AI readiness checklist for Australian businesses

Being ready for AI has little to do with company size. It mostly comes down to whether you know which problem you’re solving and whether your information is in reasonable shape.

Goals

We can name one or two jobs that take too long or cost too much.
We know how we’d measure improvement.
Someone in the business will own the project.

Processes

We can describe how the job is done today, step by step.
The job is done in a similar way each time.
We know which steps need a person’s judgement.

If your team does the same job five different ways, agree on one way first. Automating a messy process usually gives you a faster mess.

Information

The information AI would need is written down somewhere.
Our product, pricing and policy documents are current.
Customer records are reasonably accurate and in one main system.

Systems

We know which tools we use and who manages them.
Our main systems can connect to other tools, usually through an API.
We can get admin access when needed.

Privacy and risk

We know what personal information we hold and where it sits.
Staff know what they can and can’t paste into AI tools.
We’ve checked whether the Privacy Act applies to us and sought advice where needed.
High-risk decisions will stay with a person.

Our guide on customer data and ChatGPT covers this in more detail. The Australian Government’s Guidance for AI Adoption is also a useful reference.

People

The team doing the job has been asked what would help.
Someone will check AI results, especially early on.
We’ve allowed time for training and small changes after launch.

How to read your results

Mostly yes: you’re ready to choose a first project.

A mix: start with a low-risk job, such as internal drafting or summarising, while you fix the gaps.

Mostly no: spend a few weeks on processes and information first. It will make any later project cheaper.

A free quote conversation with us can help you work through the list. If the honest answer is “not yet”, we’ll say so.