croissantHow to choose your first business automation project
Prioritise a workflow that is frequent, understandable, and small enough to test before expanding.
The first automation project should teach you how your business will operate an automated workflow. Choose something useful enough to matter but bounded enough to stop and correct. A narrower pilot often reveals more than an ambitious project that never reaches everyday use.
Look at frequency and friction together
A task performed every day is not automatically the best candidate. Ask how long it takes, how variable the inputs are, and how much coordination it requires. A quick task with complex exceptions may offer less value than a longer but well-defined reporting process.
Check whether the inputs are ready
Automation needs access to the right information. If essential facts live only in someone’s memory, document them before building. Confirm who owns each system and which integrations are available. Treat missing data as part of the project scope, rather than a surprise after a prototype works.
Example: comparing two candidates
Suppose you are choosing between summarising a weekly operations meeting and handling all customer requests. The meeting summary has a fixed input and a known reader, while the inbox may contain negotiations, complaints, and unrelated mail. Starting with the summary can establish the team’s review process and source-handling habits. That does not mean inbox automation is unsuitable; it means its first scope might need to be triage alone rather than end-to-end resolution.
Choose a measurable finish
Define what a completed unit of work looks like. For a weekly summary, that could be a report containing the agreed sections with links to its source records. Track corrections and review time alongside production time so you can judge whether the workflow actually reduces effort.
A reality check before you hit run
Anthropic recommends the simplest solution that meets the need. Some first projects need a predictable workflow rather than an autonomous agent. [1]
Anthropic describes evaluations that expose failures before release. Choose a first workflow whose success you can check. [2]
Implementation checklist
- Choose a task with a clear trigger and finish.
- Identify the owner and the source information.
- Include exception and correction work in the estimate.
- Set a review point before expanding scope.
The sources behind the sauce.
Primary research and official documentation behind the cited points. The workflow examples and checklists are Croissant’s own guidance.