We know we need AI but don't know where to start. What should we do first?

A simple four-step start

First, map the work: ask each team to list what they repeat every week and roughly how long it takes. Second, score each task on volume, consistency and risk if it goes wrong. Third, write a one-page AI policy so staff know which tools are approved and what data must never go into them. Fourth, pilot one task for a few weeks and measure the result against how it was done before.

Resist the urge to start with the most impressive idea. Start with the most boring high-volume task; that is where the hours are.

Signs you are ready, and signs you are not

You are ready if the process is reasonably stable, someone owns it, and the information it needs is stored somewhere digital. You are not ready if the process changes every week, lives in one person's head, or depends on paper. Fix those first; AI amplifies a messy process rather than fixing it.

ForceMX's free call works through this with you and ends with a short list of where AI would pay off first, and where it would not.