Workflow Opportunity Canvas
Map the work before deciding where AI belongs.
Use this guide to structure a discussion, then record your answers in the editable template or printable PDF. Use synthetic or authorized information. A named person owns each decision.
1. Understand the current workflow
Map one recurring workflow from its trigger to a completed outcome. Include the people, waiting, and handoffs that make it work.
- Trigger and user
- What starts the work, and who needs the result?
- Steps and handoffs
- List the actual sequence and who handles each step.
- Inputs and outputs
- Which sources enter, and what usable result leaves?
- Friction and baseline
- Where does work wait or get repeated? State evidence and uncertainty.
See a completed companion example
- Trigger and user
- A service-desk analyst receives a routine leave-policy question.
- Steps and handoffs
- Classify question → find approved policy → draft answer → specialist reviews → analyst sends.
- Inputs and outputs
- Question plus versioned policy; a cited draft answer or an escalation.
- Friction and baseline
- Assumed baseline: 15 minutes active handling per routine question; validate with a two-week sample.
2. Redesign the work
Separate what must change in the process from what an AI system could contribute.
- Desired outcome
- What should improve for the person receiving the service?
- AI contribution
- Name a bounded task AI could perform.
- Human contribution
- Which judgment, approval, or exception stays with a person?
- Simplify first
- What could be removed, standardized, or fixed without AI?
See a completed companion example
- Desired outcome
- A correct policy answer with fewer handoffs.
- AI contribution
- Retrieve approved passages and draft a response with citations.
- Human contribution
- The specialist checks eligibility-related questions and approves every reply during the pilot.
- Simplify first
- Remove duplicate policy versions and publish a clear escalation route.
3. Set the first boundary
Choose a small experiment and decide what would justify continuing.
- Scope and exclusions
- Which cases enter? What is deliberately excluded?
- Sources and permission
- What is available, current, and approved for this use?
- Proof and owner
- What will you test, who owns it, and when will you review?
See a completed companion example
- Scope and exclusions
- General policy explanations only; no individual eligibility decisions or personnel-record access.
- Sources and permission
- An approved synthetic policy corpus with named document owners.
- Proof and owner
- Service-desk lead tests 40 synthetic cases, reviews citations and escalations, and decides after two weeks.
Record the next decision.
What will you do next, who owns it, and when will you review the evidence? Keep unresolved assumptions visible.