AI support readiness template
AI Support Launch Readiness Checklist
A vendor-neutral CSV checklist for deciding which customer intents are approved, restricted, blocked, or human-only before an AI support agent goes live.
Template target
AI support readiness
- Vendor-neutral AI support launch review
- Knowledge-base cleanup backlog before automation
- Support, legal, and operations go/no-go meeting
How to use it
Turn a template run into a launch decision.
List launch intents
Start with recent tickets, top contact reasons, and sensitive support topics instead of generic demo questions.
Attach proof
Record the source owner, evidence link, conflict check, test coverage, and required handoff rule for each intent.
Set the launch boundary
Mark every intent approved, restricted, blocked, source-fix-needed, or human-only before it reaches customer-facing AI.
Template preview
Sample rows and readiness decisions.
| Intent | Test question | Source evidence | Risk | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refund eligibility | Can I get a refund after the published refund window? | Refund policy, macro, recent exception tickets | Policy exception and cost exposure | Restrict until exception rule is explicit |
| Account access | Can support change the admin email for me? | Identity verification SOP and admin policy | Account takeover exposure | Human-only unless verification is enforced |
| Plan downgrade | If I downgrade now, what happens to my stored data? | Plan lifecycle article and retention policy | Data retention nuance | Approve if source and macro match |
| Security documents | Can you send your SOC 2 report and DPA? | Security request SOP and allowed-document list | Controlled document release | Restrict with NDA or approval check |
Readiness checklist
What to review before the AI answer goes live.
Source evidence
- Each launch intent has a current article, macro, SOP, ticket pattern, or policy source.
- The source owner and review date are known before the answer is approved.
- Internal-only guidance is separated from customer-facing answer text.
Risk controls
- Refund, billing, security, legal, regulated, and account-control topics have explicit handoff rules.
- Policy conflicts are resolved before the intent is marked approved.
- Restricted intents name the required customer, plan, region, order, or eligibility check.
Launch governance
- The same test question set can be rerun after source changes.
- Wrong-answer, re-contact, escalation, and override signals have an owner.
- Blocked intents become a source-fix backlog instead of disappearing after launch.
Decision rubric
Do not let a good-sounding answer become scope.
A launch checklist should force a decision for each customer intent, not just confirm that an article exists. The important question is whether the team can prove the AI has a current source, no policy conflict, a tested answer, and a safe handoff path.
Use this CSV before selecting final launch scope, after a major policy change, or when support leaders need a shared review artifact across CX, knowledge, legal, security, and operations.
Approved
The answer is source-backed, tested, low-risk, and does not need private customer context or human judgement.
Restricted
The AI may answer only after checking a named condition such as plan, region, identity, order status, or eligibility.
Source fix
The intent is useful for automation, but the source is stale, missing, contradictory, or not customer-safe yet.
Human-only
The intent involves security, legal, regulated, account-control, high-cost, or judgment-heavy work that should not be automated.
FAQ
Questions before using this template.
What is an AI support launch readiness checklist?
It is a review template for deciding which customer intents are safe for AI support, which need restrictions, which need source cleanup, and which should stay human-owned.
Who should complete the checklist?
Support operations should usually own the checklist, with knowledge owners, legal, security, compliance, product, and vendor admins reviewing the high-risk rows.
Should we use this before or after choosing an AI vendor?
Use it before vendor rollout and again after configuration. The checklist works with Intercom Fin, Zendesk AI, Salesforce Agentforce, Freshdesk Freddy AI, Gorgias AI, HubSpot Customer Agent, Kustomer AI, or custom support agents.
Related articles
Build the review set.
AI support readiness score
AI Support Readiness Score Methodology
AI support readiness
AI Support Readiness Framework
Knowledge-base audit
Knowledge Base AI Readiness Audit
AI agent testing
AI Agent Testing for Customer Support
Customer service QA
Customer Service QA for AI Support
AI support compliance
AI Support Compliance Checklist
Launch boundary
Turn template findings into approved scope.
Meihaku maps each tested intent to source evidence, conflicts, gaps, and the answer your team approves before automation.