What Business Processes Should You Automate First?

Start with the process that's both frequent and manual — something done many times a week by hand. Low-frequency tasks rarely justify the build cost, however tedious they feel.

Look for processes with a clear, consistent set of steps. Automation struggles with tasks that change shape every time — those need judgment, not a workflow.

Prioritise anything that currently depends on one person remembering to do it. Automating that removes a real operational risk, not just saves time.

Measure the process first. A rough sense of "how long this takes per week" is enough to know whether automating it is worth the investment.