How to scope a fixed-price AI pilot.

Why fixed scope beats vague retainers

Open-ended “AI exploration” burns budget without a finish line. A pilot forces clarity: what changes in the business when we are done?

What good scope includes

• Workflow name — e.g. “Inbound lead enrichment + CRM update”
• In-scope steps — explicit list
• Out-of-scope — equally explicit
• Success metric — hours, cycle time, error rate, response SLA
• Baseline — how work performs today
• Systems & access — accounts, APIs, sample data
• Human control points — where approval is required
• Timeline & price — single number, single end date
• Exit criteria — what “shipped” means

Pick one primary metric

Secondary metrics are fine; one primary metric prevents moving goalposts. Example: reduce average handling time for inbound research from 40 minutes to under 10, with human review on external sends.

Common scoping failures

• Boiling the ocean (“automate the whole company”)
• No baseline measurement
• No owner on the client side
• Zero discussion of exceptions
• Success defined as “feels magical”

Next steps

Use the audit checklist, then email hello@oopa.ai. We will tell you if the pilot is coherent — or what to narrow.

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