How to scope an automation project

Start with frequency. A task done fifty times a day is a better automation candidate than a task done twice a month, almost regardless of how annoying the rare task is.

Then ask what the decision actually is. If a human is pattern-matching against a rule they could write down, that is automatable. If they are exercising judgement with incomplete information, that needs a human checkpoint.

Then find where the data already lives. Automation is mostly integration. If the information is trapped in a PDF or somebody's head, that is the real project.

Finally, define the failure case. What should happen when the system is not confident? An automation without a defined exception path becomes a source of silent errors.

Write the workflow in plain language

Name the trigger, the input, the destination and the person responsible. For example: a new enquiry arrives, required details are extracted, the team reviews missing information, and an approved record reaches the CRM with a follow-up task. This is an example scope, not a claim about a particular client implementation.

Then identify the system of record for each field. A contact name, job status or price can exist in several tools, but the workflow needs a rule for which source wins when they disagree.

Define the exception and acceptance checks

Ask what happens with a duplicate submission, an unreadable document, a missing customer or an unavailable API. Decide whether each case should retry, pause or reach a person. Financial, legal and safety decisions need an explicit human approval step.

Agree representative examples and expected outcomes before building. The acceptance criteria should test both the normal path and the exceptions, including the visibility of a failure and the information provided to the reviewer.

Choose a scope that can be quoted

The AI Opportunity Audit is $1,250 AUD and produces a workflow review, opportunity map and written scope and estimate. The $4,900 AUD Workflow Sprint covers one agreed workflow over two weeks. Multi-workflow or custom system builds start at $9,900 AUD and are scoped separately.

Account permissions, API access, software costs, hosting and support needs should be discussed before committing to a build. The audit fee is credited in full against a Sprint or Operations Build booked within 30 days. The pricing page is the current source for these engagement terms.