01Check that the workflow repeats often, has a clear owner, follows recognizable steps, and creates measurable time, revenue, or risk pain.
02Confirm source systems, sample records, missing fields, access permissions, retention rules, and the system of record before scoping AI work.
03Separate allowed AI preparation from approval-required, escalation, blocked, customer-sensitive, financial, legal, or permanent-record actions.
04Score whether the first pilot needs read-only access, draft preparation, system updates, custom integrations, or complex permissions.
05Review sensitive data, audit logs, fallback paths, incident response, monitoring needs, and who can pause the workflow.
06Capture current volume, manual minutes, cycle time, exception rate, revenue leakage, error cost, support effort, and owner time.
07Confirm reviewer capacity, test cases, launch support, success metrics, and the decision rule before turning readiness into a pilot plan.
08Move forward only when gaps are known: go to pilot, fix data or approvals, reduce scope, or wait until ownership is clear.