One of the most-asked questions from B2B operators evaluating AI rollout. The answer is much more concrete than people expect. Here's what realistic timelines look like at $5M-$50M companies.
2-4 weeks for a single workflow with a clear owner and platform already in place. 8-12 weeks for the first three workflows including platform setup and basic governance. 90 days to a meaningful steady state at a 30-50 person company.
2-4 weeks if you have an LLM platform already, a clear owner, and 3-5 examples of good past output. Add 1-2 weeks if you are also picking the platform.
6-10 weeks for a sales team of 5-15 people, assuming workflows are reasonably similar to ones we have rolled out before. Includes platform setup, three workflows, training, and weekly cadence.
12-16 weeks to reach a steady state where all three functions have 2-4 workflows in production. Done sequentially, not in parallel — committee paralysis is the failure mode here.
6-12 months. By month 12, expect 8-15 workflows in production, a one-page AI policy, an AI lead in a recognized role, and AI fluency as a baseline expectation in new hires.
Typically 1-2 weeks. Treetop's AI Audit produces a written roadmap in 5 business days.
4-8 weeks for the first 1-3 workflows in a clearly defined function. Longer if the workflows are unusually complex or require integrations beyond standard SaaS tools.
Hours-saved ROI: visible by week 4 of the first workflow. Hard-dollar ROI (incremental revenue, avoided hires): visible by month 4-6. Compounding ROI (team-wide capability shift): months 9-18.
Yes. Most companies that succeed without outside help have someone on staff who has done it before. Most companies trying it for the first time benefit from a structured engagement to compress trial-and-error.
Possible, rarely advisable. Speed past 30-60 days usually trades quality of adoption for quality of headline. Sustainable rollouts are 90-180 days.