Not every task needs the same AI approach. Some need a copilot. Some need an automation. Some need a custom tool. And some just need a person. Answer four questions to find out.
Built from patterns across real implementation engagements. Includes three common mismatches that waste time and budget.
Think of one specific task your team does repeatedly. Answer four questions about it.
Is it one person doing it their own way, or a team following a shared process?
Consistent formatting, structure, and quality — or is variation acceptable?
Will the people doing this task interact with a form, dashboard, or interface — or is it behind the scenes?
Is this a durable workflow or a short-term need?
The matrix gets you to the right approach. These keep you from picking the wrong one.
If one person does this task a few times a week and the output doesn’t need to be standardized, a well-crafted prompt is the right solution — not a $10K+ application. Save the build budget for tasks where multiple people need a shared interface and consistent outputs.
Signal: the “tool” would have exactly one user and no workflow beyond copy-paste.
If someone is pasting the same prompt into ChatGPT 20 times a day with slightly different inputs, that’s not “using AI” — that’s manual labor with extra steps. When the task is routine, high-volume, and the logic is consistent, build the automation and get the human out of the loop.
Signal: someone has a “prompt template” doc they copy from every time.
You can’t automate a process that lives in someone’s head. If you ask “what are the rules?” and the answer is “it depends” with no follow-up, the process isn’t ready. Document it, run it manually with the documentation for two weeks, then automate the documented version.
Signal: the project kickoff meeting includes the phrase “well, the way I usually do it is...”
PDF with the full matrix, the four questions, and all three mismatches. Share it with your team when someone asks “should we use AI for this?”
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