We love speed. Fast food, fast broadband, fast decisions. But when it comes to an AI implementation strategy, speed without thinking is a recipe for disaster.
Just ask the bank that automated customer service with a system that couldn’t resolve issues due to hidden incompatibility. Or the Chevy auto dealer whose chatbot went off the rails and, thanks to a little savvy exploitation, began offering cars for $1. Or the warehouse that installed robotic pickers before fixing layout issues and ended up scaling chaos.
According to MIT Sloan, AI implementation at the “lowest level of the pyramid” uses technology “solely to gain economic benefits by reducing human labor.” Not only are these cost-based programs not socially conscious or human-centric, but they “often fail to deliver and can even be detrimental to business interests.“
Signs your AI implementation strategy is off track
You might be automating the wrong thing if:
- Your bot works flawlessly – on the wrong process
- You’re solving the symptom, not the system
- Users avoid the new AI tools and just go back to spreadsheets because change is hard
This isn’t a tech problem. It’s a thinking problem.
Enter Problem Analysis: the pre-automation power tool
Kepner-Tregoe’s Problem Analysis helps teams design an AI implementation strategy that actually works by:
- Pinpointing the true root cause of process pain
- Avoiding false starts and premature fixes
- Understanding variation and impact before change
- Applying logic before launching bots, scripts, or tools
Don’t digitize dysfunction. Fix the functional flow first.
Why this matters now
Automation budgets are up. Expectations are high. And tolerance for failure is low.
The best time to slow down and think? Before you push “deploy.” Those who are determined to not miss the automation “gold rush” in performance improvements and cost savings are going to create tomorrow’s problems today.
Before you launch the bot
Ask:
- What problem are we solving?
- What else could be causing it?
- Have we verified the root cause?
Remember: Automation is a force multiplier. Make sure it’s multiplying the right thing.
