How to write an AI implementation brief
Describe one workflow, the expected result and access to company systems. Use this brief to request comparable proposals and separate development costs from the cost of operating the system.
Syntalith
An AI implementation brief should describe the work your company wants to improve, the expected result and the conditions for accessing data. Suppliers also need examples of difficult cases and the name of the person who will evaluate the system. These details let them quote a comparable scope.
Start with one workflow. A request to introduce AI across the whole company needs a separate discussion about priorities. If the team cannot yet identify the problem or its owner, a process audit may help define the work.
A brief you can copy
Complete this table before meeting a supplier. Where information is missing, record who can check it and when. Access to a test environment is a project dependency worth stating early.
| Field | What to provide |
|---|---|
| Workflow and owner | The task and the person who resolves questions about how it should work |
| Start and finish | What triggers a case and what counts as completion |
| Current process | Who performs each step, which tools they use and where they wait for information |
| Volume | Cases in a defined period, seasonal variation and the source of those figures |
| Expected result | What the employee should receive and which actions remain theirs |
| Data | Required sources, their owners, freshness and access restrictions |
| Integrations | Systems, required reads or writes, API availability and test environments |
| Authority | Actions allowed without review, actions requiring approval and prohibited actions |
| Exceptions | Missing information, conflicting records, duplicates and integration failures |
| Acceptance | Test cases, expected behavior and the person evaluating the result |
| Constraints | Budget, target date, the reason for that date and staff availability |
| After launch | System owner, support coverage and documentation handover |
Keep passwords and API keys out of the brief. Source descriptions and approved examples are enough for an initial discussion. Agree a separate method for granting access to actual project data.
Example: drafting a quote from an email enquiry
This is an illustrative scope to adapt to your own business. An enquiry reaches a shared inbox. A salesperson identifies the requested products, looks them up in a catalogue and creates a draft quote in the CRM. Incomplete enquiries and repeated data entry slow the work.
The brief might require the system to prepare a CRM draft, match items against the current catalogue and flag missing information. The salesperson checks prices and approves sending. The system has no authority to send a quote on its own. Receiving the same message again should not create a second draft for the same enquiry.
A supplier needs details about the mailbox, CRM and catalogue to estimate that scope. Expand "CRM integration" into the actual operation: which record receives the write, who grants access and what happens if the write fails. Suppliers can then identify dependencies and price assumptions.
Request the same proposal format
| Proposal item | What to ask for |
|---|---|
| Scope | Delivered functions, exclusions and tasks assigned to your team |
| Development cost | Price for the agreed scope and how changes are charged |
| Operating cost | Separate model, licence, hosting and maintenance costs with volume assumptions |
| Schedule | Stages, access dependencies and time for your team to review results |
| Acceptance | Test approach, defect handling and retest arrangements |
| Handover | Code, configuration, accounts and documentation under the agreed scope |
If a supplier proposes a smaller pilot, ask what remains before production. Where an estimate is a range, identify the unresolved question behind it. The guide to AI agent implementation costs explains how to compare development with ongoing operation.
If the initial request only covers an experiment, use the paid AI pilot scope worksheet. It defines the stage outcome and handover materials, including when you decide against further development.
Using the brief with Syntalith
Our AI implementation services describe the work we offer. The brief gives us a basis for discussing the workflow, checking integration needs and identifying the information required for a quote. For the email example, conventional automation may also be worth considering if interpreting the content does not require a model.
Use the same version of the brief when speaking to several companies. Date any scope changes and share them with everyone preparing a proposal. Follow the supplier selection guide when assessing responses, then carry the agreed criteria into an AI agent acceptance record.
Syntalith is an OpenAI Select Partner in the OpenAI Partner Network.
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