As AI and automation become critical tools for businesses striving to stay competitive, many companies are eager to begin their journey. However, ensuring a successful start requires careful planning, structured execution, and a clear vision. In this blog, we’ll walk you through some simple steps to set your AI and automation programme up for success, whether you're a small business just starting or a larger organisation looking to scale.
At Shiny Blue Box, we specialise in helping businesses of all sizes embrace AI and automation, from ideation to delivery, and through live service support. With our expertise, we help you unlock the full potential of automation, driving efficiency and innovation across your business. Here’s how to get started.
1. Start Small with a Pilot Process
The best way to begin is by picking a simple, low-risk process to automate. Look for something that’s repetitive, time-consuming, and prone to errors but doesn’t overly affect your everyday core operations. Common starting points include data entry, invoice processing, or simple customer queries.
Running a pilot allows you to see the benefits of automation quickly while minimising potential risks. It also provides an opportunity to gain buy-in from key stakeholders by demonstrating tangible results early on. This initial success can build the momentum needed to drive larger, more complex initiatives.
2. Align with Business Objectives
While automating a process may sound appealing, it’s important to ensure that it aligns with your overall business objectives. Will the automation deliver cost savings, improve accuracy, reduce lead times, or increase customer satisfaction? Clearly defining the “why” behind the automation helps keep the programme focused and justified in the eyes of leadership.
Moreover, the automation goals should align with long-term business strategies. For instance, if your company is aiming to expand internationally, automating customer service processes that can scale globally would be a great fit.
3. Build a Backlog of Potential Use Cases
Once you’ve completed your pilot, the next step is generating a backlog of potential automation use cases. This list should include both quick wins and longer-term, more complex processes. It’s essential to engage employees from across departments in this process, as they are often best placed to identify opportunities for automation within their day-to-day workflows.
At Shiny Blue Box, we work closely with teams across your business to help you create and refine this backlog, ensuring it’s prioritised based on potential impact, feasibility, and alignment with your goals.
4. Create a Roadmap for Scalability
After identifying a backlog of use cases, the next step is creating a roadmap that outlines how automation will scale across the organisation. This roadmap should account for factors like technology infrastructure, change management, and employee training to ensure successful long-term adoption.
It’s also crucial to build flexibility into the roadmap. AI and automation technologies are evolving rapidly, and your programme needs to adapt to new opportunities and challenges as they arise.
5. Ensure Strong Governance and Accountability
A successful automation programme requires more than just technology. It needs structured governance and clear accountability to keep it on track. Defining roles, setting up steering groups, and using tools like Jira to track progress are essential for keeping stakeholders informed and engaged.
Our company provides programme governance support to ensure that every phase—pre-build, build, user acceptance testing (UAT), go-live, and hypercare—is managed efficiently. We help you track key tasks, hold teams accountable, and deliver consistent communication with stakeholders.
6. Invest in Training and Engagement
Employee engagement is critical to any successful automation programme. It’s important to involve employees early on, provide adequate training, and make sure they understand the benefits of automation for their roles. Resistance often comes from fear of the unknown, so creating a culture of transparency and support is key.
At Shiny Blue Box, we offer tailored training programmes and engagement strategies to ensure that your employees not only adopt automation tools but thrive with them. This support extends beyond just the technical—it's about changing mindsets and fostering a culture of innovation.
7. Set Up for Long-Term Success with Ongoing Support
One of the most overlooked aspects of automation programmes is post-implementation support. Automating a process is just the beginning. It’s crucial to continuously monitor, optimise, and maintain the automated solutions to ensure long-term success. This includes performance monitoring, troubleshooting, and ensuring the automation scales with the growing needs of your business.
Our approach to live service support and maintenance means we don’t just deliver and leave; we stay with you for the long haul, ensuring the automation continues to provide value as your business evolves.
How We Can Help
At Shiny Blue Box we don’t just help businesses get started with automation—we guide them every step of the way, from initial ideation to ongoing live support. Whether you need help refining a backlog, setting up governance structures, or managing training and employee engagement, we offer end-to-end support.
Our team specialises in building sustainable automation programmes that not only deliver immediate results but also drive long-term transformation. By working with us, you can ensure that your AI and automation programme is positioned for success from day one.
Automation and AI can be powerful tools to help your business reduce costs, improve efficiency, and free up time for more strategic initiatives. By starting small, building a strong foundation, and leveraging expert support, you can unlock the true potential of automation and set your business up for long-term success.
Reach out to us today to learn more about how we can help your business embrace AI and automation.
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