A practical test for a technology pilot
A pilot should answer a decision question, not merely demonstrate that a technology can run.
1. What operating problem changes?
Describe the current process and the measurable constraint. If the problem cannot be stated without naming the proposed technology, the case is probably not ready.
2. What is the baseline?
Record today's cost, time, error rate, throughput, reliability, adoption or other measures relevant to the decision. Without a baseline, improvement becomes opinion.
3. Who owns the decision?
Identify the person who can decide whether the pilot proceeds, changes or stops. A pilot with no decision owner tends to become an open-ended experiment.
4. What must be true for delivery?
List data, integrations, suppliers, approvals, specialist resources, operating access and user participation before execution begins.
5. What evidence changes the next decision?
Agree the threshold for success, failure or redesign in advance. The pilot should end with a decision, not another pilot by default.