2025-12-03 · 8 min
Where AI in business actually pays off — and where it’s expensive theater
A practical view of AI agents, OCR, and RAG: which scenarios deliver, and which to leave alone.
AIROIagents
Process first, model second
AI works well where there’s a repeating stream: requests, documents, knowledge search, first-line qualification.
It fails where there’s no data, no process owner, and no “right / wrong” criterion.
Private AI and leak risk
For corporate scenarios the “smartest model” matters less than the contour: where data lives, who has access, how answers are logged, and how hallucination is constrained.
Minimum useful contour
One scenario, human review on edge cases, a quality metric, integration into the team’s daily tool. Everything else comes after the first result.