To determine if a task is automatable, ask three questions: 1) Does it move data between apps? 2) Does it involve complex decisions? 3) Are inputs/outputs consistent? If the answers are yes, no, and yes, it's a prime candidate.

Writing detailed documentation is a task most employees avoid. By recording a quick video walkthrough of a process (e.g., how to pull a report), that video can be shared, referenced, and then automatically transcribed by AI into a structured SOP, eliminating the friction of manual writing.

Counterintuitively, the path to full automation isn't just analyzing conversation transcripts. Cresta's CEO found that you must first observe and instrument what human agents are doing on their desktops—navigating legacy systems and UIs—to truly understand and automate the complete workflow.

Instead of starting with a tool like Zapier and searching for ideas, first meticulously document every step of a specific workflow. This reveals the actual opportunities for automation and prevents "blank cursor syndrome."

WorkTrace AI addresses the bottleneck of identifying AI automation opportunities within enterprises. Instead of relying on expensive human consultants, its desktop app monitors employee workflows to automatically flag repetitive tasks, generating a prioritized roadmap of agent-based automation opportunities.

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.

Overcome the hurdle of documenting processes by recording a screen-share video of yourself performing a task while talking through the steps. AI tools can then automatically convert the recording into a written playbook, eliminating the need to set aside dedicated writing time.

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.