When our managers pitch new AI software to solve operational bottlenecks, how do we evaluate whether it is actual process improvement or just tech theater?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Filter every software request through process simplification before you look at tech features. Refuse to evaluate any proposal framed as an AI project. Insist that the manager frame it as an operations-improvement project that happens to use machine learning.

Ask three direct questions:

- Which seat on our Accountability Chart owns the bottleneck?
- What is the measurable metric on our Scorecard that will change once this is live?
- Can we simplify or eliminate this step manually before automating it?

If a manager cannot articulate how the tool reduces labor hours, lowers cycle times, or prevents rework without using tech jargon, it is theater. Shiny new tools often mask broken processes. Fix the underlying process first using the EOS Three-Step Process: document it, simplify it, and ensure it is followed by all.

Only bring in automation when the manual workflow is already clean, documented, and repeatable. Automation applied to an efficient process will magnify efficiency. Automation applied to an inefficient process simply magnifies the chaos.