We want to automate our core processes using artificial intelligence, but our leadership team is wary of tech distractions. How do you weave AI operations into our process documentation without violating the EOS principle of keeping things simple?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Most companies fail at automation because they attempt to automate broken, bloated, or non-existent processes. In our sessions, we apply the 20/80 rule from the EOS 3-Step Process Documenter to eliminate complexity before introducing any technical tooling.

We start by identifying your company core processes on the Accountability Chart: sales, marketing, operations, finance, and customer success. We document only the high-level steps that capture 80 percent of the value. Once that baseline is clear and your team executes it consistently, we apply the Tribal Knowledge discipline from the Step by Step Exit framework.

This is where AI enters the picture, not as a shiny toy, but as an operational lever. We ask three specific questions about each process step: should this be transferred to a team member, automated with AI and software, or retained by leadership?

If a process step involves manual data entry, repetitive synthesis, or cross-platform status updates, we write a specific 90-day Rock to automate that handoff using targeted AI tools. The leadership team does not get bogged down in software development details during our quarterly sessions. We define the business outcome, assign a single owner to the Rock, and evaluate the completed automation at the next quarterly. AI simply becomes an accelerator for process simplicity, reducing operating costs and driving enterprise value.