A few years ago I developed EFQ, a prioritization framework for deciding what to build. It stands for Effort, Frequency, Quality risk.
I’ve been applying it to automation and agentic builds. It translates directly.
What is EFQ?
EFQ is modeled on the ICE scoring approach where you score ideas to quantitatively determine which to pursue. The difference: all three factors come from the customer’s perspective, not yours.
Effort — How much time does this task take the customer? Minutes = 1, hours = 3, a full day = 5.
Frequency — How often does the customer do this? Monthly = 1, weekly = 3, daily = 5.
Quality risk — What happens if this task goes wrong without your solution? Low impact = 1, high impact = 5.
Multiply them. Higher score = better target.
Why This Works for Automation Decisions
Reduces subjectivity. Effort and Frequency can come directly from instrumented data or observed customer behavior. You’re scoring based on facts, not opinions or stakeholder pressure.
Ignores your development cost. Most frameworks weight engineering effort heavily. But with agents, build cost is collapsing. The question isn’t “can we build it” but “is it worth building.” EFQ keeps you focused on customer value and leaves scoping for later.
Keeps you customer-centric. By removing internal factors like cost and urgency, you’re putting yourself in the customer’s shoes. Your customer could fill out this framework and arrive at the same answer you do.
Example
A SaaS team is deciding where to point their first AI agent.
Option A: Auto-generate weekly reports
| Factor | Score | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Effort | 3 | About 30 minutes |
| Frequency | 3 | Weekly |
| Quality | 2 | Errors get caught in review |
| EFQ Score | 18 |
Option B: Customer onboarding configuration
New users manually set up integrations, preferences, and settings across multiple screens.
| Factor | Score | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Effort | 5 | 45-60 minutes, error-prone |
| Frequency | 5 | Daily across the customer base |
| Quality | 5 | Bad setup = support tickets, churn |
| EFQ Score | 125 |
The scores make it obvious. Option B has nearly 7x the customer impact. That’s where your first agent should go.
Where to Apply
You can use EFQ for both 0-1 agent builds and incremental automation improvements. It works for comparing across both.
The math is simple. The discipline is staying customer-centric when internal pain or shiny demos are pulling you elsewhere.