To discover high-value AI use cases, reframe the problem. Instead of thinking about features, ask, "If my user had a human assistant for this workflow, what tasks would they delegate?" This simple question uncovers powerful opportunities where agents can perform valuable jobs, shifting focus from technology to user value.

The best initial use for AI in marketing operations is automating high-volume, low-complexity "digital janitor" tasks. Focus AI agents on answering repetitive questions (e.g., "Why didn't this lead qualify?") and cleaning data (e.g., event lists) to free up specialist time for more strategic work.

Shift automation from an ad-hoc tech project to a core management responsibility. Mandate that department leads systematically eliminate monotonous tasks, forcing teams to focus exclusively on high-value, strategic work.

Vercel's CTO Malte Ubl suggests a simple method for finding valuable internal automation tasks: ask people, "What do you hate most about your job?" This uncovers tedious work that requires some human judgment, making it a perfect sweet spot for the capabilities of current-generation AI agents.

Standard questions like 'What's your biggest pain point?' often yield poor results. Reframing the question to what work a customer would offload to a new hire bypasses their pride or inability to articulate problems, revealing the tedious, high-value tasks ripe for automation.

To find tasks ripe for AI automation, simply screen record yourself performing a repetitive, hour-long task. Then, upload the video to a multimodal LLM like Gemini 3 and ask it what parts can be automated and how much time you could save. This provides concrete, actionable suggestions.

Don't get distracted by flashy AI demonstrations. The highest immediate ROI from AI comes from automating mundane, repetitive, and essential business functions. Focus on tasks like custom report generation and handling common customer service inquiries, as these deliver consistent, measurable value.

The most powerful automations are not complex agents but simple, predictable workflows that save time reliably. The goal is determinism; AI introduces a "black box" of uncertainty. Therefore, the highest ROI comes from extremely linear processes where "boring is beautiful" and predictability is guaranteed.

To identify prime automation opportunities, analyze your company's existing SOPs. These documents explicitly list the sequential steps, data sources, and transformations in a predictable process. If a process is documented for frequent human use, it's a strong candidate for a high-value automation workflow.