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Before you connect AI, write down how your business runs

AI tools and agents only pay off on a business whose work is written down and connected. Otherwise they speed up the mess. If a better AI model comes out next month, will your business get better or worse? With your steps written down, your data in one place and every change recorded, better.

Check my AI readiness

Free · 3 minutes · no files, no sign-up · your estimate on screen

AI readiness scorecard · a 40-person wholesale and service companyIllustration
  1. Processes written downNo, todayYes, after the rebuild
  2. Data in one placeNo, todayYes, after the rebuild
  3. Systems connectedNo, todayYes, after the rebuild
  4. Every change recordedYes, todayYes, after the rebuild
  5. Problems flagged earlyNo, todayYes, after the rebuild
  6. Reports without manual workNo, todayYes, after the rebuild
  7. Clear owners for each stepYes, todayYes, after the rebuild
  8. Data clean enough for AINo, todayYes, after the rebuild
  9. Access rights by roleYes, todayYes, after the rebuild
  10. Value of each fix measuredNo, todayNo, after the rebuild
Today 3 of 10. After the rebuild 9 of 10.The last line comes with Run and improve, which tracks the value of each fix every month.

Why AI needs the groundwork first

An AI agent that quotes, answers customers or approves an order needs your prices, your steps, your limits and your exceptions. Today those sit in spreadsheets, an old database, email chains and people's heads. The tool guesses the rest, and repeats its guesses at speed.

Your Operating Manual (your SOPs, roles and rules in one place) gives it your steps and rules in plain words. One connected system gives it clean data in one place, with a record of every change. Both are yours, so you can change AI tools whenever you like.

What each line of the scorecard means

The Business X-Ray marks ten lines for today and for after the rebuild. Each one is something an AI tool needs from your business.

The line
Why AI needs it
Processes written down
An AI tool can only follow steps that exist in writing.
Data in one place
One customer, one order, one price, so the tool never reads the wrong copy.
Systems connected
The tool can read and act across sales, stock and billing without anyone copying data across.
Every change recorded
You can see what the tool changed, when, and put it back.
Problems flagged early
A wrong answer shows up on a dashboard the same day.
Reports without manual work
The numbers a tool is judged on come straight from the system.
Clear owners for each step
Someone approves what the tool does in their part of the business.
Data clean enough for AI
Duplicates and gaps are fixed first, so the tool does not learn old mistakes.
Access rights by role
The tool sees only what the role it works for may see.
Value of each fix measured
An automation stays only while it saves more than it costs.

What the data health check shows

Part of every Business X-Ray. One page, in plain words.

  • Where your data lives, including the spreadsheets nobody mentions.
  • What is duplicated, such as the same customer typed three ways.
  • What is missing or wrong, such as orders with no price or dates in the future.
  • Where the data breaks your own rules, such as an order over the customer's credit limit.
  • What to clean first, before any AI tool reads it.

How a new AI tool is added

With Run and improve, automations and AI tools go in one at a time, in the order of the Opportunity Map. Before one goes live, a person checks its answers on real examples from your Operating Manual. After it goes live, the value it brings is tracked every month, and a tool that does not pay its way comes out.

Tools change every few months. Your Operating Manual and your connected data stay, so you can change tools without starting again.

See a finished Business X-Ray

Questions

Is this an AI audit for a small business?

Yes. The Business X-Ray is a fixed-price AI readiness audit for companies of 10 to 250 people. In 10 business days you get your Operating Manual, your operating blueprint, a data health check, the Opportunity Map with the value of each fix, and the fixed price of the rebuild.

What does AI-ready mean?

Your work and data in one structured, connected place, written down, monitored and with a record of every change, so AI tools and agents have something reliable to work on.

Do you set up AI agents?

Yes, once the groundwork is in. With Run and improve we add automations and AI agents one at a time, each measured against what it saves. Your Operating Manual and the connected system are yours, so any good provider can build on them too.

Which AI tools do you recommend?

Whichever does the job on your own work for the least money. Tools change every few months. Your Operating Manual and your data are what stay.

Check your AI readiness, free.

3 minutes. Your estimate on screen.

Ready now? Start the X-Ray
Check my AI readiness

Free · 3 minutes · no files, no sign-up · your estimate on screen