AI Opportunity Matrix and Workflow Worksheets

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Component 1

Task inventory template

Use this after Lesson 1.

Task	Business area	Trigger	Input	Output	Owner	Reviewer	Frequency	Time per instance	Notes
Example: send follow-up after discovery call	Sales	Call ends	Call notes, offer details, next step	Follow-up email	Owner	Owner	5x/week	20 min	Often delayed

Business area options: customer communication, content and marketing, operations, sales, finance, HR, reporting, admin, delivery, support, management.

Component 2

Vague task vs. useful task name

Use this when your inventory feels too broad.

Vague task name	Better task name
Emails	Reply to new customer quote requests
Marketing	Turn one long-form article into three social posts
Sales	Send follow-up email after discovery calls
Admin	Summarize weekly project updates for the team
Hiring	Draft interview questions from job requirements
Finance	Send payment reminders for overdue invoices
Customer service	Respond to common order status questions

Rule of thumb: If the task name doesn’t tell you what starts it and what gets produced, it’s too vague.

Component 3

Team task discovery prompts

Use these questions if more than one person works in the business.

Prompts

What recurring tasks do you handle every week?

Which tasks interrupt your focus the most?

Which tasks require copying, rewriting, summarizing, formatting, or moving information?

Which customer questions do you answer repeatedly?

Which tasks depend on one person remembering to do something?

Which tasks create delays when someone is busy?

Which reports, updates, or documents take longer than they should?

Which tasks feel simple but still drain time or attention?

Component 4

AI opportunity scoring rubric

Score each task from 1 to 5 across the three main factors.

Repetition and pattern clarity

Score	Meaning
1	Rare or very different each time
2	Repeats sometimes, but structure varies a lot
3	Repeats and follows a loose pattern
4	Repeats often with a clear pattern
5	Repeats often and is highly predictable

Judgment fit

High score means AI can safely help with the task because rules, examples, and review are clear.

Score	Meaning
1	Requires heavy human judgment or sensitive decisions
2	Requires frequent judgment and careful review
3	Requires some judgment but can be guided by examples
4	Mostly rule-based with a simple review step
5	Low judgment, clear rules, easy to review

Business impact

Score	Meaning
1	Low time cost and little effect on results
2	Some time cost, but limited business effect
3	Moderate time cost or useful quality improvement
4	Meaningful time savings, quality gain, or customer impact
5	Strong effect on revenue, capacity, speed, customer experience, or consistency

Component 5

Input readiness and risk gates

Add these after scoring.

Gate	Green	Yellow	Red
Input readiness	Inputs are clear, consistent, and easy to access	Inputs exist but need cleanup or better structure	Inputs are missing, inconsistent, sensitive, or trapped in someone’s head
Risk level	Wrong output would be easy to catch and low impact	Wrong output could create confusion, rework, or customer friction	Wrong output could affect trust, money, legal obligations, health, hiring, safety, or compliance

How to use the gates

Green input and low risk can move into testing quickly.
Yellow input means improve the process before building too much automation.
Red input means document and clean up the workflow first.
Red risk means human review is required, even if the task scores high.

Component 6

AI opportunity matrix template

Use this as the Module 2 deliverable.

Task	Business area	Weekly time cost	Repetition and pattern clarity (1-5)	Judgment fit (1-5)	Business impact (1-5)	Total score	Input readiness	Risk level	AI category	Estimated time saved/week	Quick win?
Example: draft follow-up email after discovery calls	Sales	100 min	4	3	5	12	Green	Medium	AI-assisted	45 min	Yes
Example: send appointment reminders	Customer communication	60 min	5	5	3	13	Green	Low	Automate	45 min	Maybe
Example: handle complex refund dispute	Customer support	30 min	2	1	4	7	Yellow	High	Selectively assist	10 min	No

Component 7

Category decision guide

Use this after scoring.

Category	Best fit	Human role
Automate	Repetitive, low-risk, clear inputs, predictable outputs	Monitor exceptions and review performance
AI-assisted	Repetitive or semi-repetitive tasks that need judgment before use	Review, edit, approve, and improve prompts
Selectively assist	Complex tasks where AI can help with one piece	Use AI for prep work, summaries, comparisons, or first drafts
Keep human	High-stakes, rare, relationship-sensitive, unclear, or low-value tasks	Keep the task human until process, inputs, or risk changes

Override rule: High-risk tasks don’t become fully automated just because the total score is high.

Component 8

Quick-win calculator

Use this for your top five to ten tasks.

Task	Current time per instance	Current frequency per week	Current weekly time cost	Expected AI-assisted time per instance	Estimated weekly time saved	What will improve besides time?	Where will the saved time or attention go?	What baseline should we record before testing?

Simple formula

Current weekly time cost = current time per instance x weekly frequency

Estimated weekly time saved = current weekly time cost - expected AI-assisted weekly time cost

Component 9

Capacity reinvestment plan

Use this before choosing your first workflow.

If AI saves time on…	We’ll reinvest that time into…	Reason
Content drafting	Publishing consistently and improving offers	Better visibility and stronger sales assets
Proposal drafting	Faster follow-up with qualified leads	More timely sales conversations
Customer reply drafting	Faster response times and better support review	Better customer experience
Internal reporting	Fixing blockers earlier	Less rework and fewer missed steps
Admin documentation	Training and delegation	Less owner dependency

Component 10

Pre-automation cleanup checklist

Before you build an AI workflow, confirm:

Pre-automation cleanup checklist The task has a clear trigger. The input is available and consistent. The desired output is clear. A good example exists. The review step is assigned. Sensitive information has been identified. The risk level is understood. Success can be measured. The saved time has a planned destination.

If you can’t check these boxes, the task may still be a good opportunity later. It just needs cleanup first.

Component 11

Module completion check

Before moving to Module 3, make sure you have:

Module completion check A task inventory with recurring work across the business. Scores for your strongest AI candidates. Input readiness and risk level marked. Each task placed into an AI category. Your top one to three quick wins chosen. A baseline for your first workflow. A plan for where the saved capacity will go.

If you have those pieces, you’re ready to evaluate tools.