AI product scope template
Every decision an AI product needs before the build, in one document you can fill in. The buyer and the moment, success and the stop line, the data check, which parts need a model, the first release, the constraints, and how you'll know it works.
Free to use and adapt. No email needed. Opens in Word, Google Docs and Pages.
Everything in the file, readable here.
Fill this in before any build starts. Every decision goes in writing, with the reason for it, so the build has something to be measured against. Keep it short enough to read in one sitting.
1. The buyer, the user and the moment
- Who pays (the buyer)
- To fill in
- Who uses it (the user)
- To fill in
- The moment in their day it changes
- To fill in
- Evidence the problem is real: the workaround, and what it costs today
- To fill in
2. Success and the stop line
- The success metric
- To fill in
- How it will be measured from the first week
- To fill in
- The stop line: the result that would make us stop
- To fill in
3. The data check
| Data the product needs | Exists? | Reachable? | Good enough? | Enough of it? | Allowed to use? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4. Rules or a model
Remove the AI and see what's left. Give every part one of: rules, a model, or a person in the loop.
| Part of the product | Rules, model or person | Why |
|---|---|---|
5. The first release
Every idea on the list goes in one tray: build first, later, cut or don't build, with the reason.
| Idea | Tray | Why |
|---|---|---|
6. The constraints register
| Constraint | What it requires | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance | ||
| Security | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Speed | ||
| Cost |
7. How we'll know it works
- The evaluation set: real inputs, each with a good output
- To fill in
- The tests beyond it: misleading inputs, data it mustn't share, speed and cost
- To fill in
- The release steps: internal, beta, soft launch, live
- To fill in
- What happens if the evaluation fails, and who owns the fix
- To fill in
8. Where the code and data will live
- Code
- To fill in
- Data
- To fill in
Sign-off
- Decided by
- To fill in
- Date
- To fill in
Four things that make it work.
Fill it in before the build
With the person who decides, someone who knows the data and someone who knows the users' day in the room.
Write the stop line first
Before the architecture, while you can still read it without flinching.
Check the data for real
Look at it. Designing around data nobody has checked is the most expensive mistake on the list.
Keep it short
If it takes longer than one sitting to read, it isn't decided yet.
Read with it: How to scope an AI product before you build it and The Scope Cut, or try Cut It, in the Lab.
Published 28 September 2026. Free to use and adapt.