AI Automation Opportunities: How Operations Leaders Can Free Capacity with AI

What would your team do with an extra 80 hours per week?

Most operations leaders underestimate the capacity trapped in routine work.

Traditional automations have captured the obvious processes. What remains are tasks we assumed required human judgment, until AI changed that equation.

Here's the methodology to reveal those tasks:

Start by identifying what percentage of your team's time goes to their top 10 tasks.

Several of these are better automation candidates than you realize.

Ask yourself:

🎯 Is the task repetitive with clear patterns?

🎯 Does it follow documented procedures or knowledge?

🎯 Does it consistently create bottlenecks or interruptions?

If you answered yes to two out of three, that task likely warrants evaluation for AI automation.

For example, at one client, managers were losing 80 hours weekly to interruptions from team members seeking guidance on standard operating procedures.

We built an AI agent trained on their SOPs that now handles these routine inquiries systematically.

The transformation freed both managers and team members for strategic work.

Implementation approach:

If you're not tracking hours systematically, begin with targeted interviews.

Pull aside key team members and ask how many hours go to their top tasks.

Be transparent about your objective, you're targeting friction, not headcount reduction. When team members understand this, they’ll be more open to providing input.

The key is distinguishing between tasks requiring process improvements versus those benefiting from AI automation. Not every time-consuming activity represents a good automation candidate.

Automating the right tasks releases capacity currently trapped in low-value work, allowing your team to focus on activities that drive results.