Your first pipeline — pick the right one and ship in 30 days.
The 5-question audit that tells you which workflow to automate first, and the 30-day deployment plan that gets you there.
Video module · in production
Read along below. The video drops shortly.
Most pilots fail because the first project is too hard. The first project should be embarrassingly small. We'll show you how to pick it.
By the end of this module
- Apply the 5-question audit to identify your first deployable workflow
- Understand the 30-day deployment cadence
- Avoid the three common pilot-killing mistakes
The 5-question audit
1) Is this workflow done at least 10 times per week? 2) Is it 80%+ structured (template-shaped, not creative)? 3) Does it have a clear input and a clear output? 4) Is the cost of a small mistake low? 5) Would you fire a human who only did this work and nothing else? If you answer yes to all five, ship it first.
The 30-day cadence
Days 1-7: agent design. Map the workflow, name the agents, write the prompts, integrate the systems. Days 8-21: shadow mode. Agents run alongside humans, every output reviewed. Days 22-30: progressive autonomy. Approve in batches, then by exception, then full autopilot. Outcomes measured daily.
Three pilot-killers to avoid
1) Picking a workflow that requires creative judgment. 2) Skipping shadow mode and going straight to autonomous. 3) Treating the first pipeline as one-and-done — pilots that don't scope expansion die after launch.
Do this · before the next module
Run the 5-question audit on three workflows.
Score each. The one with the highest score is your first deployment. If nothing scores 5/5, score 4/5 with the most volume.
Block 30 days on the calendar.
Days 1-7, 8-21, 22-30. Treat it like an on-prem install. Status report every Friday. Stakeholder review at day 14 and day 30.
Define what success looks like in numbers.
Before you start: 'X hours saved per week. Y % of these tasks running without human touch by day 30.' If you can't say it in a number, you can't measure the deployment.
Workbook · 5-minute exercise
Score three of your manual workflows on the 5-question audit. Which one wins? What's the number that defines success at day 30?