What to set up in the first week, before any AI does real work
The temptation with AI is to start with the most impressive use case. The companies that do well start with something duller: the minimum structure that makes every later step visible, traceable and reversible. It takes about a week, and skipping it is a mistake people regret within weeks.
The minimum
A register of every AI system and automation in use. For each one: what it does, who owns it, what it is allowed to touch, and who to call when it misbehaves. Many companies discover at this step that they already have more AI running than anyone thought, set up by individuals, owned by nobody.
One central log. Every action a system takes, what it read, what it decided and what it changed, written to one place you control, with a reference that lets you follow one piece of work from start to end. When something goes wrong, the log is how you find out what happened instead of guessing.
One shared channel where systems report what they did and what they need, so a person can see activity across all of them in one view, rather than opening ten different tools.
And one system per job to begin with. Not five overlapping assistants doing similar things in different departments, but one, done properly, before the next.
Why it comes first
This structure is what makes everything after it safe. Without a register, you cannot answer who is responsible. Without a log, you cannot explain a mistake to a customer, an auditor or yourself. Without one view, problems are found by the people they happen to.
None of it is difficult. It is simply easier to set up before there are twenty systems than after.
Register, log, one view, one at a time. Then build.