It is easy to come up with potential use cases for AI. The more difficult question is which of them actually fit a company’s operations and how they should be implemented in practice.

Örum Oy Ab, a company specializing in automotive spare parts and the aftermarket, set out to explore these questions together with Skillwell through an AI Assessment. The goal was to build a practical understanding of where AI could bring value to Örum, identify the right use cases, and determine which technical solutions would fit their existing environment.

The work followed Skillwell’s standardized AI Assessment approach, which has been used across several customer projects. The approach takes AI opportunities from business needs through technical evaluation and practical experimentation. For Örum, the AI Assessment combined business needs assessment, technical research, and hands-on testing. As a result, Örum gained a clearer understanding of the potential of AI and a solid foundation for planning the next steps in development.

Starting with needs, not technology

The Assessment began by examining Örum’s operations and identifying processes where AI could provide additional value.

Tasks that cannot be solved with straightforward, predefined rules were particularly interesting. In traditional software development, functionality can often be described precisely in code: when A happens, do B. However, not every process works this way.

Some situations require interpretation, contextual understanding, or reasoning. The Assessment explored how reliably current AI models can handle these types of tasks and what roles humans, AI, and traditional software should play within the process.

Practical experiments towards production readiness

Identifying potential use cases alone does not tell you whether an idea will work in practice. That is why the most promising ideas were also taken into technical evaluation and experimentation during the Assessment.

Different language models were compared to determine how well they suited the identified needs. Their ability to process the information required by the use cases was evaluated, along with the differences between alternative implementation approaches.

Integration was another key consideration. New AI solutions were not treated as standalone applications, but as part of Örum’s existing infrastructure. The Assessment explored how potential solutions could be integrated into existing systems and development processes in a controlled manner.

This moved the evaluation beyond the general question of “Could AI be used for this?” towards more concrete questions: How would the solution work? Which technology should be used to build it? What would be required to move towards production?

Hands-on testing helped define the direction

Several potential AI use cases were identified during the Assessment, and the most promising ones were explored in practice. The goal was to test key assumptions and develop selected use cases far enough to gain confidence in their technical feasibility and understand what would be required to move them towards production.

For one use case, testing progressed far enough to confirm both the technical feasibility of the solution and the requirements for moving towards production. At the same time, the team verified that the planned implementation approach would fit Örum’s existing environment.

The experiments also helped identify situations where AI is a natural part of the solution, as well as cases where traditional software logic or human review is the better option.

The goal was not to find as many tasks for AI as possible. More importantly, it was about understanding where AI makes sense and which ideas are mature enough to move to the next stage.

“The Assessment was a highly successful process, and working with Skillwell felt natural from start to finish. The process was clear and practical, and it quickly took us from ideas to concrete results. We were able to test the most promising ideas in practice, and some of the solutions will now move towards production.”

— Niiles Kari, Development Manager

A clearer foundation for the next decisions

Following the AI Assessment, Örum has a clearer understanding of the types of tasks where AI can be applied, what its implementation requires from a technical perspective, and how new solutions can be integrated into the existing environment.

The practical experiments provided valuable insights into the suitability of different language models and the technical feasibility of the selected use cases. For at least one use case, the work progressed to a point where the next step is moving towards production.

This is also at the heart of Skillwell’s AI Assessment approach. Opportunities are not left at the idea stage. The most promising use cases are explored far enough to provide a solid basis for informed decisions about what to do next.

For Örum, the Assessment provided exactly that foundation: what is worth taking forward, how it should be approached, and what is needed next.