Build it with your team, in one day.
Nothing in this day is a demo. John and the people who do the work pick one real workflow, mark up what should change, and build a working automation on approved examples of your own work before the day ends. Some steps get marked leave alone. That is part of the job.
This day works for some teams and wastes a day for others.
The difference is rarely technical. It is whether the room contains approved tools, approved examples, and someone who can decide.
If nobody can decide, postpone the workshop.
Book it if
- Your team already has at least one AI tool the organization has approved them to use.
- Someone in the room can approve a change to how the work is done, that day.
- There is a real, repeating workflow with real volume behind it, and you can bring approved examples of it.
- The people who do the work will be at the table, not only the people who manage it.
- You would rather see one thing working than see a roadmap for twelve.
Do not book it if
- Nothing is approved and nobody is allowed to decide. The day turns into a policy discussion and you will have paid for a build.
- You want a talk or an awareness session for a large audience. This is a working day at a table; structured programs live under AI training.
- No example of the work can leave the room in any form. Say so on the call and we will decide together whether the day still makes sense.
- You are expecting the backlog cleared in a day. One workflow, built properly, and an honest ranking of the rest.
If the second column describes you, the honest next step is the readiness assessment or a look at AI training, not this sheet.
What happens on the day.
Six moves. The first one happens before the day is even booked, because most workshops fail on preparation rather than on the build.
A short preparation call, first
Before anything is booked, we pick the workflow, agree which examples are approved to use, and confirm the tools and access your team already has. If that call shows the day would not work, we say so then, not on the morning.
Map the work on the wall
Everyone who touches the workflow walks through it, step by step, including the steps nobody documented. Volumes, handoffs, and the exceptions people quietly absorb all go on the wall.
Red-line it together
Each step gets marked: automate, keep as a human step, or leave manual. Rare cases, judgment calls, and anything where a mistake costs more than the time saved are marked to keep. The reasoning is written next to the mark.
Build the one worth building
Your team builds it, with John at the table, on approved examples of your own work. Every decision is visible, including the options that are tested and rejected.
Break it on the hard cases
The team feeds it the messy examples, the ones that usually get escalated. Where it fails, we decide whether to fix it, put a person in front of it, or mark the whole path as one to leave manual.
Write it down and name an owner
The day ends with the operating notes written, a named person on your side who owns the build, and a ranked list of what is worth building next.
What leaves the room with you.
Four things, and every one of them has a name on it before you go home.
| Deliverable | What it is | Who owns it after |
|---|---|---|
| The working build | The automation from the day, running on your approved examples, in the tools you already have. | A named person on your team, agreed before the day ends. |
| Operating notes | How it runs, what to check, what to do when it fails, and how to change it without starting over. | The team that runs the workflow. |
| The red-lined map | The workflow as drawn, marked automate, keep, or leave manual, with the reasoning beside each mark. | Whoever owns the workflow. |
| What to build next | A ranked list of the remaining candidates, with what each one would take and what it would be worth. | You. Build it yourselves, or bring it to a sprint. |
If it only works while John is in the room, it is not finished.
Boundaries.
- Outcomes
Nothing about results is guaranteed. The day ends with either a working build or a written reason it was the wrong thing to build. Both are useful; only one of them is what you hoped for.
- Scope and price
Scope and price are agreed before work begins.
- Your data
Data handling is agreed before any real records are shared. Bring approved examples only, and bring the restrictions with them.
- Your tools
The build runs on software your organization has already approved. Soxoa does not resell tools and does not require a particular platform.
- After the day
The build is yours to run. Support afterwards is a separate conversation, not an assumed retainer.
Questions people ask before they book.
Who should be in the room?
The people who actually do the work, plus someone who can approve a change to it. If the person who can decide cannot attend, move the date. A workshop where nobody can say yes produces a nice conversation and nothing else.
Do we need to buy software first?
No, but your team needs at least one AI tool the organization has already approved them to use. If nothing is approved yet, the workshop is premature. Take the readiness assessment first; it will tell you which dimension to fix before you spend a day on a build.
What if we cannot share real data?
Bring approved examples, redacted if that is what approval requires. Data handling is agreed before anything real is shared. If no example of the work can be used in any form, say so on the preparation call and we will decide together whether the day still makes sense.
Is this training, or is it a build?
It is a build, and the team learns by doing it rather than by watching slides. If you want a structured, role-by-role program across a wider group, that is AI training, and it is a different engagement.
On site or remote?
Either. On site tends to work better because the mapping session uses a wall and the side conversations matter. Remote works when the team is already distributed and used to it.
What does it cost?
Scope and price are agreed before work begins. Bring the workflow to a strategy call and you will have both before you commit to anything.
Where this sheet sits in the set.
Each engagement stands on its own, and each one sets up the next. Start where your organization actually is, not where the ladder starts.
- S-01AI Readiness Assessment
“Where are we, honestly?”
Fifteen questions, five dimensions, one recommended next step.
- S-02Live Build Workshop
“Can my team actually do this?”
One day. One working automation, built live on your own work.
You are on this sheet
- S-03AI Build Sprint
“Get the important one into production.”
A fixed-scope sprint that takes one to three workflows into operation.
- S-04Fractional Chief AI Officer
“Who owns AI here, month after month?”
A named, accountable AI lead on a monthly engagement.
Bring one workflow. We will build it.
Thirty minutes with John. Describe the workflow that eats the most time, and you will get a straight answer about whether a day would fix it, what he would leave alone, and whether the workshop is the right sheet for you at all.