using the approved service scope. Link the relevant source for the reviewer. If delivery timing is absent, ask the team to confirm it. Never invent a delivery date or send the reply automatically.”

Prepare examples that reveal mistakes

Choose permitted, de-identified examples where possible. Include a normal enquiry, an unclear request, a missing price, conflicting source documents and a request outside your service. Keep some examples aside so the final check is not just a replay of the examples used while adjusting the workflow.

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Set the acceptance rules before reviewing the results. For a customer-facing draft pilot, an invented price or unauthorised promise should send that output back for correction. A polished tone should not hide a factual mistake.

Include the cost of checking

Illustrative calculation, not a savings claim: suppose 20 replies take six minutes each today: 120 minutes. A pilot takes two minutes to prepare each draft and three to check it: 100 minutes. The apparent saving is 20 minutes before setup, subscriptions, corrections and maintenance. If difficult replies need to be rewritten, that small saving can disappear.

Compare like-for-like tasks and include unsuccessful attempts. Also ask whether staff can understand the suggested answer and complete the work when the tool is unavailable.

Check information access before a live trial

Identify what customer or staff information is involved, the provider receiving it, available access controls, retention settings and the terms applying to the chosen product. Confirm these with the provider’s current documentation for that exact service and plan. Do not assume a consumer chatbot, paid business workspace and API have identical arrangements.

Begin with the smallest necessary access. Keep a person responsible for external messages, payments and changes to records until the specific workflow and its authorisation rules have been tested and agreed.

Bring the task, not a list of AI features

Our AI service starts with a scoped workflow discussion, quoted separately from website packages. Send a description of the task, its frequency, the software involved and a redacted example of the desired output. Do not send passwords, private customer files or payment details in the initial enquiry. We can then identify what would need to be assessed before proposing a pilot.