The Regulatory Standards Agency was drowning in their own processes. Their critical compliance assessments - the backbone of industry safety standards - were taking an average of 6 months to complete. What should have been a streamlined evaluation process had become a bureaucratic nightmare.
The specific pain points:
Assessments averaging 6 months from start to finish
Laborious manual processes with inconsistent outcomes
High staff turnover among assessment teams
Scope creep causing frustration for all stakeholders
Disconnected systems requiring constant context switching
Critical decisions buried in Word documents and email chains
This wasn't just an efficiency problem - it was undermining the agency's core mission of ensuring industry standards and safety compliance across multiple sectors.
Rather than layering technology onto broken processes, I completely reimagined how accreditation assessments should work in the modern era.
Team Composition
My Role: Solo transformation lead - responsible for stakeholder management, process analysis, solution design, prototype development, and change management strategy
Client Stakeholders: Assessment teams, sector managers, technical reviewers, and senior leadership across the agency
Collaboration Model: I used Google Ventures' Design Sprint methodology, running weekly sprints with key stakeholders to ensure continuous feedback and buy-in throughout the transformation process
Design Sprints for Accreditation Transformation
I structured the engagement with a 5-day weekly methodology:
Monday: Deep dive process analysis with stakeholders
Tuesday: Rapid prototyping of new workflow solutions
Wednesday: Testing prototypes with impacted users
Thursday: Iterating based on feedback
Friday: Finalising and preparing for next sprint
This approach ensured I was building solutions with stakeholders, not for them.
Immediate Impact
Reduced assessment time by 83% (from 6 months to 1 month projected)
Streamlined 8-step process with intelligent automation at each stage
Identified 30+ AI opportunities for immediate and future implementation
Universal stakeholder enthusiasm - consistent feedback of "when can we have this?"
Strategic Transformation
Complete digital transformation from Word documents to structured data
Intelligent risk-based routing eliminating manual decision bottlenecks
Proactive issue identification through pre-visit assessments
Consistent, high-quality outcomes through standardised AI-assisted processes
Change Management Success
25+ stakeholders engaged and excited across all organisational levels
Clear implementation roadmap with POC-first approach
Built-in adoption strategy starting with common assessment types
In all, I identified 30+ AI automation opportunities across the entire process, including:
Assessment Team Allocation & Scheduling: AI algorithms to match assessors with jobs based on expertise, availability, and historical performance
Document Analysis: Automated review of compliance documentation to identify conformances, non-conformances, and evidence gaps
Mobile Non-Conformance Capturing: Voice-to-text and chat-based tools for real-time field documentation
Historical Summarisation: AI analysis of previous assessments to generate instant assessment plans and recommendations
Content Generation: Automated creation of reports, communications, and compliance documentation with human review
Semantic Search: AI-powered nomenclature suggestions to standardise terminology across assessments
Phase 1: Proof of Concept (3 months) Build initial system using Microsoft Power Platform to validate data needs and infrastructure requirements
Phase 2: Iterative Rollout (6-12 months) Start with reassessments (most common type) for immediate impact, then expand to complex assessment types
Phase 3: AI Integration Deploy AI tools that work with both legacy and new systems, providing immediate value while building toward future state
FRONTEND
Google Ventures Design Sprint methodology adapted for accreditation transformation
BACKEND
Figma for mid-fidelity clickable prototypes across multiple user journeys
CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE
30+ automation opportunities identified across assessment workflow
AI/ML
Microsoft Azure-based architecture for cost optimisation and data sovereignty
INTEGRATIONS
Power Platform POC approach for rapid validation and iteration
Major Process Innovations
1. Strategic Process Reordering
Moved scope review to the beginning (preventing on-the-day changes that frustrated assessors)
Introduced pre-visit assessments to catch major issues early
Combined three separate end-process checklists into one streamlined workflow
2. Digital-First Assessment Protocols
Transitioned from Word documents to structured data forms
Enabled real-time collaboration and automated quality checks
Created foundation for AI-powered analysis and recommendations
3. Intelligent Risk-Based Workflows
Implemented AI-generated risk profiles to route assessments appropriately
Automated routine tasks while preserving human oversight for critical decisions
Created adaptive workflows that adjust based on assessment complexity
Stakeholder Engagement Innovation
Understanding that beautiful blueprints don't drive adoption, I created a clickable, mid-fidelity Figma prototype that walked stakeholders through the entire new process from multiple perspectives (assessors, members, technical reviewers).
This prototype wasn't in the original scope, but I knew it would be crucial for getting stakeholders excited about the transformation.
Human-Centred Design
Used design sprints to keep stakeholders at the centre of every decision, ensuring solutions actually worked for real users in the accreditation environment
Strategic Process Thinking
Addressed root causes (scope creep, manual workflows, disconnected systems) rather than just automating existing inefficiencies
"Anything is Possible" Mindset
Identified transformational opportunities by removing technical feasibility constraints during the creative phase
Prototype-Driven Engagement
Made abstract process changes tangible through interactive demonstrations that got stakeholders excited
