The best approach toprioritize automation candidatesis tocombine objective assessments with strategic stakeholder feedback. This ensures that prioritization considers not only the technical feasibility and ROI but also thebusiness context, urgency, and strategic relevance.

While quantitative metrics such asautomation potential,complexity,volume, andfrequencyare crucial, they don’t tell the full story. For example, a technically viable process may have low stakeholder support, making adoption difficult. Conversely, a process with moderate automation potential but high strategic importance to leadership may be prioritized for early implementation.

Stakeholder feedbackalso helps uncover pain points that may not be visible in raw data. Business leaders and process owners provide insights on operational bottlenecks, compliance risks, or customer impact—factors that influence prioritization beyond technical scoring.

By using both qualitative and quantitative inputs, organizations makebalanced and informed decisions, selecting processes that are not only good automation candidates but alsosupported by those who will benefit from them. This approach improves success rates, encourages buy-in, and helps sustain momentum throughout the automation journey.