Field notes. John Arndt, Soxoa. Published .
Use the public Google Docs worksheet or download the plain-text worksheet. Complete a private working copy for one workflow.
Define a small, observable workflow
Choose one repeated handoff with a clear start and finish, such as turning an incoming invoice into a reviewed record. Describe the output someone actually needs and who accepts it. Avoid starting with a broad goal such as automate finance.
Use permitted, redacted examples when planning with a third party. Keep credentials, personal records, and customer documents out of this public worksheet.
- Workflow name and owner
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- Trigger, input, and accepted output
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- Systems involved and authorized access
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- Who reviews the output
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- What remains outside scope
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Measure the existing process
Observe a representative set of cases before estimating savings. Record active handling time separately from waiting time. Include corrections and follow-up work. Record the observation period and sample size so a quiet week is not mistaken for normal demand.
- Observed period and number of cases
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- Cases per week, with seasonal or workload limits
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- Manual handling minutes per case
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- Correction minutes and exception share
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- Current failure modes
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Design the review and fallback
Specify the checks that make an output usable: required fields, arithmetic, source references, duplicates, and exceptions. Name the conditions that stop automated progress and the person who resolves them. A plausible-looking answer is not an accepted output.
Keep irreversible actions behind the agreed approval step. A pilot that prepares a draft is different from one that writes to a production system or sends a customer message.
- Required checks and acceptance criteria
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- Exception queue and named reviewer
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- Approval before consequential action
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- Manual fallback and stop condition
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- Retention and deletion expectations
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Calculate capacity, then test it
Estimated weekly hours released = cases per week × (manual minutes minus assisted minutes, including review and corrections) ÷ 60, minus weekly maintenance hours. Preserve a negative result; it may mean the workflow is a poor candidate.
Illustrative arithmetic only: 100 cases × (8 minus 3) minutes ÷ 60 minus 1 maintenance hour equals about 7.3 hours of weekly capacity. This is not a Soxoa customer result or a cash-savings promise. Convert capacity to money only with a justified labor-cost basis and a realistic plan for using the time.
- Assisted minutes and maintenance hours
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- Estimated capacity and assumptions
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- Pilot sample and success threshold
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- Observed errors, review effort, and decision
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Bring a bounded brief to the conversation
Soxoa helps teams assess and implement AI workflows. Bring the completed scope, representative permitted examples, and the baseline to an assessment. Scope and price are agreed before work begins. Expand only after the first workflow meets its acceptance criteria.