Small Business AI Platform guide
Guide 6: Run a bounded platform pilot
Use a small, reversible trial to learn about a workflow before an organization-wide rollout.
Write the pilot in one paragraph
Name the workflow, participants, tool role, allowed information, reviewer, final owner, and review date. A short written boundary gives the team a way to recognize when the trial has grown beyond what was approved.
The objective is to learn whether the role fits the work. It is not to prove a savings number, justify a purchase already made, or create a company-wide mandate from one helpful output.
Observe the whole operating cost
Notice the quality of the result, the time needed for human review, errors or uncertainty, account and access friction, support needs, and whether people would use the process again. A polished first draft may still create an unacceptable review burden or information risk.
Keep only examples that are appropriate and approved. The pilot evidence should be proportional to the next decision, not a collection of private data gathered for convenience.
Choose a next move deliberately
At the review date, keep the narrow practice, change a rule, select another workflow, expand with new controls, or stop. Record who owns the next move and what must be true before expansion.
A stop decision is useful evidence. It can prevent the business from layering another account or integration onto a workflow that was not ready.