Mapping a Business Workflow Before Adding AI

The most dangerous phrase in 2025 is: "Let's just get the AI to do it."

Do what, exactly?

If you cannot describe the task in a flowchart, an AI model cannot execute it reliably. AI is not a mind reader; it is a pattern matcher. If the pattern (your workflow) is broken, the AI will just match the brokenness.

The "Napkin Test"

Before we write a single prompt or line of code, we do the Napkin Test.

Can you draw the entire process on a napkin (or a whiteboard) using only boxes and arrows?

If you have to say "and then the human figures it out" or "it depends on context" more than twice, your process is not ready for AI.

Example: "Automate Invoice Processing"

Bad Workflow Description: "Client sends an invoice, we check it, and then we pay it."

• AI Failure Mode: What if the invoice has no date? What if the amount is wrong? What if it's a new vendor?

Good Workflow Map:

1. Trigger: Email arrives with attachment.
2. Filter: Is it PDF? If no -> Manual Review.
3. Extraction: Extract Date, Vendor, Amount, Line Items.
4. Validation: Does Vendor exist in DB?
   • Yes: Continue.
   • No: Flag for Human Review.
5. Logic: Is amount < $500?
   • Yes: Auto-approve.
   • No: Send Slack confirmation to Manager.
6. Action: Push to Xero/Quickbooks.

Notice steps 4 and 5. These are logic gates. AI thrives on logic gates. It struggles with "common sense."

Step-by-Step Mapping Framework

Here is the exact framework we use at DJC Insights when clients ask for automation:

1. The Trigger: What starts the process? (Email, Form fill, Time of day)
2. The Inputs: What data do we have? (Name, ID, request text)
3. The Decisions (Logic Gates): Where does the path split? (If X, then Y; else Z)
4. The Action: What actually happens? (Email sent, Record updated)
5. The Output: What is the final result?

Confusing "Magic" with "Mechanics"

Entrepreneurs often view AI as magic. Engineers view AI as mechanics.

To succeed, you must think like a mechanic. Your business is a machine. The workflow is the gears. AI is the oil.

If the gears aren't touching, pouring oil on them just makes a mess.

Assignment

Take one process you want to automate this week. Draw it out. Circle every point where a human makes a decision. That circle is your "Prompt Opportunity." The lines between them are your code/integrations.

Map first. Build second.