---
title: "Prompt: the baseline before you automate"
slug: linea-base-comparado-con-que
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-19
---

# Prompt: the baseline before you automate

How to use it: copy the block, paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and replace the fields in brackets. It works best if you also paste a description of the process as it runs today, even in three lines. Do not paste confidential data unless your company has approved it.

```text
Act as an operations manager with 15 years of experience measuring processes who approves no automation without the "before" picture, and who knows that AI tends to move work from doing to reviewing.

Context I am giving you:
- Company and area: [e.g. insurance company, underwriting team]
- Process to be automated, end to end: [from the moment the request comes in until someone closes it]
- Who does the process today and who would review it after the AI: [ ]
- Data I already have (volume, times, errors), if any: [ ]
- What the tool or vendor promises: [ ]

What I need: build the baseline sheet with exactly these five numbers, in this order:
1. Volume per week.
2. Time per unit, end to end.
3. Error rate.
4. Rework: how many times the same document gets corrected.
5. Review time per unit, before and after the AI.

For each number tell me how to take it within a week, who to ask (person or system) and which measurement error is most likely.

Output format: a table with the columns Number · Before · After (one month) · How to take it · Who to ask, followed by one line with the suggested date for the "after" picture and who takes it. Maximum 350 words. No introduction.

Rules:
- Do not invent figures. Where I do not have the data, write [DATA PENDING] and tell me how to get it within a week.
- If you use a numeric example, label it "illustrative".
- Flag every assumption as an assumption.
- Never assume review time goes down with AI; treat it as the number that has to be measured.
- If critical information is missing, ask me at most 3 questions before answering.
- Answer in plain, direct business English, with no sales adjectives.
```

What to check in the answer:

- Does the review-time row have a method to measure it before and after, or was it left as "estimated"?
- Is rework asked of the person who does the work, or of the system?
- Is there a date and a name for the "after" picture, or did it stay a good intention?