What Delays an AI Implementation? A Buyer Checklist
Prevent avoidable AI project delays by resolving system access, workflow decisions, acceptance criteria, and operator handoff before they block the build.
An AI implementation can stall while the software is ready to move forward. The missing piece may be permission to access a system, an unanswered workflow question, or agreement on what the finished work should do. Put those decisions on the project plan with an owner.
This is a checklist for preventing delays. For the full schedule, stages, and delivery terms, read our AI implementation timeline guide. An Implementation Sprint runs 4–12 weeks after scope is agreed. A separate paid audit is needed only when substantial investigation is required.
Resolve access before the build depends on it
Knowing which software holds a record is different from having permission to connect to it. Identify the account owner, available export or integration route, permitted data, and the person who can approve access. A connection shown in a demonstration may require a different subscription or permission in your own account.
For an invoice workflow, map the incoming document, the accounting record it should match, and the approval needed before posting. Ask who can provide representative documents and who will decide what happens when they disagree. The business system connectors page explains that handoff.
Give each unresolved decision an owner
A useful decision log has five fields: the question, the owner, the date an answer is needed, the affected milestone, and the agreed answer. Keep it with the scope so a conversation does not become a forgotten dependency.
Examples include whether a reply may be sent automatically, which record wins when two systems disagree, and who reviews an exception. These are operating decisions. A developer cannot settle them by choosing a different model.
Agree on acceptance using actual work
Before testing begins, describe the ordinary inputs, the exceptions, and the output a reviewer will accept. Include incomplete requests, duplicate records, outdated documents, and requests outside the workflow's authority. Keep customer commitments and other consequential actions behind the approval rules in the scope.
Record the expected response for each example. Sometimes the correct result is a prepared draft. Sometimes it is a request for more information or a handoff to a person. Counting every escalation as a failure encourages the wrong behavior.
Keep new ideas out of the current acceptance criteria
A working prototype makes adjacent possibilities visible. Record those ideas in a later-work list. If a new integration or department needs to enter the current build, document its effect on scope, price, and timing before treating it as part of the commitment.
This is especially useful for company knowledge bases: adding another collection of files can introduce new permissions, conflicting versions, and a different set of questions to test.
Plan the operator's handoff
Name the person who will use the workflow, the person who will review exceptions, and the person who can pause it. Reserve time for them to run real work before handoff. Documentation should explain the source records, approval boundaries, maintenance tasks, and recovery steps they will need.
Bring the unresolved items to implementation scoping. If you are unsure which workflow deserves a build, start with a free workflow plan.
Where this shows upWhat we actually build →
