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AIGrowth and advisoryBusiness transformation
Is AI paying off? How to measure it in a 90-day pilot
Most small businesses that try AI cannot say whether it worked. A simple pilot, with a baseline and a few honest measures, settles the question in three months.
The usual way to adopt AI is to try a tool, feel it is helpful and move on. Months later no one can say what it saved. A short, structured pilot gives you an answer, and a reason to expand or stop.
Ninety days
- Week 0Pick one process. Record how long it takes, how often it goes wrong and what it costs.
- Weeks 1 to 2Set up the tool with one owner, and agree the checks a person will make.
- Weeks 3 to 10Run it for real. Log time spent, including checking and fixing.
- Weeks 11 to 12Compare with the baseline, and decide: expand, adjust or stop.
What to measure
- Time per item, before and after, including review time.
- Errors that reach a customer, a supplier or HMRC.
- Turnaround: how quickly the task is finished after it arrives.
- Cost: the tool, and the hours it frees for other work.
Be honest about the hidden work. An AI tool that drafts a reply in seconds but needs ten minutes of checking may save less than it seems. The gains are real when the checking becomes quick because the tool is reliable.
This insight is general information, not advice for your circumstances. Talk to us before acting on it.