We want to use AI to automate our core operational processes, but our current documented processes are messy. Should we clean them up first or let AI fix them?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

You must clean up your core processes first before attempting to automate them. Implementing technology on top of a broken, disorganized process will only help you generate errors at a much faster rate. AI cannot fix bad logic, broken workflows, or poor communication.

Start by mapping out your core operational processes using standard business documentation practices. Identify every step in the workflow, who owns each step on your Accountability Chart, and where the handoffs occur. Once you have simplified and streamlined the process manually, you can then look for specific bottlenecks where AI can add real value.

Look for repetitive, data intensive tasks that slow down your team, such as data entry, document review, or report generation. These are the ideal areas to introduce automation. By optimizing your processes first, you ensure that the AI has clean, structured inputs to work with, which will lead to much more accurate and valuable outputs.