A practical AI readiness checklist for UK SMEs

1. Define the business opportunity

Begin with a workflow, not a broad instruction to ‘use AI’. A contained opportunity makes value, risk and learning easier to measure.

• Is there a repeated task, decision or customer problem worth improving?
• Can you describe the present time, cost, error or delay?
• Would a simpler process or existing system solve it first?
• Who owns the result rather than merely the tool?

2. Check data and security

Consumer AI accounts and approved business platforms can have very different protections. Policy and configuration should reflect the actual data involved.

• What information will staff enter or connect?
• Does it include personal, confidential or client data?
• Where is the data processed, retained and used for model training?
• Are access controls, licences and supplier terms understood?

3. Establish proportionate governance

Decide which uses are permitted, which require approval and where human review is mandatory. Record the supplier, purpose, data, owner and risk for each active use case. Governance should make responsible experimentation easier, not bury it in paperwork.

4. Plan adoption and measurement

A successful pilot produces a business result and reliable learning. The organisation should understand what changed, why it worked and what must be in place before wider adoption.

• Train people on the workflow and its limitations
• Set a baseline before the pilot starts
• Measure quality as well as time saved
• Create a route for reporting errors or unexpected outputs
• Decide what evidence would justify scaling or stopping