Most people ask the opposite question.
What should I automate first?
What can AI replace?
Where can I save time fastest?
But I think the better question is:
What should I avoid automating until I understand it properly?
Because some workflows are messy for a reason.
The handoff is unclear.
The owner is unclear.
The decision rule keeps changing.
The data is incomplete.
The client expectation is still moving.
If you automate that too early, you don’t remove the mess.
You just make the mess faster.
For me, the last thing I would automate is any process where people still disagree on what “done” actually means.
Curious how others think about this. What would you automate last, not first?