What exactly is included?
List the pilot workflow, included channels, operating hours, integrations, volume assumptions, milestones and exclusions.
BUYER RESOURCES / PROCUREMENT
Evaluate the system.
Not the sales pitch.
Before signing a managed AI engagement, define the commercial scope, customer-data responsibilities, permitted actions, support model, reporting rules, and exit plan. This is a buyer checklist, not a claim that every control is already implemented.
EIGHT PROCUREMENT QUESTIONS
What the agreement
needs to settle.
Who owns the records?
Define data ownership, account administration, exports, subaccount continuity and permitted use of derived reporting.
Who can do what?
Specify access roles, credential handling, approval gates, human takeover and agent authority limitations.
Can customers be contacted?
Confirm the legal basis and applicable consent/suppression rules for each channel before activating outreach.
Where does information go?
Identify systems and subprocessors, retention, deletion, incident response and any sector-specific requirements.
What happens on failure?
Define escalations, call-transfer fallback, incident severity, response expectations, rollback and owner notification.
What is the complete cost?
Separate setup, retainer, minutes/messages, overages, integration work and optional performance components.
What happens if we stop?
Document termination, transition timing, data export, access revocation and outstanding usage reconciliation.
Bring your systems owner and operations lead.
Procurement is most effective when the decision-maker, revenue owner, technical owner and compliance contact agree on one scope.
Review implementation roles ↗Data & AI practices