{
  "slug": "stop-guessing-which-process-to-automate-first",
  "title": "Stop guessing which process to automate first",
  "date": "2026-03-16",
  "featuredClaim": "A 5-prompt AI chain that scores your processes and picks the highest-ROI automation target",
  "description": "A 5-prompt chain that helps small and mid-size companies identify their highest-ROI process for AI automation instead of picking based on vibes. The article argues that most AI projects fail due to poor process selection, not technical execution, and provides a scoring system to evaluate candidates on AI readiness, pain level, strategic impact, and ease of implementation.",
  "keyPoints": [
    "74% of companies struggle to move AI pilots into production due to unclear business cases and misaligned priorities, not technical complexity",
    "The 5-prompt chain takes you from a vague AI idea to a full transformation plan with owners, KPIs, timelines, and tool recommendations in one session",
    "Prompt 2 scores every candidate process across four criteria and ranks the top 5 in a transparent table",
    "The same chain can be packaged by consultants as a paid client deliverable"
  ],
  "topics": [
    {
      "id": "strategy",
      "slug": "ai-strategy",
      "label": "AI Strategy",
      "description": "Strategic planning and implementation approaches for AI adoption"
    },
    {
      "id": "implementation",
      "slug": "ai-implementation",
      "label": "Implementation",
      "description": "Hands-on implementation techniques and frameworks"
    },
    {
      "id": "business",
      "slug": "ai-business-applications",
      "label": "Business Applications",
      "description": "Real-world business use cases and applications"
    }
  ],
  "claims": [
    "A McKinsey survey from 2024 found 74% of companies struggle to move AI pilots into production.",
    "The McKinsey report identifies unclear business cases and misaligned priorities as top blockers, not technical complexity.",
    "Prompt 2 scores every candidate process across AI readiness, pain level, strategic impact, and ease.",
    "The 5-prompt chain produces a transformation plan with named owners, KPI tables, and phased timelines.",
    "Prompt 5 stress-tests the transformation guide for weak spots and provides a same-week quick win."
  ],
  "claimTitles": [
    "McKinsey Pilot Failure Rate",
    "Blockers Are Strategic, Not Technical",
    "Four-Criteria Process Scoring",
    "Complete Plan in One Session",
    "Built-In Stress Test"
  ],
  "originalUrl": "https://aiadopters.club/p/which-process-to-automate",
  "claimProvenance": [
    "source-summary",
    "source-summary",
    "source-summary",
    "source-summary",
    "source-summary"
  ],
  "quote": "The failure mode is selection, not execution.",
  "keyStatistics": [
    {
      "stat": "74%",
      "context": "Percentage of companies that struggle to move AI pilots into production, per a 2024 McKinsey survey cited in the article"
    },
    {
      "stat": "5 prompts",
      "context": "Number of prompts in the chain that takes users from a vague AI idea to a finished transformation plan in one session"
    },
    {
      "stat": "12 questions",
      "context": "Length of the business profile diagnostic in Prompt 1 that collects company information before scoring"
    },
    {
      "stat": "Top 5 processes",
      "context": "Number of ranked candidate processes Prompt 2 outputs in a transparent scoring table"
    }
  ],
  "supportingContext": "The article argues that small and mid-size companies most often fail at AI adoption because they select the wrong process to automate, not because the technology underperforms. The author's methodology replaces intuition-based selection with a structured scoring system evaluating AI readiness, pain level, strategic impact, and ease of implementation. The 5-prompt chain is designed to run in a single sitting in any major AI tool, including ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok. Practitioners can apply the output directly as a working document with owners, KPIs, and phased timelines, and consultants can repackage the same chain as a paid client deliverable. The approach targets the documented gap between AI pilots and production deployment by forcing evaluation criteria to be applied consistently before any build commitment.",
  "canonicalUrl": "https://kbanc.com/claims-library/stop-guessing-which-process-to-automate-first",
  "markdownUrl": "https://kbanc.com/md/claims-library/stop-guessing-which-process-to-automate-first.md",
  "jsonUrl": "https://kbanc.com/api/claims/stop-guessing-which-process-to-automate-first.json",
  "source": {
    "publisher": "AI Adopters Club",
    "title": "Stop guessing which process to automate first",
    "url": "https://aiadopters.club/p/which-process-to-automate"
  }
}