The eight control tests
Can the owner name the recurring constraint, baseline and decision this workflow changes?
Record Pass, Partial, Fail or Not applicable. Attach the evidence or owner needed to close the gap.
Are sources permitted, current, complete enough and traceable to the output?
Record Pass, Partial, Fail or Not applicable. Attach the evidence or owner needed to close the gap.
Are trigger, transformation, output, reviewer and next action documented?
Record Pass, Partial, Fail or Not applicable. Attach the evidence or owner needed to close the gap.
Is there an acceptance checklist proportional to the cost of an error?
Record Pass, Partial, Fail or Not applicable. Attach the evidence or owner needed to close the gap.
Are customer data, credentials and commercially sensitive information handled under explicit rules?
Record Pass, Partial, Fail or Not applicable. Attach the evidence or owner needed to close the gap.
Do you track complete cycle time, editing, acceptance, failure and downstream use?
Record Pass, Partial, Fail or Not applicable. Attach the evidence or owner needed to close the gap.
Does the calculation include software, setup, integration, maintenance and error cost?
Record Pass, Partial, Fail or Not applicable. Attach the evidence or owner needed to close the gap.
Is one person accountable for quality, updates, access and retirement?
Record Pass, Partial, Fail or Not applicable. Attach the evidence or owner needed to close the gap.
Use four audit decisions
| Decision | Conditions | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Scale | Value, quality, risk and ownership are proven across repeated cycles | Document, monitor and expand carefully |
| Assist | AI helps preparation but final judgment carries material risk | Keep the action and approval human |
| Redesign | The use case is valuable but inputs, review or integration are weak | Repair the failed control before more adoption |
| Stop | Net value is negative, risk is unacceptable or no owner exists | Remove access and preserve the learning |
The minimum evidence pack
- A one-sentence business case and named workflow owner.
- Before-and-after examples from representative cycles.
- Approved sources and a record of sensitive-data handling.
- Human acceptance checklist and known failure cases.
- Cycle-time, editing, error and accepted-output data.
- Complete first-year cost and a retirement trigger.
Use the AI Marketing Maturity Framework to place the workflow in context. Then calculate the economics with the AI Marketing ROI Calculator.