The New Reality: Your SOPs Need to Support AI AND Your Team

We’re entering a new age where AI isn’t just a tool, it’s becoming a coworker. More and more of your team’s daily workflows are being done by both humans and AI agents. Automated replies, assisted troubleshooting, or even end to end process automations are now possible through AI. Because of this shift, the way you document your operations can’t be designed solely for people anymore, or you run the risk of falling behind. Every SOP you create now has two audiences: your team and your AI.

If your SOPs are crisp, and written with minimal ambiguity, both humans and AI will interpret them consistently. But if your SOPs are messy, and overloaded with unnecessary detail, you end up with two very real problems: the AI struggles to automate the work correctly, and your support reps become inconsistent when answering the same question.

Here’s your 2025 guide to writing the perfect support SOPs for both humans and AI, and why it's so effective

The Ideal Structure

1. Start with a Clear Purpose

Every SOP should begin by answering one question:

“Why does this process exist?”

The purpose sets the context and guardrails. Without it, AI systems don’t know the goal of the workflow, and humans can lose sight of what the process is meant to improve, or complete. A strong purpose statement keeps the SOP grounded and focused.

2. Define When the Process Should Happen

This is where many SOPs fail, when the rules around when the workflow applies are implicit instead of explicit.

There are three things that a good SOP clearly separates:

1. Approved reasons (when the process should run)

2. Prohibited reasons (when the process must not run)

3. Escalation reasons (when the process requires human or senior judgment)

This creates a predictable framework that eliminates ambiguity and prevents your AI or your team from guessing. If you want consistency, these three categories are non-negotiable.

3. Map the High-Level Flow

Before diving into detailed instructions, you need a simple, digestible view of the entire process. A strong high level flow answers:

1. What triggers the workflow

2. What needs to be validated

3. What decision branches exist

4. What actions are taken

5. Who gets notified

6. When escalation occurs

This overall picture ensures that even new reps (or newly-deployed AI agents) can understand the logic of the workflow before learning the specifics. Providing context to the situation will always be important for greater accuracy.

4. Write Detailed, Step-by-Step Instructions

This is the operational heart of your SOP, to help both humans and AI agents, it should be broken down into two sections:

A. Input & Identification Phase

This covers the steps required to understand the context:

• Who is making the request

• What type of user they are

• What order or record they’re referring to

• Whether the request is valid

• What data or systems need to be pulled

B. Decision & Action Phase

Once the context is clear, define:

• How to classify the request

• How to validate the reason

• What calculation or action should take place

• What the system should update

• What message should be sent to the user

• When to close or escalate the task

The goal for these SOPs is to make it feel like a workflow, not a written wall of text. Breaking down sections into phases helps that.

5. Document Edge Case Rules, Not Every Edge Case

It is nearly impossible to create a process without any edge cases, and many bad SOPs spend too long taking into account all these edge cases, which tends to take the focus away from the main goal. 

Documenting every scenario is a waste of time. You simply need to document:

“What happens when something doesn’t fit the standard flow.”

Clearly documenting when to halt and escalate will act as guardrails that prevent AI from improvising, and prevent humans from wasting time making decisions your SOP should have covered.

6. Add a Section for Hard Constraints (Non-Negotiables)

Every great SOP needs an explicit list of non-negotiable rules, hard boundaries that neither AI nor humans are allowed to cross. These act as the guardrails that protect your operations when everything else in the workflow seems valid but still shouldn’t be allowed to proceed.

Hard constraints prevent your AI or your team from making irreversible or risky decisions. They answer the critical question: “What must never happen, even if the request looks normal?”

These rules usually sound like:

• Never extend a deadline more than once without escalation.

• Never accept a claim without independent customer confirmation.

• Never apply an action that exceeds defined thresholds or maximums.

• Never override system-verified data without manual review.

Hard constraints work best as a final checkpoint. The SOP first explains the normal workflow, then the exceptions and finally,  the hard “do not cross” rules. Placing them near the end keeps the main instructions easy to follow while still giving both AI and your team a final safety check after all logic has been cleared. 

Think of this step like checking your passport before leaving the house for the airport. None of the other rules matter if you show up without it.

The Big Picture

Well-structured SOPs don’t just help your AI agents, they make your entire support operation more efficient. When your SOPs follow a predictable structure, your team and your AI both know exactly when a process should run, what steps matter most, and where the hard boundaries are. Clear SOPs remove the guesswork, so your team isn’t bogged down by unclear steps and be consistent in their resolutions.

The real power of great SOPs is that they free humans to focus on what humans do best. Your team can spend their time spotting patterns, identifying issues that fall outside the standard process, and improving the business. A strong SOP isn’t about capturing every possible scenario; it’s about creating clarity, preventing confusion, and giving both AI and your team the structure they need to operate confidently and consistently.

Want expert guidance on improving or automating your SOPs? Get started with Champ for free!