# How a first workflow goes live in four weeks

> Week by week: what we do, what we need from you, and where it usually slows down.

- Kategorie: Method
- Autor: Robert Schröder
- Letzte Prüfung: 2026-09-20
- Basis: Präsentation Folie 13 · Fragment knowledge__what-a-first-ai-project-involves.html
- URL: https://saits.ai/wissen/erster-workflow-in-vier-wochen

| | | |
|---|---|---|
| about four weeks | Our target is a first workflow in production within about four weeks. | SAITS target · as of 09.2026 |
| eight days | At one real estate client a first owner enquiry was running eight days after the first conversation. | Project record, real estate client · as of 09.2026 |

## 01 Getting started does not have to be a large AI project

You do not have to swap out your IT landscape or launch a transformation programme that runs for months.

## 02 What is realistic in four weeks

One workflow that takes over a recurring process and runs in production — not half the back office. Four weeks is a target, not a commitment.

## 03 Week 1: pin the process down

We watch the process at work once and write down what comes in, who touches it and where it gets stuck.

## 04 Week 1: collect real documents

We need real cases, not sample documents — samples do not teach you the edge case. Our rule of thumb: about twenty.

## 05 Week 2: build the workflow

The workflow is built step by step: trigger, processing, approval, filing.

## 06 Week 2: set the point of approval

We define where a person confirms before anything is posted, sent or filed.

## 07 Week 3: test on real cases

The workflow runs on the same cases as today and is checked alongside them, not instead of them.

## 08 Week 3: sharpen it

Whatever the workflow files wrongly is corrected — this step is the difference between a demo and production.

## 09 Week 4: go live

The workflow takes over the process, approval stays with a person, and we keep watching afterwards.

## 10 What we need from you

Time with the person who runs the process today, access to the systems involved, and real example documents.

## 11 Where it usually slows down

Access that is not set up yet, and edge cases someone only mentions during testing.

## 12 How we measure success

Before the start we record how many hours the process binds today — without that baseline nothing afterwards can be evidenced.

## 13 How you book it

The first workflow cannot be booked on its own; it belongs to the company analysis with a first workflow at CHF 4'900 · 5,200 €, and which workflow gets built follows from the analysis.

## 14 What comes next

Either the next use case from the implementation plan, or ongoing support for the workflow that now runs.

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What would take four weeks in your company hangs on one process. Name it.

**See also:** [What the company analysis delivers](/wissen/was-die-unternehmensanalyse-liefert) · [What a workflow costs and what it saves](/wissen/was-ein-workflow-kostet)