Glass Co Metro: A Board-Ready AI Roadmap That Delivered $100K+ in Value Within Two Months

Brief

Glass Co Metro came out of their AI for Leaders workshop with more than 20 AI ideas and a clear appetite to move. We delivered a full technical assessment and board-ready AI roadmap across seven priority use cases. Working closely with leadership and department heads, we mapped each process end-to-end, assessed technical feasibility, scoped system requirements, and built out cost, timeline, and ROI estimates for each. Two of the seven use cases were selected and built within two months, and those two systems have already delivered an estimated $100K+ in value.

Problem

Having 20+ AI ideas is a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem. Without a structured way to evaluate them, organisations risk investing in use cases that are technically difficult, misaligned with how the business actually operates, or unable to deliver meaningful return within a reasonable timeframe. Glass Co Metro’s leadership needed clarity before committing to development: what would each solution actually require to build, what would it cost, how long would it take to see a return, and which ideas looked compelling in a workshop but would hit real constraints when examined closely. They needed a rigorous, evidence-based foundation for investment decisions, not more ideation.

Solution

We delivered a full technical assessment and AI roadmap covering seven priority use cases identified from the initial workshop: a GCM AI Hub, an Inbox Agent Builder for call-ups, a Receiving AI Agent, an Inbox PO Confirmation Agent, a Stocktake Computer Vision system, Extrusion Stock Adjustment Support, and an Inbox Agent for Fitter Measure Packs. For each use case, we worked directly with leadership and department heads to map the relevant process end-to-end, understanding exactly how staff currently work and how an AI system would integrate into their workflow in practice. Each assessment covered technical feasibility, high-level system design and requirements, development cost and delivery timeline, expected value, time savings and efficiency gains, ROI, and payback period. All findings were compiled into a board-ready roadmap, structured and evidence-based.

• Process mapping before assessment: we didn’t assess ideas in the abstract, we mapped how staff actually work first, then evaluated fit
• Full financial picture for every use case: cost, timeline, expected value, ROI, and payback period, no vague benefits, no missing numbers
• Board-ready output: the roadmap was structured for leadership decision making, not just internal reference
• Validation, not just recommendation: where use cases had constraints or needed shaping, we said so, giving GCM an honest assessment rather than a list of everything they wanted to hear

Result

Glass Co Metro’s leadership had a clear, strategic path for AI adoption, with every investment decision backed by technical assessment, cost modelling, and ROI analysis. Two use cases were selected and built within two months of the roadmap being delivered, and those two systems have already generated an estimated $100K+ in value through time savings, efficiency improvements, and reduced manual errors. The speed of that return validated the roadmap’s accuracy, with the assessments reflecting GCM’s operational reality rather than an optimistic scenario. GCM now has a validated pipeline of future AI opportunities and a proven model for implementing them, with the remaining five use cases from the roadmap ready to progress when the time is right.

Under the Hood