Before the AI pilot, define what good looks like.
A practical starting point for quality, data access, cost and human review.
Choose a specific task
A pilot needs a workflow with a visible input and a useful output. Define who will use it and which part of the workflow should improve. Avoid treating an open-ended assistant as a substitute for a concrete problem.
Set the data boundary
Document the information that can be used, the permissions required and the records that should stay outside the pilot. Include retention and access requirements in the design.
Evaluate more than a demo
Prepare representative examples and meaningful failure cases. Assess output quality, latency and usage cost under the same assumptions. One successful demonstration does not establish production readiness.
Plan the human handoff
Decide when a person reviews an answer, when the system abstains and how failures are recorded. These behaviours belong in the design, alongside model and platform selection.