Automation with Purpose: Tying Your First Project to Business Goals

Philippe Marcotte

 

If you're exploring automation or AI, it's easy to get excited about the tech itself — chatbots, virtual assistants, workflows, language models.

But for most mid-sized businesses, the difference between a failed experiment and a scalable win comes down to one thing:

Did the project solve a real business problem?

In this article, we’ll show you how to choose your first automation project — not based on what’s trendy, but based on what actually moves the needle for your business.

Start with the Why: Link Automation to a Strategic KPI

If your team is proposing ideas like:

  • “We should try a chatbot.”

  • “Let’s test out Power Automate.”

  • “Maybe we can build something with AI?”

That’s great — it shows curiosity. But curiosity doesn’t guarantee ROI.

Reframe the question:

Instead of “What tool should we try?”, ask “What problem do we want to solve?”

Then tie that problem to a measurable business outcome.

For example:

❌ “We want to try a chatbot.”
✅ “We want to cut average customer response time by 50%, which improves satisfaction — a key retention KPI.”

The second statement gives your team:

  • A clear goal,

  • A way to measure success,

  • And a justification to get buy-in from leadership.

Choose KPIs That Matter (and That You Can Influence)

Here are four categories of KPIs that automation typically improves. Start your project by targeting one of these:

Category Examples of KPIs
Cost Cost per ticket, hours spent per task, overtime reduction
Speed Response time, time to resolution, cycle time
Quality Error rate, compliance adherence, customer satisfaction
Capacity Volume per employee, time freed for strategic work
 
Pro tip: Pick a KPI that’s already being tracked by your business — something your CFO, COO, or department head actually cares about.

Frame the Initiative Around Outcomes — Not Features

Here’s a simple formula you can use to frame any early automation initiative:

We are automating [task/process] to achieve [business improvement], which supports our goal of [strategic priority or KPI].

Example:

We are automating the intake of new service requests to reduce wait times and improve NPS, which supports our goal of increasing customer retention.

By framing it this way, automation becomes a means to an end, not a side project. That’s what earns buy-in — and unlocks results.

Keep It Small — But Make It Count

Your first project doesn’t need to be massive. In fact, it shouldn’t be.

But it should:

  • Solve a known problem

  • Create measurable value

  • Have visibility with leadership

Even a basic win — like freeing 10 hours/week from a support rep’s workload — is easier to scale when it’s tied to a broader business goal.

The Bottom Line

Early automation wins aren’t about proving the tech works. They’re about proving it matters.

When you align your first project to a real business outcome, you:

  • Earn faster leadership support,

  • Focus your team on value, not just features,

  • Build the credibility to do more — and do it faster.

Not sure where to start?
We help business leaders choose automation projects that align with strategy — and deliver results.

 

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