Leadership and adoption
Choosing your first use case
Your first use case decides whether your team believes in AI. Pick one that's frequent, shows results quickly and carries little risk.
5 min read
A use case is a concrete application: a task where AI makes a difference. The first one you choose matters. If it succeeds, confidence grows. If it fails, you'll be hearing "that didn't work last time" for a long while.
What makes a good first use case
- Frequent: weekly or daily.
- Takes noticeable time today or causes frustration.
- Quick result: visible within a few weeks.
- Low risk: a mistake is easy to spot and has little impact.
- Measurable: you can compare before and after.
- Support: the people doing the work want it.
Good examples
- Writing up meeting notes.
- First drafts of quotes or replies to customers.
- Sorting and summarising emails.
- Putting work instructions on paper.
Less suitable to start with
- Decisions about people, such as recruitment.
- Fully automated customer communication.
- Large projects linking many systems.
How to go about it
- Gather five to ten candidates with your team.
- Score them against the criteria above.
- Pick one and agree a test period of four to six weeks.
- Measure before and after: time, quality, satisfaction.
- Share the result honestly and decide on next steps.
Exercise
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Prompt to copy
These are possible uses of AI in our business: [list]. Score each candidate from 1 to 5 on frequency, time spent today, speed of result, low risk, measurability and support. Recommend the best first use case, with a four-week test plan and three measures.
