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Operations & admin

Your most expensive people are doing copy-paste work.

Pilot targetLess repetitive admin work
Project startDate agreed in scope
ValidationMeasured against baseline
What changes

From manual handoffs to a measurable operating workflow.

Pilot targetLess repetitive admin work
01Today

The friction

Invoices, contracts, forms and reports are handled manually across disconnected tools. Staff re-enter the same data in three systems, mistakes slip into finance and delivery, and nobody has time to fix the process itself.

02With HAY AI

The operating change

Map one recurring admin process, connect its inputs and automate extraction, validation and routing. Missing data and failed runs go to an exception queue; named staff retain approval of payments, contracts and consequential actions.

Best fit

SMEs with repetitive, document-heavy back-office work.

Decision snapshot

Start with one repetitive process and measure every handoff.

Start with one workflow, measure it against the current baseline and expand only after the result is visible.

See a sample first pilot →
Best first pilotOne repetitive document-heavy process with a clear owner.
What we measureHours saved, cycle time, error rate and exception volume.
Human controlExceptions and high-impact approvals stay with responsible staff.
Scale ruleKeep, improve or stop the pilot based on evidence before expanding.
Smart Operations & admin roadmap

From a manual request to a tracked operational result

Remove repetitive handoffs while keeping responsible people in control of exceptions and material approvals.

What happens today
Invoices, contracts, forms and reports are handled manually across disconnected tools. Staff re-enter the same data in three systems, mistakes slip into finance and delivery, and nobody has time to fix the process itself.
Roadmap

See the operating journey stage by stage.

Open each stage to see the problem, action, deliverable and KPI behind the workflow.

Operations & admin roadmap

Stage 1 of 7

Internal request intake

Fewer lost requests and clearer ownership
The problem at this stage

Internal requests arrive through email, chat, spreadsheets and informal messages. Work is not always logged, the requester repeats information and managers discover delays only after someone follows up.

Exactly what we do

Create one internal intake flow for tasks, approvals, incidents and admin requests. Capture the requester, business area, deadline, priority, dependencies and required documents, then confirm receipt automatically.

What you receive

A single request register, structured intake form, automatic acknowledgement and a visible queue of open work.

Opportunity map

Eight practical areas we can improve

See intake, approvals, handoffs and status tracking as one operational workflow so work stops disappearing between inboxes, spreadsheets and teams.

1. Internal request intake

Create one internal intake flow for tasks, approvals, incidents and admin requests. Capture the requester, business area, deadline, priority, dependencies and required documents, then confirm receipt automatically.

2. Workflow & approvals

Route each request by team, skill, authority and workload. Build the approval path from the request data, show the next action, keep an approval history and escalate automatically when a deadline is at risk.

3. Documentation & knowledge

Extract key fields from documents, compare them with approved rules, surface the correct version and provide a searchable assistant grounded in company knowledge. Keep human review for important documents.

4. Resources & planning

Connect requests, deadlines, resource availability and recurring work in one planning view. Recommend the next allocation, flag conflicts early and let the responsible manager approve changes.

5. Reporting & control

Connect request volume, cycle time, backlog, rework, SLA performance and exceptions in one dashboard. Add rule-based checks, highlight unusual changes and send a short report with the recommended action.

6. Procurement & expenses

Capture invoices and receipts, extract supplier and cost data, match them with purchase requests and approval rules, flag duplicates or unusual amounts and route exceptions to a human reviewer.

7. Exception prevention & improvement

Detect recurring patterns, suggest self-service or automation opportunities, trigger reminders before deadlines and run one improvement experiment at a time with a before-and-after comparison.

8. Continuous improvement

Bring queue size, cycle time, exceptions and approval status into one recurring operations review so stalled work has a visible owner.

Choose your first pilotRecommended starting point

One repetitive document-heavy process with a clear owner.

Start with one admin or operations process, connect only the systems needed for that handoff and compare cycle time, manual touches or exception volume with today’s baseline.

What we build

  • Workflow audit and hours-wasted baseline
  • Automation blueprint with priority order
  • Document extraction and system integrations built
  • Monitoring and error alerts configured

How we measure it

  • Hours saved
  • Cycle time
  • Error rate
  • Exception volume
Alternative pilots

Other focused ways to start

Apply the same pilot method to another admin or operations workflow without trying to automate every back-office process at once.

Workflow & approvals

Owner-based routing, approval checklists, approval history, status visibility and escalation alerts.

Documentation & knowledge

Document intake and extraction, version-aware search, reusable templates and a controlled internal knowledge assistant.

Resources & planning

Resource and capacity view, recurring-task calendar, conflict alerts and a practical weekly planning checklist.

Why this works

Practical before ambitious.

We begin with a process that has a clear owner and measurable queue, preserve approval points and expand only after the first automation shows a reliable operating gain.

Current methodBaselineMinimum systemsHuman approvalScale after proof
AI in action

See how one request moves through rules, exceptions and approval

Reduce repeated data entry by routing documents through extraction, validation and review, with exceptions visible to the team.
AI workflow automation for invoices, contracts, forms, email requests, validation, routing and reporting

Why this approach works for Operations & admin

Start small, then connect

Choose one admin or operations workflow and one measurable target first. Expand only after process owners accept the handoffs and the operating result is visible.

Keep people in control

Exceptions and high-impact approvals stay with responsible staff.

Use the tools already in place

Connect the inboxes, forms, spreadsheets, ERP, CRM and ticketing tools already used by the workflow instead of rebuilding the back office.

Measure business outcomes

Review the agreed measures: Hours saved, cycle time, error rate and exception volume. Use these to assess business outcomes and decide the next step.

Operations & admin project process

1. DiscoveryInterview the owner, process lead and people who do the work today.
2. BaselineMeasure time, volume, quality, cost, delays or missed opportunities.
3. Build the pilotConfigure one focused workflow and connect only the data required for the first result.
4. MeasureCompare the pilot with the baseline and review adoption, quality and risk.
5. Decide and scaleKeep, improve or stop the pilot based on evidence, then connect the next stage.
6. Improve regularlyTurn the connected reporting into a recurring operating rhythm for the team.

Suggested start: one workflow can go live first; the next measurable improvement is added only after the first review.

Information we need

  • Current workflow, owner and handoffs
  • Three to six months of relevant examples, records or messages
  • The systems, files, channels and approvals involved
  • Current baseline for Hours saved, cycle time, error rate and exception volume.
  • The person responsible for exceptions and final decisions

Initial diagnostic questions

  • What is the biggest operations & admin bottleneck today?
  • How often did it happen last month?
  • What do manual handoffs, waiting time, duplicate entry or status chasing cost today?
  • Which system or data already records the problem?
  • Can the first pilot run on one team, request type, approval path or recurring admin process?

Not sure which one fits you?

Book a free 30-minute discovery call. We will identify which use case is worth testing first and what evidence should decide the next step.

Book a free 30-minute discovery call

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