AI automation starts with the work.
Pick one task that keeps landing back on your plate. Before choosing another app, write down what starts the work, what happens next and what a finished result looks like.
Build a workflow brief ↓
Describe the work before choosing the tool
The Department of the Interior's guidance for rules-based process automation looks at repetition, task frequency, defined rules and clear inputs and outputs. Those are useful questions for a first brief. They do not establish whether a particular AI system can do your work.
Write the steps as they happen today. Include the spreadsheet, inbox or other handoff that a person still has to check. If the steps change from case to case, describe that too.
Leave room for the awkward cases
What happens when information is missing? Who decides when two records disagree? Which action needs a person's approval? Put those questions beside the happy path rather than leaving them for later.
A useful brief can end with an unanswered question. 'We do not know who owns this handoff' is more useful than pretending the handoff is settled.
Measure the current task
If you already have counts or time records, note the period they cover. Leave the field blank when you do not know. An observed workload is a starting point for comparison, not a promise of hours saved.
Describe a small result you could check, such as whether the right information reached the right person. Agree separately on scope, approvals and how a proposed change would be tested.
Build a workflow brief
Use one task. Leave out passwords, customer records and other private information; a made-up example is enough to describe the steps.
Your brief
My workflow automation discussion brief Task and current owner Not recorded Trigger and information received Not recorded Current steps and tools Not recorded Finished result and next handoff Not recorded Exceptions and human decisions Not recorded Observed workload and a result to check Not recorded
Bring this brief to the discussion about feasibility, scope and testing.
Sources and related pages
AI-assisted resource. Sources listed below.