The method
Acceleration
Phase two links AI with the systems you already use. Your newly capable team can now describe the repetitive work clearly enough to remove it.
What happens
- Map the process first to learn what happens and which steps should remain
- Integration with your current tools, with no rip-and-replace project
- Automations with human review wherever the stakes are high
- Monthly results measured against baselines set before the pilot
Why it works
Phase one prepares your people to write the automation requirements themselves, since the team knows both the work and the tools. Automations built in the right order get used, because the users did the building.
Are you ready for it?
Your team is ready for phase two when people use AI each week and can name the manual steps that frustrate everyone. The list becomes the automation backlog. If nobody can map an entire process from beginning to end, the team is not ready yet.
Starting here is the most common mistake. When people cannot specify an automation or judge whether it works, the result becomes shelfware attached to an integration bill.
Week to week
Phase two alternates between mapping and building each week. One session traces a process from end to end with the people who do the work, and the next reviews a working automation for the steps that remain. Every build comes with an owner, a written runbook, and a measurement. The person whose work an automation touches must confirm the automation is right before anything goes live. The rule costs days and saves quarters.
Each phase closes with a written review of what was measured and learned, plus a candid recommendation on whether the next phase is worth starting yet.