YOUR OBJECTIVE COMES FIRST
Define the scope in its operating context.
Connect the technology to a useful commercial offer.
Maryland Commerce highlights life sciences, cybersecurity and IT, advanced manufacturing, logistics and artificial intelligence among its key industries. Consider a technical services team making approved information useful without widening access as a scoping example, not a local client claim. Its work may depend on document permissions, current versions and supporting source passages. The engagement should establish how authorized reviewers retain technical judgment and restricted material stays within its approved audience. That operating detail helps distinguish an appropriate service scope from a broad industry label, with actual requirements confirmed by your organization.
Maryland Department of Commerce: industry context ↗01A use case with a real buyer
Define who experiences the problem, who would use the solution and who approves spending. Examine evidence from customer conversations and existing alternatives. Distinguish an interesting technical capability from a reason an organization would change its current workflow. For a technical services team making approved information useful without widening access, discuss restricted knowledge and research requests with the people doing the work. Bring document permissions, current versions and supporting source passages and identify where authorized reviewers retain technical judgment and restricted material stays within its approved audience. Use that evidence to refine the assignment instead of assuming every business in the state needs the same capability.
02From a capability to a customer use
Define a potential use in enough detail to test whether the technology is relevant. For example: Retrieve supporting passages only from material the user is allowed to access. Show versions and citations beside the draft so reviewers can inspect the evidence and recognize when the collection is insufficient. Identify the user, buyer, present alternative and limitations. A possible technical solution is a hypothesis to validate, not proof of willingness to pay.
03A delivery model around the technology
A related situation may expose a different requirement for integration or support: Structure incoming requests around an agreed taxonomy and identify missing information. Low-confidence routing should go to a reviewer, with the original message retained to help resolve ambiguity or an incorrect classification. Decide which responsibilities belong in the product, which require a partner and which remain with the customer. Use the findings to refine a pilot and the first commercial offer.
04Evidence for the next commercial stage
Agree a bounded pilot or customer learning plan with acceptance criteria. Examine implementation effort, actual usage and support needs alongside technical performance. Use the findings to revise the offer, roadmap or delivery approach before assuming a larger launch is justified.
