Define and validate the business challenge you’re solving with AI technology
A clear, compelling problem statement is the foundation of any successful AI procurement initiative. This document helps you articulate the business challenge you’re trying to solve, quantify its impact, and align stakeholders around your objectives.
Before evaluating AI vendors or exploring technical solutions, you need to clearly define what problem you’re trying to solve. A well-crafted problem statement:
Builds internal alignment among diverse stakeholders
Provides focus for vendor evaluations and requirements gathering
Enables objective decision-making by establishing concrete success metrics
Strengthens business cases with quantified impact and clear objectives
Prevents scope creep during vendor selection and implementation
Problem statements should focus on business outcomes, not technical specifications. The “what” and “why” should come before the “how.”
The Kowalah Problem Statement template is designed to capture all essential information in a concise, one-page format:
Copy
# [Draft] Problem Statement: [AI Technology/Service Category] Purchase## Problem[Company name] is experiencing [brief description of challenge]. This affects [key stakeholders] and impacts [key metrics/outcomes].## BackgroundCurrently, we handle this by [current approach]. This leads to [limitations/issues].## RelevanceAddressing this problem would help us achieve [business objectives/goals]. Key impacts include:- [Impact 1]- [Impact 2]- [Impact 3]## Objectives### Primary Objective:To implement [solution type] that will [specific outcome] by [timeframe], resulting in [measurable impact].### Business Impact Objectives:- [Specific cost/revenue/efficiency target]- [Risk reduction or compliance goal]- [Strategic alignment outcome]### Implementation Objectives:- [Timeline and milestone targets]- [Adoption rate goal]- [Integration requirement]### Stakeholder Objectives:- [User satisfaction metric]- [Process improvement target]- [Productivity enhancement goal]
This comprehensive section defines what success looks like across different dimensions:Primary Objective
The overarching goal of the initiative, including specific outcomes, timeframes, and measurable impacts.Business Impact Objectives
Concrete targets related to:
Cost savings or revenue growth
Risk reduction or compliance requirements
Strategic benefits or competitive advantages
Implementation Objectives
Practical goals for the solution rollout:
Timeline expectations
Adoption metrics
Integration requirements with existing systems
Stakeholder Objectives
Goals specific to different user groups:
A strong problem statement should consider at least three different stakeholder groups affected by the problem (e.g., end users, IT support, executive leadership).
# Problem Statement: Customer Service AI Implementation## ProblemXYZ Manufacturing is experiencing increasing customer support backlogs, with average response times growing from 4 hours to 18 hours over the past six months. This affects our customer support team (causing burnout and 32% turnover), our customers (leading to a 12-point drop in NPS), and our sales team (who report lost deals due to support concerns).## BackgroundCurrently, our 12-person customer support team manually responds to all inquiries (approximately 3,000/week) through our ticketing system. 65% of these inquiries involve repetitive questions that could be automated. Previous attempts to implement canned responses have failed due to the need for personalization and context awareness.## RelevanceAddressing this challenge supports our 2025 strategic priorities to improve customer experience and operational efficiency. Key impacts include:- Reduced customer churn (currently at 8% quarterly, costing approximately $450K)- Increased support team productivity (currently handling 32 tickets/day/agent)- Enhanced competitive positioning (3 main competitors have implemented AI support systems)## Objectives### Primary Objective:To implement an AI-powered customer support solution that will reduce average response times from 18 hours to under 2 hours by Q3 2025, resulting in a 15-point NPS improvement.### Business Impact Objectives:- Reduce support costs by 30% within 12 months of implementation- Decrease customer churn by 3 percentage points- Enable support team growth of 50% without proportional headcount increase### Implementation Objectives:- Complete initial deployment within 4 months of vendor selection- Achieve 95% accuracy rate for AI-generated responses within 3 months- Integrate with existing CRM and ticketing systems### Stakeholder Objectives:- Support team: Reduce repetitive tasks by 60%, enabling focus on complex issues- Customers: Provide 24/7 immediate response for common inquiries- Sales team: Provide competitive feature parity for AI-assisted support