croissantAn AI automation pilot checklist for operations teams
Run a bounded pilot with realistic examples, clear acceptance criteria, and a plan for taking over when something fails.
A pilot should answer whether a workflow is useful and supportable in your operation. It is not simply a smaller launch. Set the questions you need to answer, the evidence you will collect, and the point at which you will decide what happens next.
Choose scope and a comparison
Limit the pilot to a process with a known owner and a manageable range of inputs. Describe the current method so you can compare the new workflow fairly. Avoid changing every part of the process at once, or it becomes difficult to explain which change helped.
Include normal work and exceptions
Prepare representative examples, incomplete inputs, conflicting information, and dependency failures. Observe the time people spend correcting output and reviewing decisions. A workflow that handles ordinary cases but strands exceptions may shift work rather than remove it.
Example: a bounded two-stage rollout
Begin with the agent preparing suggested outputs for review while the current process remains available. Use the results to identify missing information, unclear instructions, and recurring exceptions. Only then enable a specific automatic action whose behaviour has been demonstrated. Keep the rest in review. This staged approach gives the owner a concrete basis for expanding responsibility instead of treating a successful prototype as approval for every action the system can technically perform.
Plan the operating handover
Before expanding, make sure someone can pause the workflow, inspect a case, correct information, and resume safely. Record the permissions and dependencies it relies on. Decide which issues must be resolved before launch and which can remain as clearly documented limits.
A reality check before you hit run
Anthropic describes evaluations as a way to expose agent failures before users encounter them. [1]
NIST frames AI risk management across design, development, use, and evaluation. Treat the pilot as part of that lifecycle. [2]
Implementation checklist
- State the question the pilot must answer.
- Agree acceptance criteria and a review date.
- Include exception, failure, and correction scenarios.
- Document ownership and the pause-and-resume path.
The sources behind the sauce.
Primary research and official documentation behind the cited points. The workflow examples and checklists are Croissant’s own guidance.