Project preparation

Bring the business problem. We’ll help define the build.

You do not need a technical specification, a chosen AI platform, or a finished plan. This guide helps you describe the work, prepare useful examples, and understand how a conversation becomes a scoped project your team can operate.

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A business project planning session with paper workflow cards, documents and a laptop laid out neatly on a large table, realistic tactile materials.

Five things that make the first conversation useful.

The work and the desired result

Describe one task in plain language: who asks for it, what starts it, the steps staff take, and what a good result looks like. Explain where time is lost or customers get stuck.

Example: callers want to place pickup orders during the dinner rush, but staff cannot answer every call while helping guests.

The people and decisions

Identify who does the work, who understands its exceptions, who can approve important actions, and who owns the outcome. A process owner helps us test business rules and keeps decisions moving.

You can start with an owner and one employee who knows the day-to-day process. Bring your internal technology team when the project needs their systems or access.

The systems and information

List the software, documents, spreadsheets, phone or messaging channels, and reference information involved. Tell us which records are current and where staff go for an authoritative answer.

A system name and a walkthrough are enough to begin. We can review supported access and connection options together; do not send passwords or private customer records through the consultation form.

The exceptions and boundaries

Show us the unusual cases: an unavailable item, conflicting policy, missing document, duplicate request, or a customer who needs a person. Explain which actions require judgment or explicit approval.

For AI, define where a suggestion is useful and where the system should stop, ask for clarification, or hand the work to staff.

The evidence that it helps

Choose a few measures your team can check, such as response time, order corrections, document-entry effort, or requests waiting without an owner. Bring representative examples of correct and incorrect results.

Existing counts or rough observations are a useful start. We can establish a baseline and acceptance checks during discovery; estimated savings are assumptions to test.

A practical approach

Choose a first project you can evaluate.

The right starting point depends on your people, information, and business goals. We agree the scope together.

Pick one repeated task, one process owner, and a clear result someone can review.
Use rules for predictable steps and AI where interpreting language or variable information is useful.
Start a pilot with a limited audience, source collection, location, or transaction type.
Test difficult examples and staff handoffs alongside the normal workflow.
Plan for subscriptions, usage costs, staff training, and routine maintenance as well as the initial build.

Prepare for your use case

What to bring for a practical implementation.

Use these examples as a starting point. If your business works differently, bring that process instead; the scope follows the work.

Restaurant voice or text ordering

Useful starting material: Your current menu, modifiers, hours, ordering process, POS name, and examples of requests staff cannot handle automatically.
Decisions to make together: Which orders are eligible, when staff take over, how the customer confirms, and how payment and the kitchen handoff work.
A manageable pilot: One location, one ordering channel, and staff-reviewed drafts before direct order submission.

Explore the implementation

AI chat for customer service

Useful starting material: Approved help articles, product documentation, recent anonymized questions, support queues, and the person responsible for keeping policies current.
Decisions to make together: Which questions can be answered, which account details require verification, and how a human receives unresolved cases with context.
A manageable pilot: A small set of frequent questions, source-linked answers, and a tested transfer to the service team.

Explore the implementation

Invoices or orders into business records

Useful starting material: Sample documents with sensitive details removed, required fields, supplier or customer records, and the existing approval checklist.
Decisions to make together: How records are matched, which discrepancies need review, how duplicate entries are prevented, and which system owns the final record.
A manageable pilot: A few representative formats that create reviewable drafts, with reconciliation against the original documents.

Explore the implementation

A website connected to your customer process

Useful starting material: Your services, ideal customers, common questions, current website, and where inquiries go today.
Decisions to make together: The contact path, required intake details, who follows up, and what the customer sees after submitting or booking.
A manageable pilot: A clear service page, one useful form, and a verified handoff to an assigned person or existing CRM.

Explore the implementation

Before the build

Know what you are agreeing to.

A useful proposal connects the business outcome to concrete deliverables and responsibilities. The written agreement should make the work understandable to both the people funding it and the people operating it.

A pilot explores a limited question. A production implementation also needs dependable connections, access controls, exception handling, testing, and operating guidance.

Outcome and scope: The business task, intended users, deliverables, and the work included or excluded.
Systems and information: Source records, supported connections, required permissions, and dependencies on vendors or your internal team.
Review and exceptions: Actions that need approval, uncertain results, failed connections, and the person responsible for each exception.
Testing and acceptance: Representative examples, expected outcomes, access checks, and how your team confirms the work is ready.
Delivery and responsibilities: Milestones, review points, who supplies content or access, and what can affect the schedule.
Price and ongoing costs: Implementation pricing, third-party subscriptions or usage charges, optional support, and the process for changes to scope.
Ownership and handoff: Agreed code and account ownership, documentation, training, deployment responsibilities, and operating instructions.
Support after launch: Coverage, contact routes, maintenance responsibilities, and how future improvements are approved.

Your project workbook

Write down what needs to work better.

The workbook is optional. Download the 12-page AlbaHub workbook to map the work, prepare a pilot, and discuss the idea with your team. It includes restaurant-ordering and customer-service examples, system and data worksheets, staff review decisions, acceptance measures, costs, and a launch checklist.

Download the project workbook (PDF)

12 pages with 76 fillable fields and checkboxes. Complete it in a compatible PDF reader or print it. No sign-up is required; leave unknown details blank.

Your brief can answer

What task or customer experience do we want to improve?
How does the work happen today, and who owns it?
Which systems and information are involved?
What should stay under staff review?
How will we check that the result is useful?
What timing, budget, or operational constraints should we discuss?

Still exploring? Try the AI readiness guide

Implementation, end to end

A working process your team can operate.

Understand the current work

Walk through a real request with the people doing the job. Identify the source records, decisions, bottlenecks, and exceptions before choosing software.

Build a useful pilot

Define a limited starting scope and create a working version. Test representative requests alongside difficult cases, missing data, and failed connections.

Launch with clear ownership

Agree access, approval steps, acceptance checks, and a release plan. Show staff how to use the system, review exceptions, and contact the responsible owner.

Maintain and improve

Provide the agreed documentation and handoff. Review usage, operating costs, and issues; define support coverage and future changes in the engagement.

Before we begin

The questions that shape your project.

Bring the business problem. We can help translate it into a practical technical plan.

Can you work with our existing software?

We review the systems you use, available APIs or supported imports, subscription requirements, and access permissions. The scope identifies which connections can be implemented and which need an alternative.

What do you need from our team?

A process owner, examples of the current work, and access to the systems included in the scope. Your staff help confirm the business rules, review a pilot, and decide whether the result is ready to use.

How are cost and success agreed?

The proposal defines deliverables, assumptions, responsibilities, acceptance checks, and pricing. Third-party subscriptions and usage costs are identified separately. We choose meaningful measures from your existing process rather than promise an untested result.

What happens after launch?

The agreement defines code and account ownership, documentation, training, deployment responsibilities, and any ongoing support. Staff get a clear way to handle failures and requests for changes.

Let’s talk about what you want to improve.

A short conversation can help you decide where AI and better systems would make a useful difference.

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