Scope and price an AI automation pilot

Who would use this?

A business owner with one recurring, measurable workflow problem.

An open-ended AI proposal hides the deliverable, operating costs, review work and criteria for accepting the result.

A concrete pilot offer

A fixed-scope pilot brief with a baseline, test cases, acceptance criteria, cost assumptions and handover responsibilities.

Build the workflow

1. Choose one recurring task and record its current volume, time and error baseline.
2. Define the inputs, output, integrations, excluded actions and human reviewer.
3. Estimate delivery effort and ongoing costs; agree acceptance tests before starting.
4. Run the pilot on permitted examples and report measured outcomes before proposing expansion.

Walk through the example

The full prompt

Replace the bracketed inputs. Use synthetic or appropriately permitted data. The prompt drafts a result; the surrounding application must enforce permissions, checks and approvals.

Draft a one-page AI automation pilot brief using VERIFIED DISCOVERY NOTES. Do not invent ROI, revenue, savings or client testimonials. Include buyer problem, baseline, permitted inputs, exact output, integrations, human review, exclusions, acceptance tests, delivery assumptions, recurring cost categories and handover owner. Separate estimates from measured facts. Ask about missing commercial terms rather than choosing them.

DISCOVERY NOTES: [redacted verified notes]
COST INPUTS: [effort, software and support assumptions]
OUTPUT: pilot_brief, open_questions, measurement_plan

Test before delivery

• Scope names the exact output and excluded actions.
• Value assumptions are labelled estimates.
• Acceptance tests and ownership are agreed before rollout.

Measure: Observed time saved net of review and operating cost.

Is the workflow worth a pilot?

Replace these sample assumptions with the buyer’s figures. Time capacity is not automatically cash savings or revenue.

Delivery effort, setup fees, error costs and demand are not included. Validate the assumptions during the pilot before using them in a proposal.

Scope the service before quoting

Agree the input volume, exact output, integration access, human reviewer, acceptance tests and handover owner. Quote implementation effort separately from ongoing software, API usage and support. Validate customer demand through real conversations.

These examples demonstrate a possible service. They do not report client results or establish an income expectation.

Keep the guide

Go deeper into the engineering

The linked note includes additional examples and primary documentation. Provider capabilities change; check the relevant docs before implementation.