Real-Life Lessons to Avoid Pitfalls When Bringing AI and Automation to Your Business
As the CEO of Hexact, a company that’s been building AI-driven automation tools like Hexomatic and Hexowatch for thousands of businesses worldwide, I’ve seen firsthand the transformative power of these technologies. From our own journey scaling Hexact to serve over 100,000 users in 167 countries, to watching our customers—small businesses, e-commerce shops, and marketing agencies—tackle automation, I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. Integrating AI and automation isn’t always easy, but the mistakes are often the same. Here are the biggest pitfalls we’ve seen (also tripped over ourselves), along with real stories from our customers and practical tips to help you get it right.
1. Chasing Too Many Goals Without Prioritizing
Our Lesson: When we started building Hexomatic, we thought, “Let’s make a tool that does everything!” But we didn’t pinpoint the exact problems we were solving for our users. Early on, some customers got overwhelmed because the tool was too broad. We had to refocus on specific goals, like helping marketers pull leads from websites or retailers track competitor prices.
What We See with Customers: A customer, let’s call her Sarah, who runs a boutique clothing store, tried using Hexomatic to automate her entire inventory update process. Without clearly structuring the process, she simplified it to just scraping data, running an AI prompt, and automatically importing it to her e-commerce platform. This ignored the nuances of her real-world tasks, like the custom adjustments she makes when updating prices and inventory. Once she realized what was truly repetitive and could be fully automated—splitting the process into three workflows with her input between steps—she scaled her operations. With more inventory and better pricing, her sales soared.
How to Fix It: Be crystal clear about not just what you want AI to do, but what you can realistically delegate to AI or automation. Identify processes that are truly repetitive and don’t require decision-making. Write them down. At Hexact, we now guide customers to start with one specific task and list the repetitive steps that someone could do without needing to make decisions or ask questions.
Tip: Start by automating what’s already repetitive, like copying and pasting prices and descriptions or standardizing them into a specific format. Then, look for other tasks you can structure and organize to make them ready to hand off to a machine.
2. Working with Messy Static Data
Our Lesson: When we were building a new feature for Hexomatic, we relied on a static dataset we’d collected earlier. It was full of errors—duplicates, outdated entries, you name it. The results were all over the place, showing insights that didn’t make sense. We had to clean the entire dataset to get things back on track.
What We See with Customers: One of our customers, a small online retailer, used Hexomatic to enrich a static dataset of competitors and their products. The data was a mess, with repeated entries and outdated products. The results were way off, leading to bad decisions that hurt their sales. Once they cleaned up the dataset, removing outdated data and fixing errors, they gained solid insights and started outpricing their competitors.
How to Fix It: Before you feed static data into any automation tool, make sure it’s accurate, complete, and free of errors. Don’t trust data just because it’s there—double-check it. Tools like Google Sheets or Excel are lifesavers for sorting, filtering, and spotting issues in your data. At Hexact, we’ve learned to guide customers through basic data cleanup steps to avoid these problems.
Tip: Set aside a day to clean your static data—delete duplicates, correct typos, and remove outdated info. Use Google Sheets or Excel to sort and filter. Avoid relying on generalized AI data summaries; they often miss the specifics your business needs.
3. Expecting Automation to Work Miracles
Our Lesson: When we launched Hexomatic, we pitched it as a one-click productivity game-changer. Big mistake. Early users expected it to instantly solve all their problems, but the truth is, automation takes time to tweak for specific workflows. We learned to set realistic expectations and be upfront about the learning curve.
What We See with Customers: One of our customers, a wholesaler, bought Hexomatic to automate compliance checks across their resellers’ websites. They hoped to fully automate scanning dozens of sites for specific compliance details, like pricing or product descriptions, right away. At first, it was tough—different websites had unique structures, and only about 20% of the process could be automated at the beginning. But once they streamlined their data and automated over 50% of the checks, they saved hours each week and felt the real impact.
How to Fix It: Be clear about what automation can do and how long it takes to get right. It’s a powerful tool, not a magic wand. At Hexact, we now guide customers to aim for gradual wins—think cutting a task’s time by 10-20% in the first month—rather than expecting overnight perfection.
Tip: Break your automation goals into small, doable steps, like automating one process at a time. Share these milestones with your team to keep everyone aligned and excited about the progress.
4. Overlooking Your Team's Involvement
Our Lesson: When we first introduced Hexowatch, we didn’t provide enough training for our support team to understand the nuances of how the tool works—such as identifying the causes of false-positive notifications and setting up the right monitors. They felt uncertain and struggled to explain these cases to customers. However, after a deeper understanding, the problem was solved.
What We See with Customers: A marketing agency using Hexowatch’s backlink and sitemap monitoring features didn’t properly train their team. Initially, the team resisted, fearing the automation would replace their roles. After a practical workshop demonstrating how the tool saved them time and allowed them to focus on more strategic tasks, they fully embraced the solution.
How to Fix It: Involve your team from the beginning. Show them how AI and automation tools can simplify their workload and improve efficiency, not replace their roles.
Tip: Involve your team early to showcase the tool’s benefits. Let them interact with the tool, ask questions, and practice using it.
5. Letting the Machine Run on Autopilot Without Regular Review
Our Lesson: After launching Hexomatic, we assumed that simply adding new automations would keep the wheels turning. However, 3rd party systems change, customer needs shifted, and some automations became outdated or irrelevant. Regular revision of existing automations—sometimes by removing or combining them—was key to keeping the system valuable and aligned with our evolving goals.
What We See with Customers: A fashion retailer used Hexowatch to track competitor price changes but didn’t update it when market trends shifted. As a result, they received alerts for outdated products. By adjusting the tool each season, they were able to stay ahead of the competition.
How to Fix It: Regularly review your automation processes to ensure they’re still aligned with your current business needs. As your company and industry evolve, make sure your tools evolve with them.
Tip: Schedule quarterly automation check-ins. Review results and success rates, and adjust if any website structures have changed or if other updates are needed.
Wrapping Up: Making AI and Automation Truly Work for You
At Hexact, we've learned—sometimes through hard-won experience—that AI and automation can profoundly transform businesses, but only when common pitfalls are avoided. Our thousands of customers, spanning industries from local bakeries to large agencies, have been invaluable teachers in this journey. To truly harness the power of these technologies, remember these key steps: set clear and measurable goals, carefully select the right tools for the job, ensure you're working with clean and reliable data, seamlessly connect your various systems, manage expectations realistically, thoroughly train your team, and commit to continuous tweaking and optimization. These principles have consistently guided our customers toward maximizing the benefits of our Hexact tools.
If you're embarking on your AI and automation journey, remember to take it one deliberate step at a time. And don't hesitate to reach out to us at Hexact for expert guidance and support. For those seeking a more hands-off approach, our concierge service offers a deep dive into your specific business needs, providing tailored solutions so you can focus on your core priorities and delegate the rest to us – click to book. Remember, effective delegation isn't solely about automation and AI; sometimes, the most impactful solution involves entrusting tasks to capable human hands as well.