Workflow

AI workflow audit checklist for sole traders and small teams

Before adding AI to a workflow, slow down long enough to understand the work. A small audit can prevent wasted subscriptions, privacy mistakes, and automations that create more review burden than they remove.

Map the current workflow

• What starts the task?
• What information is used?
• Who checks the result?
• Where does the output go?
• What happens if the output is wrong?

Rate the risk

Low-risk tasks are usually internal, reversible, and easy to review. Higher-risk tasks involve customers, money, health, safety, legal obligations, sensitive information, or public claims. The higher the risk, the more human review and privacy control you need.

Pick one useful AI role

AI can draft, summarise, classify, compare, extract, rewrite, or suggest next steps. Avoid making the first experiment too broad. One workflow, one AI role, one review checkpoint is enough for a useful test.

Define success

Decide how you will know the experiment worked. Did it save time? Reduce rework? Improve clarity? Make the process easier to hand over? If the benefit is vague, the workflow is not ready.