The buyer evidence packet for AI workflows

Procurement should not buy an AI workflow from a demo. It should buy the evidence that the workflow survives exceptions.

A buyer-side memo on the proof an industrial team should require before an AI pilot becomes a purchased workflow.

The demo is too clean

Most AI workflow demos show the tool at its best. They use clean examples, friendly prompts, available data, and a success path that avoids the messy operating day.

Procurement sees the promise. Operations inherits the exception.

The buying question is not whether the model can produce a useful answer. It is whether the workflow stays useful when the answer is uncertain, incomplete, or contested.

What source record did the answer use?

Who reviews a low-confidence recommendation?

What happens when the user overrides the suggestion?

Which metric changes after the team stops treating the pilot as special?

What belongs in the packet

A serious buyer evidence packet is short, but it is not thin. It should tie the workflow to source data, human authority, exception handling, and measured operating change.

The packet should help procurement and operations inspect the same proof without relying on vendor theater.

A workflow map naming the exact step the AI changes.

A source-record sample showing what the system read before producing output.

A failure log with examples of wrong, uncertain, missing, and overridden recommendations.

An authority matrix naming what the AI may suggest, what a human must approve, and what the system may never decide.

A before-and-after metric tied to delay, rework, escalation, uptime, or review time.

What to reject

Weak buying packets hide behind broad productivity language. They show screenshots, aggregate usage, and model benchmarks without proving the operating surface changed.

If the evidence cannot survive a safety, procurement, or field review, the workflow is not ready for purchase.

Generic case studies that do not match the buyer's operating surface.

Accuracy claims without source traceability.

ROI claims based only on hours saved in a controlled pilot.

Adoption proof that counts logins instead of repeated workflow use.

Vendor-managed exceptions with no plan for internal ownership.

Decision rule

The packet names one workflow, one owner, and one operating metric.

The system keeps source records attached to recommendations.

The buyer can inspect failure examples before signing a broader contract.