The department nobody automates first — and why they should
Ask a company where to start and they will name the department with the most vocal manager. That is a political answer, not an operational one.
Follow the waiting
The right first target is the function that other functions wait on. It is usually quiet, because the people in it have absorbed the pressure for years and stopped mentioning it.
Why this ordering matters
Automating a downstream department while the upstream one still runs on email means you have built a faster queue. The wait just moved.
Working on this in your company?
Tell me what it does and I will tell you which parts can run themselves.