Buying a paid AI pilot before full implementation
A paid pilot should leave evidence for a decision about further work. Use the scope worksheet to define what you are buying and what remains untested.
Syntalith
Before buying an AI pilot, record the question it should resolve, the output to be handed over and the conditions for ending the stage. Know what you receive even if the trial does not justify further development. The labels PoC and pilot do not establish integration scope or production readiness.
This guide covers commissioning a limited stage from a supplier. For measuring whether a tool helps employees, see the ChatGPT pilot guide.
Identify the decision the trial supports
Suppose you need to establish whether a system can read supplier document lines and prepare a result for employee correction. A first stage might evaluate selected formats. It need not include ERP writes or every supplier immediately.
Make that limit visible in the proposal. A trial using manually uploaded files will not establish whether retrieval from a company mailbox works. Identify which unknowns the trial resolves and which remain for the next stage.
Pilot scope worksheet
| Field | Agreement before starting |
|---|---|
| Question | Which business or technical decision depends on the trial? |
| Scope | Case types, sources and operations covered |
| Exclusions | Production components outside this stage |
| Evaluation material | Where examples come from and who defines correct results |
| Criteria | How quality, human work and consequential errors are assessed |
| Stage output | Report, case results, limitations and agreed files |
| Completion | Decision owner and response to results below requirements |
Keep failed cases in the report. They help estimate the remaining work. A demonstration of selected successful outputs cannot establish performance across the agreed evaluation set.
What should remain afterwards
Agree access to test results, configuration and code included in the handover. If the supplier uses its own tool, clarify the terms for continued use. Check whether another team could reproduce the evaluation using the same data.
The report should identify the tested version, data scope, user corrections and unresolved questions. A later stage can then show what improved. Use the acceptance record to document the buyer's decision.
Pilot price and production decision
Separate the trial price from the estimate for further development. Ask whether any fee is credited toward later work; do not assume this without an explicit proposal. Account separately for models, tools and reviewers' time.
In Syntalith's agent offer, pilot criteria are agreed before starting and full deployment follows evaluation. Corrections and further work depend on the project scope. The brief helps define a question to test. If integrations, accounts and recovery procedures remain afterwards, include them in the next stage before the system handles live cases.
Syntalith is an OpenAI Select Partner in the OpenAI Partner Network.
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