Turn a promising idea into a measured pilot
A useful project needs a defined business problem, reliable information, the right people and a decision point. Stratiis helps Scottish organisations coordinate scope, suppliers, technical dependencies, testing and handover for automation, reporting and AI initiatives.
What is project delivery for automation, data and AI?
It is the coordinated work of defining a use case, preparing its process and information, building or configuring a limited solution, testing it with users and deciding whether the result merits wider use. Delivery should include ownership, measurable acceptance criteria, supplier responsibilities, risk controls and a support plan.
Keep the pilot connected to the business outcome
Technology can be configured quickly while data, decisions and user readiness remain unresolved. A delivery plan makes those dependencies visible.
Clear scope
Agree what the first pilot will and will not do.
Named owners
Give business, information, technical and supplier decisions a home.
Useful tests
Check real tasks, exceptions and controls with representative users.
Informed decision
Compare results with the baseline before expanding.
What should an automation, data or AI project include?
The detail depends on the use case, but each workstream needs a practical output and an owner.
| Workstream | What to agree | Useful output |
|---|---|---|
| Business case | Which task or decision needs improvement, and what is the current baseline? | Outcome and success measures. |
| Scope and owners | Who sponsors the work, approves changes and accepts the result? | Scope, roles and decision route. |
| Process | What are the actual steps, exceptions, handoffs and review points? | Current and proposed workflow. |
| Information | Which sources are needed, who owns them and are they suitable? | Data and access actions. |
| Technology and suppliers | Which platforms, licences, integrations and supplier tasks are required? | Dependency and responsibility map. |
| Security and controls | What may be used, who can access it and how will outputs be checked? | Agreed safeguards and approvals. |
| Testing and adoption | How will users test normal and difficult cases and receive guidance? | Test record and user plan. |
| Handover and decision | Who supports the result, and what evidence supports wider use? | Support plan and pilot decision. |
Record assumptions and unresolved issues early so a pilot does not quietly become a full deployment.
Plan the dependencies around the pilot
These areas often determine whether a working demonstration becomes a useful business service.
Workflow automation
Define rules, exceptions and approvals for repeatable work.
Reporting and data
Agree measures, source quality and how results will be validated.
AI assistance
Define permitted use, human review and a way to measure quality.
Information governance
Set ownership, permissions, quality and lifecycle rules for the information involved.
Users and adoption
Involve people who perform the task and prepare guidance for the new way of working.
Support and change
Agree monitoring, vendor escalation and future changes before project closure.
Move through clear decisions from discovery to handover
Each stage should produce evidence that the next investment is justified.
Discover
Define the problem, baseline, stakeholders and practical first scope.
Prepare
Resolve essential process, information, access and supplier dependencies.
Pilot
Test real tasks and exceptions; record quality, effort and user feedback.
Decide
Compare evidence with success criteria, then improve, expand or stop.
Automation, Data and AI Readiness helps select and prepare the use case before delivery begins.
Keep the business, IT team and suppliers aligned
Delivery works better when each participant knows which decisions and outputs they own.
Business and information owners
The sponsor confirms the goal and investment decision. Process owners define how the work should run; information owners approve sources, quality and use. Representative users show where the plan does not fit reality.
Technical team and suppliers
Technical owners coordinate environments, access, integrations and security controls. Suppliers deliver their agreed product work and provide support information. One project lead tracks decisions and dependencies across them.
Co-Managed IT Support can add capacity alongside an internal team.
What should be checked before wider use?
A pilot should be judged against the agreed task and controls, including what happens when things go wrong.
| Check | What it should show |
|---|---|
| Business outcome | The pilot improves a defined measure or reveals why it cannot yet do so. |
| Representative tasks | Real users can complete normal work and known exceptions. |
| Information | Required sources, definitions and permissions are suitable for the use. |
| Quality and controls | Outputs can be verified and material risks have an owner. |
| Failure route | Users know what to do when a connection, rule or output fails. |
| Ownership | Business, IT and suppliers know who handles changes and support. |
| Decision record | Leaders can see costs, benefits, gaps and the basis for the next step. |
Close the project only when documentation, open actions and ongoing responsibility have been accepted.
Plan expansion as a separate decision
A result in one team does not automatically prove it will work at another scale or with different information.
Learn
Record user feedback, failures and workarounds.
Prioritise
Fix essential data, process or control gaps before expansion.
Support
Assign monitoring, guidance, supplier escalation and change approval.
Sequence
Place the next use case in the wider investment plan.
Technology Roadmaps can sequence larger improvements revealed by the pilot.
Connect delivery to the wider IT programme
Project coordination can sit alongside technical support, system deployment and business change.
Project delivery explained
What is involved in delivering an automation or AI pilot?
Define the business task and baseline, agree scope and owners, prepare process and data, configure the solution, test with users and compare results with acceptance criteria before deciding what comes next.
How small should the first pilot be?
Keep it to a task and user group that can produce useful evidence without requiring a full rollout. It should still include realistic exceptions, permissions and a way to support users.
Who should own the project?
A business sponsor should own the outcome and investment decision. A project lead coordinates delivery, while process, information, technical and supplier owners make decisions in their areas.
How do we choose success measures?
Use the problem that prompted the project. Compare a baseline with the pilot for time, quality, errors, rework, user experience or another relevant outcome, including the effort needed to maintain the solution.
What should users test?
Test normal tasks, exceptions, access boundaries and failures with realistic information. Ask representative users to record whether results are useful and what needs correction.
Can Stratiis coordinate third-party suppliers?
Yes. Stratiis can help track agreed supplier tasks, technical dependencies, testing and support handover. Product-specific responsibilities should be confirmed in the project scope.
What happens if the pilot does not meet its goals?
Review the evidence and identify whether the issue is the use case, data, process, controls or tool. The decision may be to improve and retest, change approach or stop the work.
What is needed at project handover?
Provide documentation, known issues, owner and supplier contacts, user guidance, monitoring and change routes, plus a clear decision on whether and how the solution will be used.
Give the next idea a clear delivery path
Tell us the process or information problem you want to improve. We can discuss scope, dependencies and the evidence needed for a sound decision.
