AI PATH PRO / TEXT EDITION
Read it and put it to work.
AI Path Pro · 30 minutes + first trial
AI PATH FIELD GUIDE
Choose a route for your problem, write a usable task brief and plan a first trial you can check. Better work starts with a good question; use AI where it helps.
Understand. Choose. Begin.
01 / FIVE VALID ROUTES
Let the task choose the route.
Start by naming who needs the result, what they need and what gets in the way today. Then choose a way of working. These five routes are not a maturity ranking: a less complex solution can be the best fit for your task.
01 / Process: remove and simplify.
When waste comes from unnecessary steps, repeated entry, waiting or unclear ownership, change the process. A shared form, one source of records or a clear decision rule can be the complete solution.
02 / Agentless: rules lead the way.
When the trigger, next step and exception path can be predefined, design a fixed automation. It may contain a bounded AI step, while the explicit workflow rules still control what happens next.
03 / GPT or skill: you start the task.
For recurring interpretation, preparation or content work, package clear instructions, designated knowledge and an example output. A person starts the work and reviews the result. Choose the packaging supported by your own environment.
04 / Agent: the goal guides the next step.
Set a bounded goal and allow choices among permitted tools. The agent can adapt its next action to the situation. Define its authority, stopping conditions, approval points and handoff format.
05 / Agentic: orchestrate the system.
Connect agent work with triggers, handoffs, rules, checks and human decisions. Design exception handling and recovery. Multiple agents are optional; add another role only when a justified division of work makes it useful.
02 / ONE PROCESS, FIVE BRANCHES
Where does quoting get stuck?
Illustrative examples of different obstacles within the same business process. The rows are alternative starting points, not successive levels of sophistication. The specific obstacle explains why each route might fit.
| Observed obstacle | Starting route | First useful output |
|---|---|---|
| The same data is entered three times. | Process improvement. | One shared intake; duplicate entry steps removed. |
| Nobody is notified when a request is complete. | Agentless automation. | A notification triggered by a fixed condition; exceptions listed separately. |
| A long email must become a structured request. | GPT or skill. | A required-field summary with visible missing information. |
| Preparation requires navigating several sources. | An agent with bounded discretion. | A sourced draft, open questions and a review status. |
| Preparation, approval and handoff stall together. | Agentic operation, where justified. | Traceable case status, checked handoffs and handled exceptions. |
Understand: three foundations.
Frame the problem, map the process and organise the evidence. These capabilities also help you recognise when the most useful improvement is removing a step.
Build: four practical capabilities.
Delegate a clear task, build stable automation, direct an agent and design a useful application. Tools change; defining inputs, outputs and controls remains part of the work.
Operate: two essential capabilities.
Measure and test, then help people use the result. Give the solution an owner, a review routine and a way to improve it. Daily work begins where the finished demonstration ends.
03 / YOUR OWN ROUTE
A brief you can act on.
Complete these six fields for one concrete task. The examples concern preparing an incoming quotation request. You can apply the same structure to other recurring work.
- 01 / PROBLEM AND RECIPIENT
Whose work or decision will you support? What exactly gets stuck today?
Example answer: A salesperson manually extracts the fields needed for a quotation from long emails.
- 02 / BASELINE AND EVIDENCE
What have you observed in actual cases? What have you measured, and what is still unknown?
Example answer: Five permitted sample emails; three lack dimensions. We will measure total effort on the next cases.
- 03 / ROUTE AND REASON
Which route fits the obstacle? Which step can you remove or simplify first?
Example answer: A common form first; reusable GPT instructions for requests that still arrive as free text.
- 04 / INPUT AND OUTPUT
Which inputs may the solution use? Which fields and source references must it return?
Example answer: Only the designated email: product, quantity, dimensions, requested date, gaps and supporting passages.
- 05 / CONTROL AND EXCEPTION
Which decision stays with a person? What causes a stop or a different route?
Example answer: Never estimate missing dimensions. The salesperson checks the brief and decides whether to request clarification.
- 06 / TRIAL AND MEASUREMENT
Who will try it, on which cases, and how will you decide whether to continue?
Example answer: One salesperson with ten comparable requests. Total time, correct fields and gap flags; a joint review.
04 / START YOUR PATH
Choose one useful next step.
You do not need to explore every route at once. Use the worksheet to choose the capability and change that would help this task most right now.
- Clear business value
Ready: You can name who receives a more useful result and which obstacle is removed.
Still to do: There is only a tool idea or a general desire to work faster. Define one concrete task.
- A justified operating approach
Ready: The route fits the task’s regularity, uncertainty and need for checks.
Still to do: The more complex approach is attractive for its own sake. Try a simpler way of solving the same task first.
- A checkable first output
Ready: You have a sample input, expected output, owner, quality condition and next action.
Still to do: No one can determine when the result is complete. Make an acceptable reference example manually.
- 10 MINUTES
One task with a colleague.
Choose recurring work and name the actual obstacle. Complete the first three fields together. Improving the process can be a complete and valuable direction on its own.
- 15 MINUTES
One good output by hand.
Use a permitted example to produce a checkable result. Mark sources, missing information and human decisions. Use that result to refine the input and output descriptions before choosing an implementation.
- 5 MINUTES
Arrange the first trial.
Name the participant, eligible cases, measures for total effort and quality, and a review point. Match the size and timing of the pilot to the task’s access requirements and dependencies.
Related sources
- OpenAI: Prompt engineering
For developing instructions around a bounded AI task with an output you can check.
- Make: Scenarios
For the technical design of a workflow guided by rules, including its exceptions.
Your path begins with a task you understand.