How much should an autonomous AI employee be allowed to decide on its own?
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This is the question we spend the most time on with every new customer at UnleashX.
One sales team wanted their AI employee to offer discounts on its own to close deals faster. Sounded fine until we asked, “up to how much?” Nobody had an answer. Their human reps had never had a written rule, they just knew from experience.
We ended up setting a limit: up to 40% on its own, anything above that goes to a manager. Deals closed faster, and managers only saw the ones that actually needed them.
Turns out giving AI autonomy forces you to write down rules your team has been following without ever saying them out loud.
What’s one decision you’d let an AI employee make on its own, and one you never would?
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For discounts, I'd cap the total amount given away as well as the percentage. A 40% discount on a month and on a three-year contract are very different decisions. Anything that changes renewal pricing would go to a human.
@al_kub Exactly and these AI Employees handle these rules with the defined SOP and rulebook be it related to pricing negotiations or customising the proposal for a specific business.
An interesting post! I agree that a % rule is actually really useful and possibly something that was implied but not explicitly written down before. However I would think discounts and other last incentives could really do with both human communication and understanding to really understand what is driving the potential customer. Without this understanding there may be other incentives, such as integration support or shortening the contract time that may be preferable for the customer. No doubt you have this taken into account at Unleash already! Just good to remain tailored in the offering, discounts included
@a_s71 Agree, It's about understanding the customer's real concern and finding the right solution, not just offering a discount. Personalisation matters.
I believe pricing is something that should go through human approval