The quickest way to waste money on AI is to start with a tool and hunt for somewhere to use it. Start instead with a process you already run, written out step by step, so you can see where a machine step could sit and what it must hand on.
Write the Process Down One Step at a Time
Pick one process: handling inbound support email, preparing the weekly operations report, qualifying sales inquiries. Put each step on its own line and record who performs it, what information they open to do it, and what they produce. Add rough timings and mark the steps where errors, rework or waiting happen.
Classify Each Step by the Kind of Work It Is
Label each step by the work it involves rather than the job title attached to it. Reading and summarizing, classifying into categories, extracting fields from messy text and drafting a first version are the kinds of work a model can attempt. Final judgment, accountability and anything needing information the model cannot see stay with a person.
Turn the Map Into a Design Brief
A finished map tells you three things you need later: where a machine step would sit, what it receives from the step before, and what the next step expects from it. That is the design brief. Processes with vague handoffs fail in pilots, because nobody agreed what the output should look like.
Action Step
Map one workflow this way, one step per line with owner, inputs, outputs and timing. Mark every step as AI candidate, human, or unclear, and write one risk beside each candidate. Keep the map; later lessons build on it.
This lesson is educational and reflects general practice. Results depend on your situation, market and effort; adapt what you learn to your own context.