Methodology
The Business AI Map
Every process, sorted into one of four answers.
Keep human, AI-assisted, AI-automated, or fully automated. Published in full so you can use it without hiring anyone.
The four answers
Every process gets exactly one of these.
Most frameworks offer two: automate or don't. The two in the middle are where nearly all the value actually sits.
Keep human
Judgement, relationship or accountability dominates. Automating it transfers risk without transferring capability.
AI-assisted
A person decides and owns the outcome; the system retrieves, drafts and surfaces so the decision is faster and better informed.
AI-automated
The system does the work and a person authorises the output. Exceptions route to a queue rather than stopping the line.
Fully automated
Runs unattended with monitoring. Reserved for work that is high volume, highly repetitive and cheaply reversible when wrong.
The map
Six areas, mapped.
Where processes typically land. Yours will differ, and the differences are the interesting part.
Marketing
Production automates readily; positioning does not.
- Lead generationAssisted
- Content productionDrafting automates; the point of view does not.Assisted
- SEO and AI search visibilityAssisted
- Advertising operationsAutomated
- Lead qualificationStructured, high volume, and scored against criteria you set.Automated
- Brand and positioningHuman
Sales
The administration around selling automates. The selling does not.
- Lead captureFull
- CRM data entryPure transfer. There is no judgement in it at all.Full
- Follow-up sequencingAutomated
- Proposal assemblyAssembled from live rules; a person approves before it leaves.Automated
- Quotation and pricingAutomated
- NegotiationHuman
- ClosingHuman
Operations
Where the seams between systems are, and therefore where most of the hours are.
- Task routingAutomated
- Internal communicationAssisted
- SchedulingMulti-party availability is mechanical once access rules are explicit.Full
- Inventory trackingAutomated
- Document handlingAutomated
- ApprovalsThe system prepares and presents; authority stays with a named person.Assisted
- Supplier and vendor selectionHuman
Customer service
Most volume is resolvable. The exceptions are exactly what people are for.
- WhatsApp and messagingAutomated
- Email triageAutomated
- Phone and voiceAssisted
- Ticket classificationFull
- FAQ resolutionFull
- ComplaintsNever auto-resolved. Distress signals escalate immediately.Human
- Follow-upsAutomated
Finance
Preparation automates freely. Release never does.
- Invoice processingAutomated
- Payment preparationAutomated
- Payment releaseIrreversible movement of money always requires human authorisation.Human
- ReconciliationAutomated
- Management reportingFull
- ForecastingAssisted
- Statutory filingHuman
Management
The answer automates. The decision does not.
- DashboardsFull
- KPI reportingFull
- Internal knowledge retrievalAutomated
- Scenario modellingAssisted
- Decision-makingHuman
- People and performanceHuman
Read this carefully
This shows where processes typically land, not where yours should. Two companies in the same sector routinely classify the same process differently because their volumes, data quality and risk tolerance differ. Your map is produced during stage 02 from what your team actually does, and disagreeing with a classification is the most useful conversation in the whole exercise.
How the map is scored
Classification is the output. The score is the argument behind it.
Each process is scored on eight factors before it is classified. Six establish whether automation is worth doing; two establish what the system may do unattended. The framework is published in full.
The AI Value FrameworkWhere it sits in the method
Produced at stage 02, from observed practice.
Not from the process documentation and not from a workshop with management alone. The map only works if the people doing the work recognise it — including the workarounds, which is usually where the opportunity hides.
The 7D methodYou know AI matters and you do not yet know where it would apply here.
Get a first version of your own map.
The free assessment produces a compressed version across four areas in eleven questions. A full map covers all six, process by process, from measured volumes.
Eleven questions, scored in your browser