When managers see “subsidies of up to NT$100,000,” their first questions are often: Which tools qualify? When is the application deadline? But there is a more important question to answer first: Will employees continue using the tool after the subsidy runs out? If no one can clearly explain who will provide the data, who will review the results, or who will handle problems, purchasing an eligible tool does not mean the company can actually integrate AI into its daily operations.
According to Business Next’s overview of the 2026 programs, manufacturers must first complete an AI assessment conducted by Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and then purchase tools based on the resulting recommendations, with subsidies of up to NT$100,000 per application. Service-sector businesses can receive a subsidy covering 50% of the cost of subscribing to designated AI tools, up to NT$100,000 per location. However, they must subscribe for at least six months and complete three months of actual use before requesting reimbursement. These requirements make “clarifying needs first” and “demonstrating actual use” part of the application process. Businesses can go one step further by piloting a real workflow before applying to confirm that the entire process can be completed, the relevant records are accessible, and ongoing costs can be kept under control.
Before Comparing Features, Break Down the Work to Define the Acceptance Criteria
Tool demonstrations typically begin with a carefully prepared document. Within minutes, the tool produces a summary, recommendations, or a report. Daily business operations, however, are rarely this orderly. When preparing a quotation, a salesperson may need to wait for procurement to confirm costs, verify an existing customer’s commercial terms, and ask a manager to approve a special discount. When compiling customer complaints, a customer service representative may encounter unclear photos, missing order information, or cases involving quality-control responsibility. If the evaluation only tests whether the tool can generate an answer, employees will still have to deal with pending responses, rejected data submissions, and a variety of exceptions after implementation.
Before applying, select a frequently performed process with a limited scope. There is no need to cover an entire department from the outset. Next, ask the employees who actually handle the work to document five things: which data initiates the process, the steps to be completed in sequence, the required format of the final deliverable, who is responsible for each step, and which situations require the process to stop for confirmation. In procurement price comparisons, for example, an AI Agent can compile supplier quotations and highlight their differences. However, if suppliers use inconsistent specifications, delivery dates are uncertain, or the amount exceeds the department’s limit, the case should be returned to procurement personnel or a manager for judgment.
The pilot should also use data that closely reflects real-world conditions, including cases with missing fields, inconsistent formats, and ambiguous requirements. Acceptance testing should assess more than whether the answer is correct. It should also confirm whether the employee can locate the source data, understand the output, revise the content, and successfully hand the result off to the next colleague. If the team still cannot clearly define the input data, deliverables, and responsible parties, narrow the scope and test again rather than rushing to add the tool to the purchase order.
Which Steps Must Be Confirmed by a Person?
An AI Agent is well suited to handling clearly defined, repeatable tasks first, such as compiling quotation fields, organizing customer service records in a prescribed format, or checking whether application documents are incomplete. Price commitments, supplier selection, compensation for customer complaints, and external responses should still be decided by the responsible employees after reviewing the content. Each step requiring human approval must specify more than simply “manager review.” It should clearly define who has the authority to approve the case, which information must be reviewed, who should be notified if no response is received within a specified period, and where the process should restart after a case is returned.
Businesses should also test the entire workflow using exception scenarios. For example, when two quotations use different units of measurement, can the AI Agent flag the differences for procurement personnel to assess instead of automatically selecting the lower-priced supplier? If a customer service record lacks an order number, will the workflow pause and ask the responsible employee to complete the information, or will it generate a response anyway? These tests confirm that when data is insufficient, the tool will neither bypass steps that should remain under human responsibility nor leave every issue for the AI Agent to resolve on its own.
EgentWrX can connect repeatable tasks into a workflow and require human approval before handoffs. After one stage is completed, the workflow pauses until the designated person reviews and approves it. During an evaluation, businesses can ask the vendor to demonstrate the system using the company’s actual workflows and exception cases rather than relying solely on a prepared demonstration. If the system cannot specify who approves a critical step, how a case is returned, and who is responsible for subsequent action, the business should postpone any broader implementation.
Prepare Reimbursement Documents and Establish Controls for Usage Records and Budgets
When requesting reimbursement, service-sector businesses must submit invoices, system usage records, and screenshots of system operations. The same expense or invoice cannot be claimed under more than one government program. These materials serve as evidence for the subsidy application, but businesses should separately maintain internal work records documenting which data the AI Agent used, what results it produced, who modified or approved those results, and how exceptions were handled. The two sets of records serve different purposes: the former is submitted to the competent authority for review, while the latter enables managers, IT teams, and auditors to determine who was responsible and how each case was handled.
For example, EgentWrX provides exportable audit logs and uses a hash chain to verify whether records have been altered. However, businesses must still prepare reimbursement documents in accordance with the competent authority’s requirements when applying for a subsidy. For budget control, businesses can set limits and alerts by tenant, business unit, member, and AI Agent. They can also configure the system to block further use once a limit is exceeded. These mechanisms are suitable for managing ongoing usage costs, but they do not replace the finance department’s responsibility to classify invoices, subsidies, and investment tax credits correctly.
Subsidies are capped, and program funds may be exhausted before the announced deadline. Procurement evaluations therefore should not focus solely on the first payment due after subsidies are applied. Businesses should separately document subscription fees, model usage, limits for each business unit, alert thresholds, and the action to be taken when a limit is exceeded. They should also designate someone to review these items every month. If a business also plans to apply for the Article 10-1 investment tax credit under the Statute for Industrial Innovation, it should first confirm whether qualifying AI equipment and software acquired during the same year total at least NT$1 million. Any subsidies already received must also be deducted when calculating the investment tax credit. The finance team should assess whether the company should claim a 5% credit in the current year or a 3% credit spread over three years based on its corporate income tax position. Before applying, organize the documents required by the government, the company’s internal operational records, and the ongoing usage budget separately. Assign an owner to each of these three areas before deciding whether to proceed with the purchase.
FAQ
If a tool appears on the subsidy eligibility list or in an approved tool directory, does that mean it is suitable for the company?
No. Subsidy eligibility only means the tool can be included in a particular application. It does not prove that the tool can be integrated into the company’s daily operations. Before applying, use real data to pilot part of a workflow and confirm that specific people are responsible for input data, deliverables, human approvals, and exception handling before deciding whether to purchase the tool.
Can a service-sector business request reimbursement immediately after subscribing to an AI tool?
No. Under the program rules, a service-sector business must subscribe to a designated plan for at least six months and complete three months of actual use before submitting invoices, system usage records, and screenshots of system operations for reimbursement. Someone should therefore be assigned to retain the relevant records from the first day of implementation.
Can a business apply for both a subsidy and the Article 10-1 investment tax credit under the Statute for Industrial Innovation?
The two programs can be evaluated separately, but the same expense cannot be used to claim government subsidies more than once. Any subsidy already received must also be deducted when calculating the investment tax credit. Before purchasing, itemize each piece of equipment, software purchase, invoice, and funding source, and then ask a finance or tax professional to confirm the appropriate filing method.
How can a business determine whether a pilot is ready to proceed to procurement?
A pilot is ready for procurement evaluation only when the responsible employee can complete the entire workflow using real data, and the manager can approve or return items and review records at the designated steps. If the team still does not know who should handle missing data or unclear requirements, it should narrow the scope, clarify responsibilities, and conduct another round of testing.
References
- 2026 AI Subsidies｜How Can Manufacturers and Restaurants Apply? Eligibility, Deadlines, and Subsidies of Up to NT$100,000 — Business Next’s overview of the eligibility requirements, processes, and deadlines for 2026 business AI subsidies and investment tax credits.
