What maintenance problems are suitable for an AI pilot?
Choose a bounded task with an identifiable user, available information, a low consequence of error and a way to review results.
What to consider
Examples worth evaluating include helping an authorized user find an approved manual or grouping a sample of work-order descriptions for a planner to review. Suitability depends on source quality, permissions, workflow and site risk. Do not select a use case solely because a demonstration looks impressive.
Practical steps
- Describe the current task and what makes it difficult.
- Identify the user, information sources, permissions and accountable owner.
- Define how a human will verify outputs and what the tool must not do.
- Compare pilot performance, errors and review effort against the existing process.
A practical example
A maintenance team considers using AI to suggest work order summaries for planner review. It selects a small set of permitted records and compares proposed summaries with the originals for accuracy, missing safety context and review time. The planner remains responsible for accepting or correcting each result. If errors or review effort outweigh the benefit, the team revises the task or stops the pilot.
Explore the assessment
See how KANE approaches this work and what an engagement includes.
View the related assessment →Related answer: Explore related guidance