AI Opportunity Diagnostic
An AI opportunity diagnostic uncovers where AI can create value in your organisation. Mine looks at two things: your workflows, to find where AI can save time, cut cost or open up new ways of working, and your people, to understand what they hope for and worry about. You receive a roadmap of the opportunities worth pursuing and the first move to make.
You have the tools. Now what?
Your team has AI tools: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot. A few people use them every day, most use them now and then, and nobody is sure which part of the business should change first. Leadership wants a plan. Staff want to know what it means for them.
The diagnostic finds where AI can make a real difference, and what your people need to hear, before you spend on another tool. It goes further than an AI readiness assessment: it looks for opportunities as well as gaps.
Who it is for
SMEs: you use AI tools already and want to build them into how work gets done.
Social service organisations: you want AI to free up staff time, and you need to know where it helps and where it must stay out of the relationship with the people you serve.
How it works
The diagnostic follows the five questions in my free guide, The Question Before the Tool, applied to your organisation. I work by Occam’s razor: the simplest solution that solves the problem wins, and sometimes that isn’t AI.
- Strategic conversation. We start with your organisation’s goals, then agree the business problem AI should help solve, in one sentence.
- Opportunity mapping. I map your key workflows with the people who run them, and mark where information is retyped, where people wait, where human judgement matters most, and where AI could let you do something you cannot do today.
- Listening sessions. I talk with the staff who will live with the change, to hear what they would gain and what worries them.
- Opportunity Plays and readout. I write a one-page Opportunity Play for each priority opportunity, present what I found, and we agree the first move.
What you receive
An opportunity roadmap, with a one-page Opportunity Play for each priority, that covers:
- the business problem, in one sentence;
- the AI opportunities worth pursuing, ranked by value and ease;
- the first workflow to change, and why that one;
- who should own it;
- what your people gain, and what concerns to address;
- the key messages for your staff, and for your board where relevant;
- two measures to review after 90 days.
The Opportunity Play: one page per opportunity
The Opportunity Play is my one-page brief that tests whether an AI idea is ready to act on. It gives the business case and the people case equal weight.
- The goal: which strategic goal it serves, in one measurable sentence.
- The moment: where the work or decision happens today, who does it, and what it costs.
- The simplest fix: the lightest solution that would work, and why a simpler option falls short if AI is needed.
- The people: who gains, what they fear losing, and what must stay with a person.
- The story: the change in five sentences, as your staff will hear it.
- The proof: the measure we expect to move, by how much and by when, a people measure, and a high-level readiness check.
A brief with all six fields filled in clearly is ready to take to a vendor, an IT team or a build decision. A gap shows where the thinking needs to go next.
Two example Opportunity Plays
Illustrative examples. The organisations and figures are invented to show the format.
Example 1: a social service agency
A 40-person family service agency. Caseworkers spend late afternoons writing up case notes.
- The goal. Increase the time caseworkers spend with families, in line with the agency’s goal of more face-to-face support per case this year.
- The moment. After each session, caseworkers type case notes from handwritten jottings into the case management system. It takes about 45 minutes a day per caseworker, and notes often wait until the end of the week.
- The simplest fix. First, a shorter note template agreed with supervisors. Then an agency-approved AI tool that drafts a structured note from the caseworker’s own bullet points, with no client names or identifiers entered. A template alone saves some time; the drafting step is where most of the saving sits.
- The people. Caseworkers gain time back each day. They worry that notes will lose their professional voice and that the tool will be used to monitor them. The assessment, the risk judgement and the final sign-off on every note stay with the caseworker.
- The story. “Our caseworkers came into this work to be with families, and too much of their day goes to typing. From next month, a shorter template and a drafting tool will take the first pass at case notes. Every note is still reviewed, corrected and signed by the caseworker who wrote the bullet points. No client details go into the tool, and nothing about how we assess risk changes. We will check after 90 days that the time saved is going back to families.”
- The proof. Note-writing time falls from about 45 to 25 minutes a day per caseworker by day 90, and caseworkers’ confidence in the accuracy of their notes holds or improves in a short pulse survey. Readiness: information available, yes; workflow stable, yes; team ready, partly, since staff need clear guidance on what the tool may and may not be used for.
Verdict: All six fields are filled in, so this Play is ready to take to the agency’s IT team to choose and configure the tool.
Example 2: an SME
A 25-person industrial supplies trading firm. Sales coordinators prepare quotations for customer requests.
- The goal. Reply to every quotation request within one working day, in support of the firm’s goal to grow repeat orders from existing customers this year.
- The moment. Requests arrive by email as item lists. A sales coordinator checks each item against the price list and stock records, then types the quotation into a template. Each quotation takes about two hours, replies take three days on average, and some orders go to faster competitors.
- The simplest fix. First, one up-to-date price list in a single shared file, and one standard quotation template. Then the AI assistant the team already uses pulls the item list from the customer’s email into the template for the coordinator to check. Prices always come from the price list, never from the AI. A template alone still leaves the retyping of every item.
- The people. Coordinators gain time and fewer late evenings. They worry that pricing errors will be blamed on them, and whether the firm will need fewer of them. Sales staff want to keep control of discounts. Pricing decisions, discounts and the final check on every quotation stay with people.
- The story. “Our customers are choosing whoever replies first, and we are losing orders we should win. From next month, quotations start from one price list and one template, and the AI assistant copies the item list across from the customer’s email. Coordinators still check every line, and sales still decide every discount. The aim is to win more of the orders we already chase, with the same team. We will check after 90 days that replies are faster and errors have not gone up.”
- The proof. Average reply time falls from three days to one working day by day 90, with no rise in quotation errors, and coordinators rate the new process as easier in a short pulse survey. Readiness: information available, partly, since prices sit in three separate files today; workflow stable, yes; team ready, yes.
Verdict: Five fields are ready. The readiness check shows the gap: combine the three price files into one before any tool is set up. That is the first move.
What it does not cover
The diagnostic is a business opportunity and people assessment. It does not audit your IT systems or data, and it does not build or install tools. The readiness check in each Opportunity Play is high level: is the information available, is the workflow stable, is the team ready. It is not a technical data audit. Where you need that work, I can write the brief for your vendor or IT team.
After the diagnostic
You can take the roadmap forward yourselves. If you want help with what comes next:
Change Narrative Project
Narrative-led change management for the rollout.
Fractional AI Business Analyst
I join your team on a fractional basis to lead the change from inside.
Questions people ask
Do we need to be using AI tools already?
It helps, because we can look at real use. It also works if you are at the start and want to choose your first step well.
Who needs to be involved from our side?
A leader who can make decisions, and the people who run the workflows we look at. In a social service organisation, that usually includes frontline staff.
Is it done in person or online?
Either, or a mix. I work with organisations across Singapore.
How much does it cost?
The diagnostic is fixed in scope, and I quote it after a short conversation about your organisation. Email me to start.
Where could AI make the biggest difference in your organisation?
Email ryoleong@contentplayhq.com to talk about a diagnostic.
Not ready yet? Start with the free guide, The Question Before the Tool.