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AI · Practical guide

Planning an AI pilot around a real business problem

Define the workflow, evidence and acceptance criteria before committing to a larger AI build.

UK & international enquiries · Scope, delivery and support agreed with you

By Steadnet Cyber · 15 September 2026

Choose one process you can describe

Start with a repeated task: triaging an enquiry, reviewing a document or finding information in an approved knowledge base. Write down who does it, what they receive and what a good result looks like. “Use AI” is not an acceptance criterion.

Record the starting point

Measure a representative sample of the current process. Record handling time, error types, review effort and the volume of work. Keep the sample and assumptions so the pilot can be compared with the same baseline.

Agree what the pilot can access

Identify the source systems and data owner. Start with approved sample information. Decide what must stay private, who may see each output and what should happen if a source is missing or contradictory.

Make success testable

An enquiry assistant might need to extract the correct organisation and request, identify missing details and produce a draft that a person can approve. Test common requests and difficult cases, not just the clearest examples.

  • What errors are acceptable, and which require escalation?
  • Who approves an output before action?
  • How will review time and operating cost be measured?
  • What evidence would justify production investment?

Separate pilot and production

A working demonstration does not settle access control, resilience, integrations or support. Use the pilot evidence to decide whether to stop, revise or scope implementation. Steadnet’s enterprise discovery produces a requirements brief, assessment, acceptance criteria, estimate and support proposal.

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