AI Agent Checklist

AI Agent Evaluation Checklist for Small Businesses

Use this checklist before giving an AI agent access to customers, calendars, CRM records or other business systems.

Job fit

  • Can we describe one specific job this agent should own?
  • What starts the job and what counts as complete?
  • Which exceptions require a human?
  • What accuracy or success threshold is acceptable?

Systems and permissions

  • Which applications must the agent access?
  • Does it need read access, write access or both?
  • Can permissions be limited to the minimum required?
  • Are actions logged and reviewable?
  • Can a human stop or override the agent?

Behavior under pressure

  • Does it ask for clarification when information is missing?
  • Does it escalate correctly?
  • Does it invent facts, policy or prices?
  • What happens when a tool fails?
  • How consistent is it when the same scenario is repeated?

Economics

  • What is the subscription price?
  • Are there usage, model or action fees?
  • How much human review remains?
  • What is the estimated cost per accepted result?
  • What setup and maintenance work is required?

Pilot readiness

Before production access, prepare a small scenario set covering normal work, edge cases and prohibited actions. Define the scoring before the test begins. If two products are being considered, run the same scenarios against both whenever possible.

Do not ask only “Can it do this?”Ask: “How often does it do this correctly, what happens when it cannot, and how much supervision does that require?”

Would you put AI candidates through a working interview?

HiredBot is in private beta. Tell us the job you would want tested and which AI tools you are considering.

Join Early Access