Look for assisted information work
AI can help a small team organise or draft information when the output is reviewable and mistakes are recoverable. Useful candidates include classifying an enquiry, drafting a reply from approved company facts or extracting fields from a document for confirmation.
Begin with one task and a real example set. “Add AI to the business” is too broad to test. Define the input, permitted sources, output format, human reviewer and fallback when the provider is unavailable.
Three bounded starting points
| Task | Useful output | Human checkpoint |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiry triage | Suggested service, missing questions and priority reason | Staff confirm the next action |
| Knowledge assistance | Answer grounded in approved source material | Escalate unsupported requests |
| Document intake | Proposed fields with source references | Check values before updating records |
Do not let a model invent company prices, availability, legal commitments or delivered-project claims. Keep those facts in an approved source. Model fluency does not make an unsupported answer reliable.
Treat retrieved text as untrusted input
A message or document can contain instructions intended to redirect the assistant. Separate task instructions from source material. Restrict tools and data access independently of the model’s answer. A prompt saying “do not access private data” is not a substitute for server permissions.
OWASP’s LLM application security project is a starting point for reviewing this threat surface; the controls must still be tested in the actual application.
Measure quality before claiming benefit
Use examples with expected outcomes, including ambiguous requests and deliberately misleading input. Track correctness, escalation, latency and operational cost. Compare the assisted task with the existing process. Keep confidential information out of test samples unless its use is approved.
AI and automation can be worthwhile when the business can define acceptable output and operate the review process. The first goal is a dependable assistance pattern, not autonomous control of every workflow.
A practical question
Can an assistant quote prices from old conversations?
Use only current approved commercial information. Historical messages can be wrong or confidential. When a price depends on scope, collect the requirements and offer a human estimate.