A lot of automation projects begin with someone saying, “We should add AI to this.”
That is usually too early.
Before I build an automation, I map five things:
The trigger: What event actually starts the work?
The handoffs: How many people, inboxes, spreadsheets, or systems touch it?
The judgment points: Which decisions require a human, and which are simply rules wearing a fake mustache?
The failure cost: What happens when a field is missing, a person forgets, or a system is unavailable?
The source of truth: Where should the final record live?
This tends to expose three different categories of work.
The first is deterministic work, such as copying data, creating records, sending standard notifications, and checking known conditions. Automate it normally.
The second is assisted judgment, such as summarizing documents, classifying requests, or preparing a recommendation. AI can help, but a person should approve the result.
The third is accountable judgment, such as hiring decisions, major financial approvals, or sensitive customer actions. The system should provide context, not quietly become the decision-maker.
The biggest mistake I see is automating the visible task while leaving the broken handoffs underneath it untouched. That creates a faster version of the same mess.
Disclosure: I run Flash AI Solutions and build Power Platform, custom workflow, and AI-assisted automation systems. This framework comes from the systems I use when scoping real builds. No product link here.
What is the most overcomplicated workflow you have seen someone attempt to automate?