Pick a narrow workflow
The first AI use case should be painfully specific: classify support requests, summarize account notes, draft a response with sources, extract data from a document, or help operators search internal procedures.
Score the boring factors
Look at data access, review needs, error cost, integration effort, and evaluation clarity. The best first project is often not the flashiest one.
Prototype for a decision
A prototype should answer whether the workflow is worth building, what quality bar is needed, and what risks must be handled before production.