“Our data isn't ready” is the most common reason companies postpone automation — and it's usually wrong in both directions. Most teams need far less data than they think; a few need one thing they don't have. These are the five questions we ask before scoping any build.
1. Can the agent reach the data where it lives?
Not “is it clean” — is it reachable? An API, a database connection, an email inbox, even a folder of PDFs all work. What doesn't work is data trapped in a system with no export and no API, or living in one employee's head. Reachability, not cleanliness, is the real gate: agents are good at messy; they're helpless against inaccessible.
2. Do you have historical examples of the workflow done right?
The single most valuable asset is history: last year's invoices with their correct postings, resolved tickets with their answers. A few hundred examples becomes the evaluation dataset that proves the agent works before it goes live. Most companies have this sitting in their systems already and don't realise it's an asset.
3. Is there a source of truth when systems disagree?
When the CRM and the spreadsheet disagree, which wins? A human asks a colleague; an agent needs the precedence written down. This is a one-meeting fix, but it has to happen before go-live, not after the first contradictory record.
4. Can you scope credentials narrowly?
The agent needs accounts with the minimum permissions for its job — read here, write there, nothing else. If your systems only offer admin-or-nothing access, that's worth knowing in week one; it changes which actions can be autonomous and which must stay gated.
5. Is the volume worth it?
An agent that saves four hours a month is a hobby. The honest threshold: a workflow that consumes meaningful recurring hours, or one where delay and errors cost real money (missed leads, late invoices, SLA breaches). If your volume is small today but growing, build the workflow design now and automate when the curve justifies it — we tell clients this even when it costs us the project.
Scoring yourself
Reachable data, some history, a source of truth, scoped access, real volume: five yeses means you were ready months ago. One or two gaps are normal — they become week-one tasks, not blockers. Zero yeses is rare and usually means the workflow isn't mature enough to automate yet, which is also worth knowing before you spend money.