5 Questions to Ask Before Buying AI Solutions

Question 1: Can You Define Success in Numbers?

"We want to save time" is not a goal. It's a hope.

"Reduce proposal turnaround from 5 days to 2 days" is a goal. It's measurable. You know exactly when you've succeeded.

Why this matters: If you can't quantify the problem, we can't measure the solution. And if we can't measure it, we can't prove ROI. That means you're spending money on faith, not strategy.

Examples of measurable goals:

• Bad: "Improve customer service"
• Good: "Respond to customer inquiries within 2 hours, 95% of the time"

• Bad: "Make our team more productive"
• Good: "Reduce admin time from 15 hours/week to 5 hours/week"

• Bad: "Better financial reporting"
• Good: "Generate monthly financial dashboards in 1 hour instead of 3 days"

If you can't answer this question with specific numbers, stop. Define your success metrics first, then come back to AI.

Question 2: Do Your Workflows Exist Outside People's Heads?

We can't automate tribal knowledge.

If your process is "Ask Sarah—she knows how to do it," you're not ready for AI. You need documented workflows first.

The 78% problem: According to our analysis of failed AI projects, 78% of businesses skip this step. They try to automate processes that aren't even documented. The result? AI that guesses wrong, frustrates users, and gets abandoned.

What "documented" means:

• Step-by-step procedures anyone can follow
• Decision trees (if X, then Y)
• Exception handling (what to do when things go wrong)
• Input/output specifications (what goes in, what comes out)

Our process: We map your workflows before we build AI. If your process doesn't exist on paper, we create it with you. Then we automate it.

This isn't overhead—it's insurance. Documented processes ensure your AI does what you actually need, not what we think you need.

Question 3: Can Your Systems Share Data?

Real example: We had a potential client running their entire scheduling operation through email forwards and a shared Google Sheet. Different team members would email appointment requests, someone would manually copy them into the Sheet, and another person would send confirmations.

They wanted AI to "automate scheduling."

Step one wasn't AI—it was plumbing.

If you're copy-pasting data between tools, you don't have an AI problem. You have an integration problem. And until you fix that, AI will just be another tool in your copy-paste workflow.

Integration beats automation

Before AI can help, your systems need to talk to each other:

• CRM ↔ Email platform
• Accounting software ↔ Project management
• Scheduling tool ↔ Calendar
• Inventory system ↔ E-commerce platform

Sometimes we build these integrations ourselves. Sometimes we recommend middleware like Zapier or Make. But one way or another, the plumbing comes first.

Good news: Once your systems are connected, AI becomes dramatically more powerful. You're not just automating tasks—you're creating intelligent workflows that span your entire business.

Question 4: Will Your Team Actually Use What We Build?

We've seen perfect AI solutions sit unused because no one showed the team why it matters.

Technology adoption isn't about features. It's about people.

The change management checklist:

• Training: Does your team know how to use the new system?
• Buy-in: Do they understand why it's better than the old way?
• Support: Who do they ask when they have questions?
• Incentives: Are they rewarded for using it or punished for avoiding it?

Our approach: Change management isn't optional. It's part of our delivery.

We don't just hand you code and walk away. We train your team, document the workflows, and make sure everyone understands why the new system makes their job easier.

Because the best AI in the world is worthless if your team routes around it.

Question 5: Do You Have 90 Days?

We deliver working solutions in 90 days—not 6-month "discovery phases" that never ship.

But 90 days means real commitment:

• Access to your team (for interviews, feedback, testing)
• Access to your data (we can't build dashboards without data)
• Access to your processes (we need to understand your workflows)

If you're too busy to engage, we can't deliver. AI projects don't succeed in a vacuum—they require collaboration.

What 90 days looks like:

Weeks 1-2: Discovery and planning (interviews, process mapping, requirements)

Weeks 3-8: Build and test (iterative development, weekly check-ins)

Weeks 9-12: Deploy and train (rollout, training sessions, support handoff)

Fast enough to see results quickly. Slow enough to get it right.

How We Work: The AIA Copilot Difference

We solve real business problems with custom AI solutions you own.

No subscriptions. No lock-in. No monthly fees forever.

You pay once, you own it, you're done.

Recent projects:

• Subscriber portal that saved 15 hours/week for a home services company
• Financial dashboard for exit planning for a construction business
• 24/7 AI scheduling assistant for a coaching business

Each delivered in under 90 days. Each with measurable ROI. And we guarantee those outcomes.

The Honest Answer: You Might Not Be Ready Yet

If you can't answer these five questions clearly, you're not ready for AI implementation. And that's okay.

Better to know now than after you've spent $50,000 on a failed project.

What to do if you're not ready:

1. Define your success metrics (Question 1)
2. Document your workflows (Question 2)
3. Connect your systems (Question 3)
4. Get team buy-in (Question 4)
5. Commit the time (Question 5)

Once you can answer all five, you're ready. And the AI project will have a dramatically higher chance of success.