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5S The AI-Ready Company Map
Make one real process readable before you automate it.
You want AI agents, but the work itself is not clear enough to automate safely: the goal, the know-how, the data and what happens each time it runs.
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The value contract
Not a readiness score and not an agent catalogue. One piece of real work, made readable for people and AI, with the gaps visible before anything gets automated.
Five layers of one process
Strategy
What is this work for, and what does good look like?
- Outcome, constraints, and what must not be optimised away
- What would make this process not worth automating
SOP
How does the work actually happen today?
- Handoffs, exceptions, approvals and workarounds
- Not the job description, not the happy path
Skill
Which reusable capability is hidden inside the role?
- Clear input and output
- Testable without the person who does it today
System
Where does the truth live, and what may the work touch?
- Source of truth, data, tools, permissions
- Which source wins when two disagree
Session
What happens each time the work runs?
- Trigger, context loaded, what AI may do
- Where a human approves, and what gets logged
What you complete
For each layer you mark the honest state of your process.
- Present
- Clear enough to run and backed by evidence.
- Partial
- Exists, but rules, owners or inputs are unresolved.
- Missing
- The layer is needed and does not exist yet.
- Contradictory
- Two sources or rules cannot both be true. A person has to decide.
Then: what AI may do in this process
The remaining work is sorted into five modes.
- Prepare
- AI gets the work ready, a person finishes it.
- Execute
- AI does the work inside clear boundaries.
- Route
- AI sends the case to the right person or step.
- Check
- AI reviews work done by people or other systems.
- Human-only
- Stays with a person: judgment, relationship, risk.
Inside the Blueprint
Every layer gets its own page: the question, a table you fill in for your own process, a short checklist and the transition to the next layer. Designed to be printed and written on.
- 01StrategyWhat is this work for, and what does good look like?
- 02SOPHow does the work actually happen today?
- 03SkillWhich reusable capability is hidden inside the role?
- 04SystemWhere does the truth live, and what may the work touch?
- 05SessionWhat happens each time the work runs?
Worked example preview
Illustration: the reorder review in purchasing, where stock, sales history, seasonality and supplier lead time meet.
Keep key items in stock without tying up cash. Partial: nobody has written down the trade-off.
One buyer checks stock, sales and supplier mails. Partial: the exceptions live in her head.
Compare demand with coverage and propose quantities. Present, but never described as a skill.
ERP stock and a separate supplier sheet. Contradictory: lead times differ between the two.
Runs every Monday by habit. Missing: no trigger, no log of what was ordered and why.
Illustrative example to show the format, not a client case.
What you receive
- The 5S Map worksheet for one process
- The questions for each of the five layers
- Present, Partial, Missing, Contradictory for every layer
- Your AI work split into Prepare, Execute, Route, Check and Human-only
- The unresolved questions, and one next action
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Enter your email and download the Blueprint right away. The Thursday notes follow in your inbox, in German and English.
What did you find?
Your next step.
A navigator, not a funnel. Sometimes the honest answer is that no other Blueprint is needed.
A layer is missing but can be fixed inside this process
The role around the work holds removable or reroutable capacity
5R Capacity Checklist →A reusable capability is missing, informal, duplicated or the wrong system
Company Systems Map →The same judgment or approval keeps coming back
Decision Load Audit →The work needs context that is scattered, stale or re-explained every time
Context Readiness Map →A material change is coming and the second-order effects are unclear
90-Day Scenario Map →All five layers are clear enough for this scope
In your language
Need it in German, French or Italian?
The Blueprint is written in English. Open the PDF in ChatGPT or Claude and paste this prompt. Change the language in the first line.
Translate this Blueprint into German (Switzerland). Keep the structure, every table, every checklist and every question. Keep method names such as Strategy, SOP, Skill, System and Session in English. Use plain, calm business language, address the reader informally, and do not add or remove any content.
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