Try it one small step at a time
Six steps from a first question to agreed rules. Each step names what you give, what you get back and where you can stop.
Every step in one table, as published on octo.ad/start
| Step | What you give | What you get back | The promise |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0. Ask first. | Nothing. No account, no form. | Straight answers to “is this for us?” from the concierge, which answers questions about OCTOPUS only, from what is published here. The fit and not-a-fit lists are on this page in plain text, so you never have to rely on the assistant. | You can find out whether it fits before you talk to anyone. |
| 1. The fit check. | About 20 minutes and a plain description of one workflow where the same kinds of decisions come up again and again. No member, customer or case identifiers. | A fit checklist in three parts, operations, IT and finance, filled in against the published fit and not-a-fit criteria, with the reason for each box. You record the verdict, not us. | If it is not a fit, we say so, and say why. |
| 2. One rule, all its answers. | One recurring business rule, say the most discount a renewing contract may get, and up to three documents you choose: a meeting note, a message thread, a policy page. Redacted or sample copies are fine. What happens to your files is not published; get it from the team in writing before you send anything. No system access, no connection. | Each conflicting answer those documents give to that one question, side by side, with the exact sentence it came from, and the people who could settle it, for your own owner to confirm. We assign nobody's authority. | You see your own conflicting answers, with their sources, before you connect anything. |
| 3. One team's copy. | One team of 5 to 30 people and the AI tool it already uses. IT reviews one scoped connection between that tool and your team's copy, a separate copy that holds only that team's material. | A shared memory for the team, and a running record of what was decided and by whom, forming behind the tools it already uses. The team keeps its AI tool, and decision cards stay off until step 4. The only change step 3 needs is the one connection IT reviews on the sheet. | One connection for IT to review, and a planned stop with a review at the end. |
| 4. Decisions go to a person. | One named decision owner. | The decisions that matter arrive on the Desk, one card each: question and recommendation first, options side by side, evidence attached. A card missing context is refused before it reaches the owner. Anything that leaves the organization, such as a message to a customer or a payment, waits for the owner's deliberate confirmation. | Nothing that leaves the organization happens without a person, on the record. |
| 5. Repeat decisions follow the agreed rule. | Agreement on rules drawn from the owner's rulings in step 4, from the owner and anyone else you name, such as compliance. | Repeat questions answered by the agreed rule, with who agreed it and when. New automation runs in shadow first: it records what it would have done and does nothing outside. Every approval is logged, and you name who may switch any part of it off: the owner and IT. | You can turn any of it off, at once, and see what it did. |
Where you can stop
| Step | What you have at the end | Where you can stop |
|---|---|---|
| 0. Ask first | Answers, and the published fit lists. | Any time. Nothing has started. |
| 1. The fit check | Your checklist, with the reason for each box. | At the verdict, which you record. |
| 2. One rule | Your conflicting answers side by side, with their sources. | Before anything is connected. |
| 3. One team's copy | The review at the planned stop: what the record shows, and whether to go on. | At the planned stop, or earlier with the off switch. |
| 4. A person decides | Decisions on the record, with who made each one and when. | Any time. Nothing irreversible runs without the owner. |
| 5. Agreed rules | The agreed rules, who agreed them, and a log of every approval. | Any time. The off switch stops it at once. |
The same steps are on octo.ad/start.
Before you start
Nothing for the first step: it needs no account and no form. None of the first three steps needs a connection to any of your systems.
Why and when
OCTOPUS is taken on one small step at a time. Every step says what you give and what you get back, and you can stop after any of them.
Steps
- Ask first. Put your question to the concierge on any octo.ad page. It answers from public material and brings in the team when a question goes deeper.
- Ask for the fit check. Ask the concierge, or leave your work email on the early-access form on octo.ad; the team follows up. You give about 20 minutes and a plain description of one workflow where the same kinds of decisions come up again and again.
- Before you send any document, get in writing from the team what happens to your files. How files are handled is not published here.
- Send one rule for the one-rule check. One recurring business rule and up to three documents you choose. Redacted or sample copies are fine.
- Set up one team's copy. IT reviews one scoped connection between the AI tool the team already uses and the team's copy.
- Send decisions to a person. Name one decision owner. The decisions that matter arrive on the Desk, one card each.
- Agree rules for repeat decisions. New automation runs in shadow first: it records what it would have done and does nothing outside.
What you have at the end
At each step you keep what you got back, and you know where you can stop.