What should an SME automate first?

Look for work that already repeats itself

The highest-ROI first automation is almost never “introduce AI across the business.” It is a process that happens often, follows a known sequence, and currently depends on someone copying information, sending the same type of email, or updating a system by hand.

If you can describe the work as A → B → C, it is a candidate. If nobody can explain the steps, the first job is clarification — not software.

Score opportunities before picking tools

DAO Solutions compares each process on business impact, frequency, automation potential, complexity, risk, and ROI. A process that happens several times a day and takes 15 minutes is usually a better starting point than a complex annual workflow, even if the annual workflow feels more “strategic.”

• ✓Impact: time, money, customer wait, or error cost
• ✓Frequency: daily and weekly processes compound fastest
• ✓Potential: how much of the work is actually rule-based
• ✓Complexity: number of systems, exceptions, and approvals
• ✓Risk: whether a human still needs to review the outcome
• ✓ROI: whether the value is worth the first implementation

A good first project is deliberately incomplete

You do not need to automate an entire process. Automating three repetitive steps — for example extracting an enquiry, creating the CRM record, and notifying sales — can already remove hours of work while leaving judgement with your team.

That is the point. The first automation should prove that work can move without manual copying. The next automation can be chosen with evidence, not enthusiasm.