Create comprehensive technology requirements documents with guided structure and best practices
Creating thorough requirements documentation helps your team align on what you need your new purchase to do. The Requirements Document Template in Kowalah guides you through a structured, collaborative process to create comprehensive documentation that helps align your buying team.
In an AI technology buying process, clear requirements documentation is essential because:
It creates alignment among diverse stakeholders with varying levels of AI knowledge
It reduces risk of selecting incompatible or insufficient solutions
It accelerates vendor evaluation by establishing clear criteria
It prevents scope creep by explicitly defining boundaries
It provides a benchmark for success after implementation
Poor requirements documentation is a primary cause of failed technology projects, with studies showing that over 70% of technology implementation failures can be traced back to incomplete or ambiguous requirements.
Here’s an abbreviated example of how a requirements document might look for a company implementing a generative AI solution for customer service:
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PROJECT DETAILSName: Customer Service AI AssistantOwner: Sarah Johnson, Director of Customer ExperienceExecutive Summary: Implementation of an AI-powered assistant to augment our customer service team, reducing response times and improving satisfaction scores.BUSINESS DRIVERS1. Reduce average response time from 4 hours to under 15 minutes (85% improvement)2. Increase customer satisfaction scores from 7.2/10 to 8.5/103. Improve agent productivity by 30% by handling routine inquiries automatically4. Reduce training time for new agents by 50%FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS (Sample)ID: FR-001Description: The AI assistant must be able to answer questions about order status, returns, and product information without human intervention.Priority: Must HaveOwner: Customer Experience TeamImpacted Teams: Customer Service, IT, ProductID: FR-002Description: System must support human handoff when confidence level drops below configurable threshold.Priority: Must HaveOwner: Operations TeamImpacted Teams: Customer Service, ITNON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS (Sample)Type: SecurityRequirement: All customer data must be encrypted in transit and at rest, with no persistent storage of PII in the AI system.Type: PerformanceRequirement: AI responses must be generated within 3 seconds for 95% of inquiries.Type: ComplianceRequirement: Solution must be compliant with GDPR and CCPA regulations regarding data processing.