How to Pick Your First Workflow to Automate
By Stephane Morera
You know AI automation can save time. But where do you actually start? Automating the wrong thing first can waste money and kill momentum. Automating the right thing can pay for itself in weeks.
Here's a simple framework for choosing.
The Automation Scorecard
Rate each workflow on four criteria (1-5 scale):
1. Frequency
How often does this task happen?
- 5: Multiple times daily
- 3: A few times per week
- 1: Once a month or less
Higher frequency = higher ROI from automation.
2. Predictability
How consistent is the process?
- 5: Same steps every time
- 3: Mostly the same with occasional variations
- 1: Different every time, requires judgment
Predictable tasks are easier and cheaper to automate reliably.
3. Time cost
How long does it take each occurrence?
- 5: 30+ minutes per occurrence
- 3: 10-30 minutes
- 1: Under 5 minutes
The more time per occurrence, the more you save.
4. Error impact
What happens when this task is done wrong?
- 5: Minor inconvenience, easily fixed
- 3: Moderate impact, takes effort to correct
- 1: Severe consequences, hard to undo
Start with tasks where errors are forgivable — you'll have room to iterate.
Add up your score
- 16-20: Automate this first. High frequency, predictable, time-consuming, and low risk.
- 12-15: Strong candidate. Worth building a business case for.
- 8-11: Maybe later. The ROI might not justify the investment yet.
- 4-7: Skip it. Either too rare, too unpredictable, or too risky.
Common first automations that work
Based on what we see with clients:
- Email triage and routing (Score: 18-20) — Classify incoming emails and route to the right person or template
- Lead follow-up (Score: 16-18) — Send personalized follow-up sequences after first contact
- Report generation (Score: 15-17) — Pull data and generate formatted reports on schedule
- Appointment reminders (Score: 16-18) — Automated confirmations and reminders
- Invoice processing (Score: 14-16) — Extract data from invoices and enter into accounting
The one rule
Start with one workflow. Not three. Not five. One.
Get it working, measure the results, build confidence — then expand. The businesses that try to automate everything at once usually end up automating nothing well.
Next step
Not sure which workflow to start with? Take our free AI Readiness Audit and we'll help you identify your highest-impact automation opportunity.