# The agenda for a first automation discovery meeting

Bring one task, its owner and examples of finished work. Leave with a testable question and a named owner for each missing fact.

Updated 17 October 2026 . 4 min read . Alexey Shurov

## The short answer

A useful first automation meeting follows one item from arrival to completion. Bring the person who handles it, the rules owner and someone who knows the system involved. Bring ordinary and awkward examples, with their finished outputs. Use the agenda to separate facts from guesses. Leave with a test to run, missing evidence to collect and an owner for each action.

### 1. Choose one task before inviting people

Name a start and an end, such as an emailed order arriving and a checked order being saved. Keep quoting and invoicing outside this meeting unless they block the task. Copy the blank agenda into Excel. Adjust the example timings to give the least understood step more time.

### 2. Invite people who can show and decide

Invite the person doing the work, the manager responsible and the system owner. One person may fill several roles. Invite a catalogue or pricing owner if a disputed rule needs their decision. Nominate someone to record facts, questions and actions.

### 3. Walk through the work with evidence

Open one input beside its finished output. Ask what was copied, checked and corrected. Repeat with an unclear case. Record where work waited for another person. Keep measured handling time separate from elapsed time. If neither was measured, mark them unknown and assign an observation exercise.

### 4. Agree the stops before the test

Ask what must make the system pause and who would handle that item. A missing quantity or disputed customer number may need different owners. Agree what the test may read and where it may save drafts. Keep changes to live records outside the test unless separately approved.

### 5. Close with a decision and dated actions

Reserve the final minutes for choosing whether to collect evidence, fix a rule or prepare a test. Give each action an owner, a due date and a clear output. For the test, name the sample, expected answers and reviewer. Record unresolved questions openly.

## The blank one page agenda

Copy this sheet and give each agenda item a time, a participant and something concrete to bring.

| Item | Minutes | Who | What to bring |
|---|---|---|---|
|  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |

[Download this sheet as a file for Excel](data:text/csv;charset=utf-8,%EF%BB%BFItem%2CMinutes%2CWho%2CWhat%20to%20bring%0D%0A%2C%2C%2C%0D%0A%2C%2C%2C%0D%0A%2C%2C%2C%0D%0A%2C%2C%2C%0D%0A)

## A worked meeting plan for Customer A orders

**Made up example.** Every row here is made up to show the method.

| Item | Minutes | Who | What to bring |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agree the order task boundaries | 5 | Operations manager | Start event and definition of a completed order |
| Follow one ordinary order | 10 | Order administrator | Customer A email and checked order |
| Inspect unclear order lines | 10 | Order administrator and catalogue owner | Missing quantity and disputed part number examples |
| Separate handling from waiting | 10 | Operations manager | Arrival, work and completion records or an explicit gap |
| Check system access and test location | 10 | Order system owner | Import fields, access rules and a place for draft orders |
| Agree checks and manual handover | 10 | Order administrator and manager | Expected order rows and names of people who resolve questions |
| Record the decision and next actions | 5 | Everyone | Action owner, due date and required output for each gap |

[Download this sheet as a file for Excel](data:text/csv;charset=utf-8,%EF%BB%BFItem%2CMinutes%2CWho%2CWhat%20to%20bring%0D%0AAgree%20the%20order%20task%20boundaries%2C5%2COperations%20manager%2CStart%20event%20and%20definition%20of%20a%20completed%20order%0D%0AFollow%20one%20ordinary%20order%2C10%2COrder%20administrator%2CCustomer%20A%20email%20and%20checked%20order%0D%0AInspect%20unclear%20order%20lines%2C10%2COrder%20administrator%20and%20catalogue%20owner%2CMissing%20quantity%20and%20disputed%20part%20number%20examples%0D%0ASeparate%20handling%20from%20waiting%2C10%2COperations%20manager%2C%22Arrival%2C%20work%20and%20completion%20records%20or%20an%20explicit%20gap%22%0D%0ACheck%20system%20access%20and%20test%20location%2C10%2COrder%20system%20owner%2C%22Import%20fields%2C%20access%20rules%20and%20a%20place%20for%20draft%20orders%22%0D%0AAgree%20checks%20and%20manual%20handover%2C10%2COrder%20administrator%20and%20manager%2CExpected%20order%20rows%20and%20names%20of%20people%20who%20resolve%20questions%0D%0ARecord%20the%20decision%20and%20next%20actions%2C5%2CEveryone%2C%22Action%20owner%2C%20due%20date%20and%20required%20output%20for%20each%20gap%22%0D%0A)

## The inputs to gather

Sample inputs and outputs. Bring ordinary items, a corrected item and an unresolved item. Remove unnecessary customer or personal details.

Current rules. Bring the catalogue, price list, approval limits and instructions. Name who can authorise changes.

Work records. Bring counts, timestamps and delay reasons. Label estimates and gaps.

System details. Bring required destination fields, the access owner and test options. Use screenshots if access is unavailable.

## What can change the answer

Another customer, shift or product range may change the answer. State which examples the meeting covers. A clean sample does not prove every incoming item follows the same rules. If an essential owner is absent, assign a follow-up before agreeing the test.

## When this is the wrong tool

This agenda is too narrow for choosing a company-wide software platform. Start with a map of the work instead. It is too early for a test if nobody agrees what a correct output looks like. Agree that manually first. People still own disputed rules and approve unclear cases.

## What to do with the result

Write a decision note. If the rules and examples are clear, define a test that produces drafts for comparison with checked work. If evidence is missing, gather it first. If the delay comes from an unresolved approval rule, assign that decision before building anything. Share the action list and check completed actions before scheduling another meeting.

## Common questions

### How long should the first meeting last?

The example agenda allows an hour for one task. Change the timings to suit the evidence available. If the discussion expands into several tasks, park the extra topics and choose which one deserves its own session. Protect time for decisions and actions.

### Do we need someone technical in the room?

Bring someone who knows how the relevant system is used and who controls access. A developer is not always needed to understand the task. Questions about reading files or saving orders can become named follow-up actions if the system owner cannot answer them.

### What if we have no reliable time records?

Bring the work examples anyway and mark the missing measures. Ask someone to record arrival, active handling and completion for a defined sample afterwards. Keep waiting time separate from work time. Do not turn a rough memory into a claimed saving.

### Should we choose an AI product in this meeting?

First agree the task, the rules and the expected output. The useful next step might be a clearer form, a shared catalogue or an existing system feature. Compare products once you can give each the same examples and judge the answers consistently.

## Useful next[Free toolWhat to automate first, a scoring toolPick a task your team repeats every week and answer five quick questions. You get a plain answer on whether it is worth automating, what helps and what to watch. Score up to four tasks and it tells you where to start, and you can keep the result as a private plan page.](https://shurco.ai/tools/what-to-automate-first/)[PlaybookHow to build a business case for AI automationA finance director does not approve AI. They approve a measured task, an honest cost and a way to tell whether it worked. Here is the one page that gets a yes, and the numbers to put on it.](https://shurco.ai/guides/business-case-for-ai-automation/)

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Web version https://shurco.ai/guides/first-automation-discovery-meeting-agenda/