AI is having a moment.
Everyone wants an AI strategy, an AI workflow, an AI assistant, an AI something.
Which is fine.
But there is one small question worth asking before we automate everything in sight:
Does this actually make the business better?
Because “we used AI” is not a return on investment.
AI Has More Than a Subscription Cost
The cost of AI is rarely just the monthly fee.
There is implementation, integration, testing, training, review and maintenance.
Then there is technical debt.
Technical debt is simply the future work created by the technology decisions you make today.
That clever automation you built in an afternoon still needs to work when the software changes, the model changes, the process changes or someone presses the wrong button.
Automation can remove work.
It can also create a very sophisticated new way of creating more work.
Human Opportunity Cost
For now, most business is still done between people.
And in the right place, the human element is not inefficiency.
It is the product.
A Michelin-star restaurant could replace the waiter with a screen and probably get your order to the kitchen faster.
Wonderful.
But nobody is paying Michelin-star prices because the waiter achieved a 14-second improvement in order processing.
They are paying for judgement, attention, timing, conversation and the feeling that someone understands the room.
Business is not that different.
Automate the repetitive work.
Use AI to remove friction.
Let it crunch the data, explore ideas and deal with the boring stuff.
But be very careful about automating the part of the experience that makes the client feel understood.
Saving five minutes is not an efficiency if you remove the reason the client chose you in the first place.
Not Everything Needs AI
Sometimes a spreadsheet is enough.
Sometimes a checklist is enough.
Sometimes the revolutionary technological solution is simply fixing the process you already have.
And sometimes AI changes the economics of a task completely.
That is where it gets interesting.
The objective is not to use the most advanced technology available.
It is to use the simplest solution that produces the right result, at the right cost, with the right quality.
AI can create enormous leverage.
Use it.
Just make sure the leverage is pointing in the right direction.
The goal is not more AI.
The goal is better business.
Is Your Technology Actually Creating Value?
Technology should improve the economics of the business, strengthen the client experience and free people to focus on higher-value work.
If it is doing the opposite, it may be time to rethink the process.
