VANDAMAI Opportunity Map
Know which AI projectsare worth starting.
A ranked plan for AI projects across your departments: what to build first, how to build it, and which tools you already have do the job. A standalone report your own team, or your coding agent, can build from.
$9,600 two weeks
Start with these three.
- 1
Customer service · 22 hours a week back
- 2
Customer service · 15 hours a week back
- 3
Finance · 12 hours a week back
Defer , , , ,
Leave alone , , ,
DeferPurchasing
Demand forecasting
The biggest prize on the list, and the least ready. Sales history has gaps from the 2023 system change.
- Value
- About $380k less stock on hand
- Build
- 10 weeks
- Before it starts
- Clean three years of sales and stock history.
Most AI pilots stop before they reach the business.
- 46%
- of AI proofs of concept were scrapped before production, on average. 42% of companies abandoned most of their AI initiatives in 2025, up from 17%.
S&P Global, 1,000+ companies. - 50%+
- of generative AI budgets go to sales and marketing tools, while the biggest returns showed up in back-office automation.
MIT NANDA, 2025.
pick one pain point, execute well, and partner smartly with companies who use their tools.
So no, more pilots won’t fix it. Picking the right first one does.
Turn the ideas into a decision.
Most leadership teams have a list of AI ideas and no good way to rank it. The loudest request often solves a small problem, and a convincing demo can hide that the data behind it does not exist yet. Pick the wrong first project and the company spends a year learning that AI does not work here.
We rank every candidate on the same terms: the hours it takes off someone’s week, what has to be ready first, and what it costs to build and run. The founder of Varick Agents, quoted by 
Annelies Gamble, a partner at Zetta Venture Partners, puts the cut-off bluntly: “A workflow with a 10x ROI should get prioritized. A workflow with a 2x ROI maybe, maybe not. And a workflow with a sub 1x ROI should be left alone.” We write down why each idea starts, waits or stops, so the people approving the budget and the people doing the work argue from the same page.
A report you can build from.
With us or without us.
One ranked list of every idea we assessed, grouped by department. Each opportunity shows the hours it takes off someone’s week, the effort to build and run it, and what has to be ready first. The top of the list is marked to start; the rest are marked defer or leave alone, each with its reason.
For every opportunity marked to start, the report says what to build and how: the steps it takes over, the data and systems it needs, and the order to do it in. Where a tool you already pay for, or one off the shelf, does the job, it names the tool and how to set it up instead, so nothing gets built that does not need to be.
The report stands on its own. Your own team can build from it, or hand a build spec to 
Claude Code or another coding agent and let it do the work. You do not need VANDAM after the map, though we are happy to build any part of it with you.
What every map contains.
Your departments and ideas differ. The way we compare them stays the same.
Department interviews
The same structured questions, put to the people who do and manage the work.
Task inventory
Recurring tasks and repeated effort, with the hours each one takes per week.
Use case comparison
Each task checked against a curated base of 405 use cases.
Impact and effort
A score for each opportunity that includes the preparation a demo can hide.
Ranked plan
Start, defer or leave alone for every candidate, by department, with the reasons written down.
Build specs
For each opportunity to start: what to build, the data, connections and prerequisites, written so a developer or a coding agent can work from it.
Tool picks
Where nothing needs building: the tool you already have, or one off the shelf, and how to set it up.
Recommended starting point
One defined first build, ready to start with your own team or with us.
How the priorities are agreed.
Start with the departments
We interview the people doing and managing the work, using consistent questions. They show us recurring tasks, repeated effort and the situations that regularly need attention.
Interviews - Finance · 4 peopleinvoice coding, 9 h/week
- Sales · 3 peoplequote prep, 6 h/week
- Customer service · 5order questions, 14 h/week
- Operations · 2scheduled Thursday
Compare the opportunities
We assess potential impact, preparation and implementation effort. Each candidate is considered alongside its data, connections and process requirements so the comparison includes the work a demonstration can hide.
Impact vs. effort Agree the starting point
We review the recommendations with your team. You receive ranked opportunities, a view by department and the reasoning behind the order, ready to discuss a defined first build.
Recommendation - Start: order questions14 h/week back
- Next: invoice codingafter ERP access
- Wait: quote prepprocess unclear
- Leave: demand forecastno clean data
Ranked once.
Re-ranked each quarter.
The map is yours to keep. Data gets cleaned, systems change and new ideas arrive, so we can come back each quarter and update the ranking on the same terms.
Re-ranking
Every opportunity scored again against what changed since the last review.
New ideas
Ideas raised during the quarter assessed on the same terms as the original list.
Started projects
The builds that started, compared with the hours and effort in the plan.
Leadership session
A quarterly session to agree what starts next, what waits and what to drop.
What you
receive.
Priority map
Ranked opportunities with the reasoning attached.
Impact and effort
An assessment for each opportunity.
Build specs
What to build and how for every project to start, or the tool that already does it.
Where the map leads.
Each next step has its own service.
Floor Plan
Comes before the map: how your company works today, so the opportunities are ranked on the real workflows. Its fee is credited.
$6,400
Agent-Ready Audit
For the opportunities marked to start: is your data, are your systems and access ready to carry them, and what to fix first.
$9,600
Company Brain
Most maps put company knowledge near the top. The brain is the base the next systems build on.
$19,200
Pilot Workshop
Takes the first opportunity and designs it as a pilot with your leadership team in a day.
$4,800
Company Redesign
When the map shows the change runs across the company: the services that fit, built in order.
From $64,000
AI isn’t delivering ROI yet, but we’re all in, so we need to figure it out.
HandshakeJune 2026Source Before you ask.
Do we need you to build the projects?
No. The map ends with a build spec for each project to start, written so your own developers, or a coding agent like Claude Code, can work from it, and it names the existing tools where nothing needs building. If you want us to build, the first build is scoped as a separate project.
What do we have at the end?
Ranked opportunities with the reasoning attached, an impact and effort assessment for each, a build spec or tool pick for every opportunity marked to start, and a view by department.
How much of our team’s time does it take?
Interviews with the people who do and manage the work in each department, and a review session with leadership at the end. We agree the interview list with you before we start.
What if our favorite idea ranks low?
The plan says why: too few hours saved, too much to prepare first, or too much to run. Ideas move up when their prerequisites are in place, and a quarterly review picks that up.