Free tool
The one-sentence test
Last updated
Justas Butkus is a fractional AI officer based in Vilnius, Lithuania, working with mid-market companies and scale-ups across the UK, EU and US. He publishes free tools for buyers evaluating AI work, and takes no commission, referral fee or revenue share from any vendor.
Short answer
A buyer set this bar, not a consultant: can you describe the problem in one sentence with a number attached? If not, it is a wish rather than a project, and no supplier can cost it, build it or be held to it. This tells you which part is missing.
Test your sentence
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, stored or sent anywhere.
Why one sentence with a number?
Because everything downstream depends on it. A supplier cannot quote it, an engineer cannot build it, and nobody can tell afterwards whether it worked. Most failed AI projects can be traced back to a starting sentence that had no number in it.
The test also does something uncomfortable and useful: if you cannot supply the number, you have learned that the process has never been measured. Measuring it is then the actual first task, and it does not require any AI at all.
What a good sentence looks like
| Not a project yet | A project |
|---|---|
| We want to use AI in customer service | Staff answer about 400 refund queries a month, roughly 11 minutes each |
| We need an AI strategy | Three people spend two days a month assembling the same board report |
| AI should help with our documents | We re-key 200 supplier invoices a week from PDF into the finance system |
| We want to explore AI for sales | Inbound leads wait an average of nine hours for a first response |
Notice that none of the right-hand column mentions AI. That is the point. A well-formed problem is described in terms of the work, and whether AI is the right answer comes afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
What is the one-sentence test?
Whether you can describe the problem you want solved in one sentence with a number attached. If you cannot, it is not yet a project: nobody can cost it, build it, or tell afterwards whether it worked.
Why does the sentence need a number?
Because the number is what makes the work decidable. Cost per occurrence multiplied by annual frequency tells you whether automating it can possibly pay for itself. Without it you are guessing.
What if I cannot supply a number?
That is the most useful possible result. It means the process has never been measured, and measuring it is the first task. It requires no AI and usually takes days rather than weeks.
Should the sentence mention AI?
No. A well-formed problem is described in terms of the work being done. Whether AI is the right answer is a later question, and starting from the technology is how the wrong process gets chosen.
If your sentence passed
Run the arithmetic next. If it comes out convincingly, that is worth a conversation.