Use the intervention ladder
Eliminate → Simplify → Standardise → Automate → Augment → Autonomise Before proposing an LLM or agent, ask:- Should the task exist at all?
- Can the process be simplified?
- Can a deterministic rule solve it?
- Is an integration the real need?
- Does the task require probabilistic interpretation?
- Is human approval necessary?
- Is the process stable enough to automate?
Opportunity categories
A recommendation may involve:- removing unnecessary work;
- changing policy or ownership;
- process redesign;
- rules-based workflow automation;
- systems integration;
- AI assistance;
- knowledge retrieval;
- decision support;
- agentic execution with controls;
- training and adoption;
- monitoring and governance.
Write opportunities as business interventions
Avoid:Add an AI agent.Prefer:
Reduce the time sales staff spend preparing first-draft proposals by generating a structured draft from approved CRM and product information, with consultant review before it is sent.That statement contains a task, data context, expected behaviour and human control.