AI opportunity map
Concrete opportunities ranked by the value they create against the effort they need.
How to read this
Illustrative patterns from mid-sized organisations, not client work.
01 · Quick wins
Low effort, fast evidence, using information you already hold.
Finance
Current state
Spreadsheets, manual commentary and email threads between entities.
Recommended AI capability
Narrative synthesis that drafts variance commentary from ledger data for review.
Validated in a strategy session
Customer service
Current state
Shadowing, static playbooks and searching shared drives mid-call.
Recommended AI capability
Retrieval assistant that surfaces approved answers and past resolutions in context.
Validated in a strategy session
Legal
Current state
Line-by-line reading of every agreement, regardless of risk.
Recommended AI capability
Clause comparison that flags deviations from approved positions for focused review.
Validated in a strategy session
HR
Current state
Replies drafted from policy PDFs, with answers varying by who responds.
Recommended AI capability
Policy question assistant grounded in current documents, with clear escalation.
Validated in a strategy session
02 · Core bets
Higher value, needing integration, workflow change and a named owner.
Operations
Current state
Critical know-how lives in notebooks, memory and informal handovers.
Recommended AI capability
Technical knowledge assistant trained on manuals, logs and captured expertise.
Validated in a strategy session
Finance
Current state
Weekly manual forecasts assembled from ERP exports and judgement.
Recommended AI capability
Forecasting support that combines payment history with pipeline signals.
Validated in a strategy session
Sales
Current state
Old decks scattered across drives; pricing logic held by a few people.
Recommended AI capability
Proposal drafting from approved evidence, with human pricing sign-off.
Validated in a strategy session
Customer service
Current state
Cases categorised inconsistently; themes compiled quarterly by hand.
Recommended AI capability
Classification and triage that routes cases and surfaces emerging themes early.
Validated in a strategy session
03 · Longer-term plays
Dependent on data maturity and governance. Worth mapping now.
Operations
Current state
Schedules adjusted by experience; trade-offs rarely tested systematically.
Recommended AI capability
Scenario support that tests schedule options against constraints and demand.
Validated in a strategy session
Leadership
Current state
Board packs assembled manually from departmental extracts.
Recommended AI capability
Continuous signal synthesis across operating data with sourced evidence.
Validated in a strategy session
Sales
Current state
Account knowledge split between CRM notes and individual memory.
Recommended AI capability
Account intelligence that connects history, usage and market signals for review.
Validated in a strategy session
HR
Current state
Headcount plans built annually and revised when problems appear.
Recommended AI capability
Workforce signal analysis that models attrition and skills gaps ahead of need.
Validated in a strategy session
Legend
Problem
The business pain, stated without technology.
Department
Where the work and the owner sit today.
Current state
How the job is done now, including its workarounds.
Recommended capability
The class of AI capability worth testing, never a product name.
Recommended next step
A strategy session builds this map from your own priorities.
Free 30 minute session. No obligation.
