---
title: How to Build a 90-Day AI Roadmap for a Small Business
description: "Build a 90-day AI roadmap for a small business around one project: 30 days to pick and prepare, 30 to build and test, 30 to run it and measure the result."
image: https://ai-marketinglabs.com/hubfs/How%20to%20Build%20a%2090-Day%20AI%20Roadmap%20for%20a%20Small%20Business.jpg
---

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[The Lab Notes](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/lab-experiments) › AI for Small Business

# How to Build a 90-Day AI Roadmap for a Small Business

![Kelly Kranz](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/hubfs/1c8a298050a84a029fa51a6945685d90.png)

Kelly Kranz

Nov 4, 2026

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A 90-day AI roadmap for a small business covers one project, not ten. Spend the first 30 days picking the task and getting its inputs ready, the next 30 building and testing a first version on real work, and the last 30 running it and measuring the result against a before number. The next project starts only after that. The whole AI roadmap fits on one page.

**TL;DR**

- One project per 90 days, with a go, change or stop call at each 30-day mark.
- Count the before number in month one, or month three has nothing to measure.
- One page: the task, the owner, the dates, the number.

## Why plan one project instead of a full roadmap?

Because a multi-project plan spreads a small team thin. Gartner predicted in 2024 that [at least 30% of generative AI projects would be abandoned after proof of concept by the end of 2025](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-07-29-gartner-predicts-30-percent-of-generative-ai-projects-will-be-abandoned-after-proof-of-concept-by-end-of-2025), citing poor data quality, weak risk controls, rising costs or unclear business value. Each of those gets worse when you run several projects at once with the same few people.

The research on what works points narrower. McKinsey's 2025 State of AI survey found that its high performers, about 6% of respondents, were [nearly three times as likely as others to say they had fundamentally redesigned individual workflows](https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/tech-and-ai/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-2025). That survey is mostly larger companies. For a small business, one redesigned workflow a quarter is a pace you can keep.

## Days 1 to 30: how do you pick and prepare the project?

Week one, list the repetitive tasks that eat the most hours and pick one. The best first task runs often, starts from information that lives in one place, has one owner, and is cheap to check. Week two, count the before number: hours a week, days from request to done, or how often it goes out wrong. A rough count from a week of tallies is fine.

Weeks three and four are preparation. Pull 20 or so real examples of the task, with the answers your team actually sent. Sort out logins and admin access for every tool involved. Clean up the one input that's messy, whether that's a duplicate customer list or a folder of quotes saved three different ways.

**Day 30 call:** go if the task, owner, before number and examples are ready. Change the task if the inputs turned out to be scattered beyond a quick fix.

## Days 31 to 60: how do you build and test it?

Build the simplest version that could work, on the tools you already use where possible. Then test it on last month's real examples and put its output beside what your team sent. Expect misses. Each one shows a rule nobody wrote down or a case the inputs don't cover, and fixing those is the month's real work.

Keep a person checking every output during testing. That's the owner's job, and it's how they learn to trust it or spot when it drifts.

**Day 60 call:** go if it handles most real examples well and the misses are cheap to catch. Change the scope if one type of request keeps failing; cut it out and handle it by hand. Stop if it still can't match your team's work, and write down why.

## Days 61 to 90: how do you run it and measure the result?

Put it into the real work, with the owner checking output before anything goes out. Track the same number you counted in month one, the same way. At day 90, put the before and after side by side. Also write a short note: what it does, what to check, and what to do when it breaks. That note is what lets someone other than the builder keep it running.

**Day 90 call:** keep it, adjust it, or retire it. Then pick the next project.

## Who needs to be involved?

Three roles, which can be two people or one. The owner of the task, who does the work today and will check the output. The decision maker, who can say yes within a day when a question comes up, because a roadmap that waits a week for every answer won't fit in 90 days. And whoever builds it, whether that's you, someone on staff, or outside help.

Put their names on the plan, along with the hours you expect from each. The owner's time is the easiest to underestimate: they're needed in weeks three and four to pull examples, and through month two to test.

## What goes on the one-page roadmap?

- The task, in one sentence.
- The owner, by name.
- The before number and how it was counted.
- The three 30-day dates, with the call to make at each.
- The tools involved and who holds admin access.
- What's out of scope for this round.

If you can't fill in the owner or the before number, you're not at day one yet.

## What pushes a 90-day plan off schedule?

The delays you control: a login nobody can reset, an owner too busy to test, inputs spread across more places than anyone realized, and scope that grows as people see what's possible. The last one is the hardest to resist. Write new ideas on the list for the next round instead of adding them to this one.

If nobody in the business manages your tech, set the ground rules first. There's a practical version of [an AI implementation strategy for a business with no IT team](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/lab-experiments/an-ai-implementation-strategy-for-a-business-with-no-it-team) that covers ownership and access.

## What comes after day 90?

The next project, picked the same way, with what you learned. A second project that shares data or people with the first can go faster, because some of the groundwork is done. Once two or three are running, think about how they connect. That longer view is covered in [how to build and lead a company-wide AI automation roadmap](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/lab-experiments/how-can-i-build-an-ai-automation-roadmap-for-my-company-and-lead-it).

If you'd like help running the first 90 days, AI Marketing Labs offers consulting as one-on-one work with Rick Kranz over Zoom. Depending on the scope, you might review the plan together or build alongside him, and the scope and fee are agreed before work begins. For what that work should leave behind, see [what a good AI consultant should leave you with](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/lab-experiments/what-ai-consultant-services-should-leave-you-with).

## Related articles

- [What AI Consultant Services Should Leave You With](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/lab-experiments/what-ai-consultant-services-should-leave-you-with)
- [How Can I Build an AI Automation Roadmap for My Company and Lead It?](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/lab-experiments/how-can-i-build-an-ai-automation-roadmap-for-my-company-and-lead-it)
- [An AI Implementation Strategy for a Business With No IT Team](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/lab-experiments/an-ai-implementation-strategy-for-a-business-with-no-it-team)
- [What an AI Consultant for Small Business Does in the First Month](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/lab-experiments/what-an-ai-consultant-for-small-business-does-in-the-first-month)

## Frequently asked questions

Can I run two AI projects in the same 90 days?

You can, if each has its own owner and they don't share the same inputs or people. For a small team, one at a time is easier to finish and easier to measure.

What if the project fails the day-60 check?

Stopping is a valid result. Write down why it failed, keep the examples and the before number, and pick the next task from your list. You'll start the next round knowing more about your data.

Do I need new software to follow an AI roadmap?

Not to start. Check what your email, CRM and other tools already include. Add a tool only when the project needs something they can't do.

 

 Want a second pair of hands?

Run the first 90 days *with Rick*

Rick helps you pick the project, scope it and, when it calls for it, build it alongside you over Zoom. Scope and fee are agreed before any work starts.

[See how consulting works](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/ai-consulting-services)

![Kelly Kranz](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/hubfs/1c8a298050a84a029fa51a6945685d90.png)

Written by

Kelly Kranz

With over 15 years of marketing experience, Kelly is an AI Marketing Strategist and Fractional CMO focused on results. She is renowned for building data-driven marketing systems that simplify workloads and drive growth. Her award-winning expertise in marketing automation once generated $2.1 million in additional revenue for a client in under a year. Kelly writes to help businesses work smarter and build for a sustainable future.

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