01
Discover
Map the workflow as it actually runs, establish a baseline you can measure against later, and identify the single bottleneck worth solving first — including whether it is worth a software budget at all.
02
Design
Review the systems, interfaces, data and access controls involved. Define what an automated step may do alone and what needs a person to approve it, and produce an integration plan grounded in what the platforms genuinely expose.
03
Build
Deliver in agreed stages, each one releasable and reviewable, so your team sees working software while changing its mind is still cheap.
04
Integrate
Connect to the surrounding systems with explicit contracts and sensible failure behaviour, then test against the operational edge cases rather than the happy path alone.
05
Operate and improve
Measure against the baseline, fix what the first weeks of real use expose, and hand over documentation written for the team who will own it.